Imagine for a moment a parallel universe where everyone respects freedom of speech and religion. Well, now you can visit such a world any time you want: Godinterest (https://godinterest.com), a faith-based community on a mission to tip the scale and shed more light in dark places.
Originally launched to great success in 2014 as a dedicated Christian social network for an increasingly neglected faith-based community, Godinterest now refers itself as “the Internet’s faithful social network” and is the brain-child of project manager, designer, blogger and grateful dad, Dean Jones.
Dean Jones grew up in London and attended St Martins College from 1996. He worked as a Design Lecturer from 2001 and then became a Project Manager and led on the setup and delivery of a major change programme on behalf of the House of Commons and House of Lords, (UK Parliament) in 2017-18.
Jones said, “Social networking websites are one aspect of the Web that continues to enjoy explosive growth, at least in part because users love to share information. While major social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram tend to define social media, there is a growing niche market including one for the religious demographic.”
Godinterest.com, coined as ‘Pinterest’s evangelical cousin’ in 2014 is clearly not Christianity’s answer to the Pinterest or merely a clearinghouse for photos, but seeks to be an online destination to engage in the global dialogue about religion and spirituality which includes social networking features, groups and even blogs to build its online community.
Jones said, “Godinterest Blogs connect to mainstream news sites, other non-faith blogs, and online collaborative knowledge networks such as Wikipedia and can be anything from personal diaries to daily screeds about current events. Some are highly opinionated and include funny personal stories.” “But their content is also unique as many spiritual blogs are written by people seriously engaging with their faith. Some bloggers write specifically about sacred texts. Others are more culturally oriented, covering the ways faith intersects with the arts and politics. By chronicling how they experience faith in their everyday lives, Godinterest bloggers are not only connecting with the wider public, but also to themselves and are gradually carving out their own section of the religious blogosphere.”
The Core Principles of Godinterest are-
We firmly believe that all bloggers have the right to political speech.
We firmly believe in protecting and promoting freedom of religion or belief.
We further believe that bloggers have the right to maintain their privacy, along with the option to remain anonymous if they so choose.
Jones said “In an overwhelmingly liberal dominated media mainstream with increasingly ‘progressive’ agendas, many of the largest internet platforms are being held hostage by an aggressively thuggish PC culture, which is now openly suppressing articles and shadow banning in defense of conservative values. Godinterest recognizes this blatant bias against even the most moderate conservative thought and is, therefore, seeking to expand its network with multiple faith networks to explore and experience the world’s beliefs.”