Get Religion on the Cel Phone at Communion and other matters

The Revealer on the religious element in conflict (to put it mildly) in Iraq, South Park’s “The Passion of the Jew,” and a continuing conversation on the influence of St. Blog’s

You know, I don’t know if anyone who’s actually a real Catholic blogger has ever made claims of having any individual or collective influence. I’m a writer, so I naturally want to influence people, and I really do see my blog, in part, as a place to try, not only to talk about the news, but to enable all readers of any persuasion to talk about the news – trying, in a way, to bridge the gap that The Revealer post describes. I think blogs are important and form a bit of intellectual community for some of us, so it’s important. But I don’t hear massive claims being made for it a la Andrew Sullivan and Instapundit’s Power of the Blogosphere banners.

What I think the broader question is – and perhaps The Revealer can ask this (and hey! We can too!) – is:

Do any organs of Catholic media have any particular, broad impact? I say no. I say it’s all niche, and all ideologically fissured. So, in that sense it’s not unreasonable to say that the cumulutive impact of Catholic blogs is, indeed, just as great, as say the readership of most self-identified Catholic periodicials, particularly those of a strong editorial bent. Thousands of people read Catholc blogs every day. Thousands – and really, no more, read America, Commonweal, and the like, as well. I’d say in terms of faithful readership, especially when you look at it cumulatively, we’re about even.