No one can issue an honest list of “best” Internet sites. The Internet is too big, and so is the word best. As the Web penetrates its way into more and more of our lives, best becomes entirely relative. Amazon.com is great for one-stop shopping, and perhaps the best e-commerce site by some standards, but if it’s something specific I’m after, I can usually find it cheaper somewhere else. The following, therefore, is a list of the best sites I use regularly; these are the URLs at the top of my bookmark list.
Willow Creek Community Church’s formal relationship with Exodus International has ended.While the decision to part ways dates back to 2009, news that the South Barrington megachurch had cut ties with Exodus, the world’s largest ministry addressing homosexuality, did not surface until late June.Scott Vaudrey of the elder response team said in writing that Willow Creek’s decision was not intended as a social or political statement, but rather an indication of “a season of reviewing and clarifying some of our affiliations with outside organizations.”Alan Chambers, president of Exodus, disagrees. “The choice to end our partnership is definitely something that shines a light on a disappointing trend within parts of the Christian community,” he said, “which is that there are Christians who believe like one another who aren’t willing to stand with one another, simply because they’re afraid of the backlash people will direct their way if they are seen with somebody who might not be politically correct.”Chambers said he sympathizes with Christian organizations that deal with social, political, and financial backlash, but added, “Biblical truth is unpopular, and when you’re supporting unpopular truth, you are unpopular too; which means, some days, getting upwards of 10,000 phone calls and emails, and it can be overwhelming.”Willow Creek had been heavily targeted by the group Soulforce, Chambers said, and he believes that the group’s 2008-2009 campaign (which included a meeting with pastor Bill Hybels) led to the disassociation.Willow Creek had affiliated with Exodus throughout the late 1980s and ’90s as a church partner. Exodus referred Chicago-area people to Willow Creek’s ministries, including the church’s “A Safe Place” and “Someone I Love.” Willow Creek, meanwhile, partnered with Exodus for “equipping events” at the church to help Willow Creek leaders and other local pastors work with those experiencing same-sex attraction. Chambers also spoke at Willow Creek events.Susan DeLay, director of media relations at Willow Creek, said the church’s decision to end its relationship with Exodus doesn’t mean it has become less welcoming to people with same-sex attraction or more averse to big problems. “It’s quite the contrary,” she said. “Willow Creek has a whole host of ministries for people dealing with these issues, and we would never intend for them to feel sidelined. All we’ve changed is how we’ve gone about inviting them into the church, which is the primary issue here.”Mark Yarhouse, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Sexual Identity at Regent University, agrees that the primary issue in the split is not abandonment of the gay community but simply a shift in tone toward gays.“Churches are realizing that while there is a small contingent of the gay community responding to language like ‘freedom from homosexuality’ or ‘freedom is possible,’ the vast majority strongly disagree. They’re angry and they believe it’s impossible to change, and to hear this is so offensive that they will have nothing to do with Christians. So I think churches, in response to that vast majority who say, ‘We’re not interested,’ have decided to look at other approaches in an attempt to connect with the gay community on at least some level. That doesn’t mean that churches disagree with the language of ‘freedom from homosexuality’ doctrinally; they’ve just found that it doesn’t work on a social level.”Chambers said his main regret about the split is that it was predicated on a false perception that for Exodus, “freedom from homosexuality” means changing orientation and eventually being in a heterosexual marriage. “In reality, the majority of people we minister to at Exodus are single, and marriage isn’t the answer—it’s just one part of our ministry.”News of Willow Creek’s break from Exodus arrived just before tensions erupted between TOMS Shoes and Focus on the Family over the organizations’ apparently conflicting stances on homosexuality. It is also the latest in a series of public separations from Exodus, which has 240 North American affiliates. Where Grace Abounds and Mastering Life Ministries, both Christian ministries that focus on issues of sexuality, parted ways with Exodus in 2008. New Direction, a Canadian ministry, split with Exodus in 2009 after announcing on its blog that it had “become uncomfortable with some of the messages expressed in a variety of ways through the very diverse Exodus network.” Dawson McAllister, a longtime Exodus partner and personal inspiration to Chambers, also announced the separation of his organization from Exodus last year.On a political level, government charity regulators in New Zealand recently voted to repeal Exodus’ tax-exempt status because of inadequate evidence that homosexuality can be cured. The opposition New Democratic Party of Canada petitioned the nation’s government to revoke the charity status of ex-gay organizations, including Exodus International, in early June.Chambers said that these departures are unrelated and may have happened for a variety of reasons: the financial crisis, public backlash, political developments, and the maturation of Exodus as a ministry.But he does see a thread: “I really do think decisions like this, ultimately, highlight a reticence in the church to stand up for biblical truth, and they’re coming at a time when we’re going to have to stand up for what we believe. I think there’s a way to stand up. We have to find that way.”Copyright © 2011 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.Related Elsewhere:See Christianity Today‘s special section on ex-gay ministry, including several articles on Exodus.Additional coverage of Exodus includes:
Exodus from ‘Day of Truth’ | Group says event “became more about policy than people.” (October 15, 2010)
Why Exodus Was Especially Upset by Advice Show’s Rejection | Dawson McAllister Association dropped ex-gay group as partner under pressure from Clear Channel. (April 21, 2010)
An Older, Wiser Ex-Gay Movement | The 30-year-old ministry now offers realistic hope for homosexuals. (September 13, 2007)
Britannica.com
There’s a reason this site crashed repeatedly when it first launched: it may be the best thing to happen to the Internet since the Mosaic browser was released back in 1993. For the past decade, it has been difficult to find information on the Web that was both reliable and extensive. The Britannica folks could have just offered the text of their encyclopedias and would have had one of the best sites online. But they went so much further, offering news, Web site ratings, magazine articles, and other features. In essence, they’ve become something the Internet has always needed: an editor.
