I have never been on the “Dark Web.” The internet that we all typically use every day is the “Clear Web”, the websites that we access with our Chrome, Firefox or Bing search engines. Below that, with much more data is the “Deep Web”, where all of our photos, files and all the data from Netflix and Hulu are stored and accessed through paid portals. But there are still many other websites that exist that are more difficult to access. These are called the “Dark Web” –the internet sites that you only can interact with anonymously. Humans are, well, entirely human. We like to do what we want to do; and we never want any bad consequences for it. The “Dark Web”, I am told, has a seemingly endless network of groups of completely anonymous people, some of which are behaving very badly. On the “Dark Web”, there is apparently a marketplace where illegal drugs and guns are sold. The necrophiliacs have created an online community, as well as those who identify themselves as cannibals. There are websites where you can procure a human organ or even buy a whole live human person as part of the human trafficking network. Pedophilia, incest and rape images and videos are some of the terrible things that are sold by broken people on the “Dark Web.” This extensive anonymous playground is something that has never existed in our history before.
The “Dark Web” is THE real world experiment in answering our question for today: What would you do online if you were guaranteed to be completely anonymous? Would you be very evil? Or would you use that immense power of anonymity to do much good? What kind of person are you when no one is watching? What would you do if your parents, your family, your spouse or your boss would never ever know? Would you anonymously do some good in the world, never receiving or getting any credit for the work that you put in to do it? Or would you selfishly focus on yourself and fulfilling your own wants and desires?
If we are Christians, I hope that we all would choose to do good. Following Jesus is something that transforms us as we learn to become people who do as much good as possible because of our own personal transformation by Jesus Christ. We do good because we actually become better people, not because our pastors or parents are watching us and making us do it. And that does not just mean our actions in the real world, it also means our actions online, anonymous or otherwise.
All humans are born broken, wanting to do what we want and to have what we want without any consequences; but through loving instruction and the power of the Holy Spirit, we all can be transformed into people of love. Within the internet, there is great power. Not just to create communities of depravity that do real evil, but there is also the power to create communities that band together to do good and to work for justice in the world. May we all choose to be transformed by Christ and to become a force for good in this world, even when no one is watching. Amen.
