In the Beginning Was the Word... the Online Videos Came Later

The website GodTube.com was the fastest-growing web property last month, attracting 3 million unique users, the Internet audience measurement company Comscore says.

As the name suggests, GodTube is a Christian-themed play on YouTube. The online community allows users to share their faith-based videos - to "Broadcast Him," according to the GodTube homepage.

Here is one video on GodTube that plays off a well-known commercial:

The site follows the YouTube model closely in terms of format and functionality, but it has a very different feel than Google's populist web 2.0 community.

While YouTube has a largely hands-off approach to its user-generated content, GodTube manually vets all video submissions before posting them on the site. If YouTube can seem like a raucous, outdoor party that everyone crashes, GodTube is more akin to a Sunday school class.

Of course, GodTube is hardly the first example of a Christian organization harnessing modern media tools with eye-popping success. Christian radio stations, Christian film production companies, and countless other websites have proven that God sells, and there are many Americans buying.

But none of those are mediums where the content is generated by the community rather than the creator.

YouTube uses its technology and its community of users to screen offensive material. GodTube uses 20 people who determine what is appropriate, a spokeswoman for the site says. GodTube's principles are that the content comply with the statement of faith and that the content is not objectionable.

So those who run the faith-based YouTube imitator will have to play God in this 2.0 world, determining what constitutes an appropriate piece of content, and what religious expression doesn't fit the bill.

Is there a place on GodTube for gay Christians? A search of the videos suggest there is not. Does GodTube have a stand on ordaining women? Contraception? Intelligent design? And what about Buddha and Allah - is there room for the non-Christian faithful?

A community of believers will not aways agree, and GodTube will have to make those calls. Lord help them.

Liz Gunnison