Dear God, Your Inbox Is Bursting

Ever wondered what it would be like to peek inside Gods inbox? Well, now you can.

About a week ago, Bill Tikos, the Sydney-based founder of trend-spotting site thecoolhunter.net, launched dear-god.net - a website where people across the globe can post their prayers to "Jesus, Allah, Buddha, or simply a spiritual universal energy".

The prayers that land in Gods inbox range from issues of depression, grief and abortion to politics, homosexuality and faith.

Then there are the humorous ones, including this entry: "Dear God, could you send me a new boyfriend, please? The last one was rubbish, frankly, and could have benefited from a rethink of his sideburns … Please have him washed and brought to my tent."

In its first week more than 63,000 people visited the site and hundreds commented on peoples prayers.

Dear-god.net is the latest in a string of websites (including godtube.com) and technologies - such as podcasts of sermons you can download to your iPod and daily verses sent by SMS — enabling young people to connect with God in the same way they might communicate with their mates.

This month, the Catholic Church launched faithtrip.net - a Facebook of sorts for the converted and young people "searching for answers".

The social-networking site - with religious-themed blogs, chatrooms, forums and webcasts - was created by Church Resources, a not-for-profit group formed eight years ago by Catholic bishops to foster new telecommunications for churches in the digital age.

Mr Tikos, 38, who "believes" but is not affiliated with any religious group, says dear-god.net allows people to communicate with God without robes and rosary beads, but with a virtual confessional.

"Human beings have always had the need and desire to share their feelings and problems," he said.

Faithtrips Catherine Smibert thinks the anonymity of the web allows young people to share their problems and questions without judgment.

"The church has recognised that, despite a misconception that young people are over religion, there is a real interest among young people who are searching for meaning, but … often dont feel comfortable speaking out about what they are searching for," she said.

Ashleigh Gazal, 21, is a university student and member of Planetshakers Church, which has a YouTube channel and networks on Facebook. She said she often surfs the churchs website and downloads podcasts of sermons and Christian music to her iPod.

"I think its really important that churches use modern technology because in this day and age thats the main mode of communication for people my age," she said.

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