And the Lord Said, 'Let There Be Free Wi-Fi' (gizmodo.com) 70
Germany doesn't have free wi-fi at most places, especially because a German law holds the network provider accountable for any illegal activity on their network. But moving forward, the country is getting free wi-fi called "Godspots" at 3,000 churches and other religious places. From an article on Quartz: The service was launched in advance of the 500th anniversary of theologian Martin Luther's infamous protest of corrupt practices by the Catholic clergy, which ultimately led to the Protestant Reformation. The event will be commemorated across Germany next year. The wifi service is also a strategic move to draw young people back into Germany's glorious, but mostly underutilized, churches and cathedrals. Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Oberlausitz's IT manager Fabian Blatner says Godspot aligns with the church's mission to foster community. "People are no less spiritual than before," Blatner believes, "but the places of communication have shifted. Much takes place in digital social networks and communities. With Godspot we want to build a Protestant Church [that serves as] a safe and familiar abode in the digital world." EKBO says Godspot's connections will be secure and it will not be collecting any information about users or bombarding them with ads. Well, except for a landing page featuring "topics of faith and life."
evangelical Protestant churches (Score:2)
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"bless me, father, for I have...'
dammit. didn't click focus first. do I have to start over?
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Lutherans don't do Confession like Catholics.
Confession of sins and forgiveness is done en masse in a service.
Re:evangelical Protestant churches (Score:4, Informative)
As a heads-up, Evangelical in Germany doesn't mean the same thing as in the US. Evangelical is a literal translation of the German name for the Lutherans.
Better protection (Score:2, Interesting)
For Catholic priests to view child porn, provides plausible deniability.
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So a few abuse children. And if that was it, nobody would complain. You are not your brother's shepherd, and you cannot be blamed for his actions. Guilt by association, it seems, but that's not it.
What makes the rest of the bunch accomplices is to cover for them. Cardinals moving priests that abuse kids about so they get to abuse more kids instead of handing them over to the police. And eventually a pope that basically blamed the victims instead of finally doing something about the problem.
The blame on the
but but but (Score:4, Funny)
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That is exactly why the church now provides free wifi services to all those who are in need. .
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no, that was a typo or mistranslation.
it did not say 'thou shalt not covet wifi'; it said 'thou shalt not CONVERT wifi'.
so, wired ethernet is a sin. work of the devil and all that.
stay wireless and sin no more!
Invisible (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Invisible (Score:5, Funny)
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Jesus... is he a wave, or a particle?
I don't know, but I heard that he saves, although no one seems to be able to tell me what interest rate he's getting.
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Jesus saves, but Esposito scores on the rebound.
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Jesus... is he a wave, or a particle?
I don't know, but I heard that he saves, although no one seems to be able to tell me what interest rate he's getting.
I always assumed that to mean backup, not deposit.
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If he's under water does he get wet?
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That's why the church didn't want wifi for a long time. Who wants to compete with an invisible force, which actually works?
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what the fuck does this have to do with *protestant* churches offering free internet access to their visitors? are priests from nearby parishes going to use this to recruit new altar boys?
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I'm an atheist, I'd even say I'm somewhat anti-religion, but your rhetoric is just ridiculous. Yes, there were a few priests who join the church to hide their deviant sexual behavior, but the majority were good men and women. Yes, the church did some horrible things throughout history, but it also did a lot of good things.
So please, cut the crap.
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They still are:
One case [go.com], and another [cnn.com], and a few more [nydailynews.com], and a few more [dailymail.co.uk], just for good measure. Even down under boys aren't safe [theage.com.au]. Nor are dogs [inquisitr.com].
Even the UN called out the Vatican [nbcnews.com] for its systemic adoption of policies allowing priests to rape and sexually abuse tens of thousands of children.
But as always, these are just isolated cases.
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That is a different church though... You are thinking of catholic church, while this is the protestant church. You know where priests can marry, have a family and even be women (gasp!).
Germany+Church+Free Wi-Fi = Divide by Zero (Score:3)
How pathetic (Score:2)
The church tries to attract people by offering free wifi? What next? Free parking and 15% off every item at any store on the local high street if they attend service regularly?
Looks like faith is cheap these days...
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Hot nuns on stripper poles, and I'm there. Instead of a collection plate, you could just drop a twenty and see if Sister Tawney can pick it up.
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If it's a Catholic Church, it's more likely going to be the altar boys on the poles.
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The church tries to attract people by offering free wifi? What next?
If offering free bread and booze every Sunday did not work, I don't know what will.
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Free parking is actually quite common for German churches. Here [wikimedia.org] is an example - about 500m away from where I live:
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And for a low low price I'll let you come and see
Just exit through the gift shop as you go to leave
We accept all credit cards if you've no cash today
Put a couple pope bobble-heads on lay-away
Buy as much as you want
Buy as much as you're able
Just don't let Jesus in
Cause he'll start flipping tables
--Trevor Moore, The Pope Rap
So if you're old enough (Score:1)
I remember the Emily Litella (Gilda Radner) bit about "endangered feces". I used to think they should've done a second one where she complained about Martin Luther nailing "95 feces" to the Wittenburg Door.
Law workaround? (Score:4, Interesting)
How are they going to work around the law that hold them accountable for user's offenses done using Godspot?
Do churches benefit some king of immunity in Germany?
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That law is about to change. The modification, which is supposed to grant open Wifi operators the same exemption that applies to ISPs, passed the legislative process and will be signed into effect by September. There are different expectations about the modification: The politicians who supported it intend and expect it to put an end to "Störerhaftung" for operators of free Wifi. Critics see a loophole in the law that allows the practice to continue where a civil complaint about an infraction causes pr
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They aren't really using any workarounds.
They simply have the resources available to fight off the bullshit lawyers that try to milk the law by sending out tenthousands of copyright notices demanding fees.
Something the normal citizen can't be expected to put up with.
And of course, them being an organization, the risk is much lower if there was an actual crime commited over the network. Can't send the church to prison.
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You don't sue the churches in Germany. Trust me. You don't.
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The article is just wrong.
The law is only a problem for normal persons, not for organisations. Every kind of ISP doesn't have the problem, and for example Freifunk is just registered as ISP and has no such problem. The problem is only, that a private person can get a written warning (Abmahnung) (with cost note for the lawyer sending the warning), because they act as "troublemaker" (Störer).
Nobody needs to react on this, you can just wait and settle this in court. Paying may be the easier way, on the ot
Plausible deniability (Score:2)
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Lutherans don't have priests, and issues such as this are precisely why Martin Luther insisted the Catholic leadership was "completely unjustified in forbidding marriage and in burdening the priesthood with the demand of continual celibacy".
But this is an issue of theological contention. You just want pointless snark. Don't worry, eventually a full review will be done, including you.
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"That wasn't us protestants, it must have been that catholic priest next door, honest!"
Why? (Score:2)
Why give churches a special pass? Hold them to the same laws as everyone else that offers public wifi. Just because what they're selling isn't material (or real) is no excuse to treat them different from any other business.
Wow, (Score:1)
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Well, it is "The Promised LAN"...
Manna evolution (Score:1)