The Church of TED?

[HammerStone]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/15/opinion/sunday/the-church-of-ted.html?_r=3

Discuss. ;)

The parallels are a bit overt. I definitely sympathize with the author in that the talks themselves are quite evangelical in nature. That said, I'd say rather than likening the talks to an old-fashioned tent revival, I think they're very much like the megachurch experience. The talks have their own liturgical form with key points, a defined time, and even some pithy sayings, habits, or knowledge that the hearer is supposed to act upon or at least retain.

That said, it's interesting how an atheist sees the parallels given her background. I wonder aloud if some of this does not speak to the deep longing that I believe all have for God. She is attracted to this model (as the closing paragraphs illustrate), but recognizes that it seeks to parallel something greater. She's understandably a bit dismissive of this, but shouldn't Christianity also be able to offer something greater than a good TED Talk experience if she were ever to set foot in a church?

 

[Angelina]

The model setup is synonymous of a general desire within mankind to resonate something of the divine. The proverbial God shaped hole then becomes focused inwardly, toward self...reliance without God. This in turn creates a humanistic form of Idolatry. JMHO :huh:

...shouldn't Christianity also be able to offer something greater than a good TED Talk experience if she were ever to set foot in a church?

Something greater than "TED Talk?" I could probably write a book...lets start with eternal life! ;)
I do not think that she will set foot in a Church until she comes to a crossroad. When something happens beyond our control, our worldly knowledge, wisdom and understanding gets thrown away and the only anchor left, may be a God we once heard about in Sunday School.