Is God In Cyberspace?

Is God in Cyberspace?

Cyberspace may be defined as that space that is occupied by the World Wide Web, the Internet, and the Social media. Cyberspace is the new Supernova.

This was the question asked of author Thomas Friedman on one of his book tours a few years ago. Friedman confessed that he did not know but he would find the answer. He later entitled a chapter in he latest book by the same question (Thank You For Being Late, Chapter Eleven).

So he consulted with and asked his mentor Rabbi Tzvi Marx. He asked the Rabbi the same question: 

“Is God in Cyberspace?” 

Marx replied: 

“It depends on your view go God.”  

The Rabbi went on to explain and I am paraphrasing his response:

If you believe God controls everything, including all human actions and behaviors then I would have to say that God is not in Cyberspace. However, if God gives us humans the freedom to behave in such ways that reveal his presence to the world then yes, quite possibly God is in Cyberspace.

So Friedman now answers the question this way: 

“He sure wants to be.”

Now if one actually believes that God has created us with the freedom to make ethical and moral choices and to live in such ways that reveal God’s presence then the answer is “yes” God may very well be in Cyberspace—if we invite him.

Back in the 1990s I heard a medical ethicist make the astonishing claim that advances in medical technology was seriously outpacing our capacity to keep up with appropriate ethical decisions.

Perhaps we are now witnessing the same phenomenon with regards to Cyberspace in general and the Social Media in particular.

God just might show up on Facebook if we behave in ways that honor his presence. The same may be said for other Social Media networks (e.g., Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, etc.). 

Yet from what I am witnessing today God seems unwilling to join us in this new cyber-arena of our lives. I have never witnessed so much vitriol, so much hate, so much toxic language, and so much character assassinations in my life—so much childish behavior in fact. Over what? A matter of disagreement?

Ironically many of those who use their Social Media networks as a platform to vent their anger towards those who disagree with them, are probably pretty decent people for the most part—at least in person. Some are downright likable if you were to meet them in person. 

But they are also just one click away from being a really nasty person in Cyberspace.

With just one mouse click or smartphone prompt all ethics and morals go flying out the window. It seems that not only is medical technology outpacing our ethics so is Cyberspace technology. 

Our nastiness may be excluding God from Cyberspace.

We had better get a handle on all this sooner than later. We live in a very dangerous and fragmented world to begin with and our personal support of a Social Media network devoid of ethics, rules, and moral values may lead to some serious consequences in the not too distant future.

So what can I do personally to help clean up some of this cyber-mess some of us have helped create? 

Think twice about what you are posting. How will it affect others? How will it diminish the quality of our lives? What does it really say about you? Cyberspace is real life; even in the cyber-arena we have created. Cyberspace is not make believe folks even though we sometimes treat it as an alt-reality. On its own Cyberspace is valueless and amoral. We add values and morals by our cyber-behaviors.


We each play a significant role as to whether God is in Cyberspace or not.

Just because we have all this advanced technology does not mean that we can toss all our social and religious values aside for the sake of defending an opinion, or being right. I’m all for healthy debate but it seems we have thus far demonstrated our lack of ability for any healthy cyber-debate.

Perhaps an cyber-ethical and cyber-moral revolution is needed to help us keep pace with advances in cyber-technology. Perhaps we just need to learn some good old fashion manners and social decorum. I mean, calling one another names is really childish, don't you think?

Think twice before you make the next mouse click or prompt the next smartphone or iPad when you jump into Cyberspace. 

Are you inviting God to jump online with you?