WorldNews.com
Speaking of reliable information, the best news sites on the Web are still those founded by traditional forms of media: The New York Times, ABCNews.com, CNN, BBC, etc. WorldNews.com is essentially a search engine for news sites, and works far better than any of the others I’ve visited. Visitors can browse the news by region or topic, but since I normally use it to find religion stories, I usually just use the search box. It works wonderfully, especially if you know how to use boolean expressions. The engine still returns several unrelated hits, but it’s well worth the effort.
Yahoo!
“Yahoo!?” I can hear some readers’ jaws dropping already. Its search capabilities can be horrendous at times (Christianity Today, for example, has no description; Christian History magazine isn’t even listed). And I agree. For searching, go somewhere else: Google wins my vote for most types of searches. But for information—still the Internet’s raison d’être—Yahoo! thrills me daily. Its best resource, in my opinion, is its “Full Coverage” area. Want to know the latest on the Confederate Flag debate? Yahoo! has links to news stories, audio clips, newspaper editorials, and related Web sites. Its religion news coverage is also one of the best Internet resources on the topic. I often worry that by offering everything from auctions to travel services, Yahoo! will spread itself too thin. So far, unbelievably, there’s little evidence of it. Though I’d love its index of Web sites to be more extensive, the only major thing I’d change about Yahoo! is that stupid exclamation mark.
Slate
Salon, once king of the Web magazines, has apparently issued an ultimatum to its writers mandating that all articles have a sexual angle. (It’s become Nerve with articles about Linux.) Meanwhile, Slate gave up its experiment at paid subscriptions and went free again in February. Nice move, but its redesign in May was even better; Slate became one of the most usable, readable journals on the Web. Slate’s longer articles are often very good, but its strength continues to be metajournalism, especially its “Today’s Papers,” “In Other Magazines,” and “Egghead” departments. And “News Quiz” has to be one of the most original regular humor features on the Web.
McSweeney’s
Dave Eggers is the darling of the New York magazine world, which is somewhat strange because he has such an obvious disdain for it. He was an editor for Esquire after his satire magazine Might folded, but left disgusted to found McSweeney’s, perhaps the best hybridization of a print and Internet magazine around. The Web version leans strongly toward the satire end, but without the over-the-top (and sometimes crass) jokiness of The Onion. I can’t take too much of it at a sitting, but I’ve had enough satisfying visits to the Web site to warrant a subscription to the print version.
Spinner.com
As I type this, I’m listening to a song by one of my favorite bands, a Swedish folk group named Vasen. No radio station I know of regularly plays Swedish folk music (one up in Stockholm or Minneapolis might, but I doubt it). Spinner.com, like so many of the other streaming music providers online, combines the best of radio with the best of CDs. It’s like radio in that it plays a mix of music (some songs I’ve heard, some I haven’t) in a specific genre. From CDs, it draws that uninterrupted, commercial-free quality, and it allows me to tune into genres that I’d never hear on the radio but that I love nonetheless (ambient, Chicago blues, Octoberfest, klezmer, etc). Spinner.com is only one of many services, but I’ve found that the quality is better: it has better songs and better technology than Netradio, for example. One disappointment: only two of Spinner’s more than 120 channels are devoted to Christian music (Christian and Gospel).
Jim Romenesko‘s MediaGossip.com and Obscure Store & Reading Room
The Internet has yielded surprisingly few stars so far, especially in the writing world. The authors of Slate and Salon have some fans, but Jim Romenesko’s sites are probably the best one-man operations around. Both sites are Weblogs: MediaGossip.com notes recent journalism-related stories, and Obscure Store links readers to strange and wacky stories appearing online (almost always from traditional media sources). A former police reporter, university instructor, and magazine writer, Romenesko has proved he has a great nose for other sites’ news.
PBS.org
PBS’s site used to essentially serve as an impressive jumping-off point to its show’s sites. The PBS home page is still largely a showcase for its interior sites (like “Frontline,” “The American Experience,” and “Washington Week in Review”) but it has made great strides in organizing the site topically. Clicking “Arts” gives you a list of subtopics (“Pop & Folk Art”) and related interior pages (“American Quilts”). Where Britannica.com is excellent in searchable information, PBS is king in browsing information.
The Ecole Initiative
There are so many good church history sources online that it’s sometimes overwhelming—even for a fan of the topic like me. The Christian Classics Ethereal Library and Internet Medieval Sourcebook are two fantastic areas, but there are many more. Fortunately, the Ecole Initiative has organized much of the information topically. Maintained by the University of Evansville, the site offers links to primary sources, biographies, images, timelines, and articles about major characters and events from Christian history. A must-bookmark resource, along with ChristianHistory.net, for Christians interesting in learning more about their heritage.
Ship of Fools
In lists of great Christian sites, the U.K.-based Ship of Fools often goes unmentioned. It’s a pity. “The magazine of Christian unrest” is based largely in humor, satire, and self-deprecation, with areas like “The Fruitcake Zone,” “Gadgets for God,” and “Urban Myths.” But it’s more than just a Christian joke site. The editors really care about reforming the church, and the humor is intended as corrective. It also includes thoughtful, serious articles and interviews. In other words, Ship of Fools is what The Door was in its best days.Ted Olsen is Online Editor of Christianity Today and ChristianityToday.com
Related Elsewhere
For a second opinion, read today’s other article on the top Internet sites of 1999, by Matt Donnelly. Last week, we took a look at the best books, TV, music, and films of 1999.
Copyright © 2000 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
