Can true love be ever found online? As a an English literature student I remember from Milton’s Paradise Lost, these passionate words Adam expresses to Eve when he encounters her for the first time in the Garden of Eden:
Flesh of flesh, Bone of my bone, thou art, and from thy state Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe.
That was Eden and Paradise (now Lost) but now in the nebulous cloud of the Internet love and emotion can be sought (bought?) and found, expressed or rescinded all in a matter of a few clicks. It is now more than just text and still images - you can see the person live, chat and text! The Internet sets no boundaries for age, culture, colour or language, for what has come to be popularly known as Online Dating. It all started when the non-Christian dating sites first hit the net. Not long after Christian dating sites followed suit. I just Googled the words “Christian dating” and in a blink of an eye the search engine returned nearly 4 million occurrences of this phrase. If you think that’s a lot, try “online dating” and Google returned 85 million occurrences! This goes on to show that Online Dating is alive and well and the taboo once associated with online dating is now far removed. Whether one is there to catch, chat, to be introduced, to be netted, matched or simply to find contact and friendship this online behaviour is normalised, acceptable and even trendy.
I come from a culture where marriages are still (and preferably) arranged although the potential partners have the right to say no. I know of happily married Christian couples who found themselves online. I have also heard of horror stories where the web was so complex the relationship was woefully tangled or the web relationship only lasted till the next gust of wind.
Some Christians oppose online dating sites citing the spiritual sentiments discussed in the book I have recommended on this post "If I'm Waiting on God, Then What Am I Doing in a Christian Chatroom?" Others think that online dating sites are for desperate and lonely singles who haven't got the guts to face flesh and bone humans and say, "Want to go out with me?" Others say it is frequented by those whose "use by date" has expired or simply sitting on the shelves unwanted and untaken. One must also caution about many so-called online dating sites that are often a front for porn sites.
Flesh of flesh, Bone of my bone, thou art, and from thy state Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe.
That was Eden and Paradise (now Lost) but now in the nebulous cloud of the Internet love and emotion can be sought (bought?) and found, expressed or rescinded all in a matter of a few clicks. It is now more than just text and still images - you can see the person live, chat and text! The Internet sets no boundaries for age, culture, colour or language, for what has come to be popularly known as Online Dating. It all started when the non-Christian dating sites first hit the net. Not long after Christian dating sites followed suit. I just Googled the words “Christian dating” and in a blink of an eye the search engine returned nearly 4 million occurrences of this phrase. If you think that’s a lot, try “online dating” and Google returned 85 million occurrences! This goes on to show that Online Dating is alive and well and the taboo once associated with online dating is now far removed. Whether one is there to catch, chat, to be introduced, to be netted, matched or simply to find contact and friendship this online behaviour is normalised, acceptable and even trendy.
I come from a culture where marriages are still (and preferably) arranged although the potential partners have the right to say no. I know of happily married Christian couples who found themselves online. I have also heard of horror stories where the web was so complex the relationship was woefully tangled or the web relationship only lasted till the next gust of wind.
Some Christians oppose online dating sites citing the spiritual sentiments discussed in the book I have recommended on this post "If I'm Waiting on God, Then What Am I Doing in a Christian Chatroom?" Others think that online dating sites are for desperate and lonely singles who haven't got the guts to face flesh and bone humans and say, "Want to go out with me?" Others say it is frequented by those whose "use by date" has expired or simply sitting on the shelves unwanted and untaken. One must also caution about many so-called online dating sites that are often a front for porn sites.
What about you? Have you used Christian or non-Christian dating sites? What was your experience like? Has it worked for you or would you recommend it to another Christian?
If you are new to online dating, I recommend you read "The Savvy Christian's Guide to Online Dating" - click the links on your right.
In a world of two-minute noodle soup, is online dating the quick fix panacea for friendship, courtship, romance, love and ultimately finding your lifelong spouse? Would you after having found that person of your dreams on a Christian Dating site truely respond as Eve did in Milton’s Paradise Lost these words?
Confirm'd then I resolve, Adam shall share with me in bliss or woe: So dear I love him, that with him all deaths I could endure, without him live no life.
In a world of two-minute noodle soup, is online dating the quick fix panacea for friendship, courtship, romance, love and ultimately finding your lifelong spouse? Would you after having found that person of your dreams on a Christian Dating site truely respond as Eve did in Milton’s Paradise Lost these words?
Confirm'd then I resolve, Adam shall share with me in bliss or woe: So dear I love him, that with him all deaths I could endure, without him live no life.
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