This edition of Viewpoint considers the value of the Internet: Is it just a time-waster or a valuable source of news and information? Liz Quirin, editor of The Messenger, newspaper of the Dioceses of Belleville, Illinois, says discernment is key to making your online experience wonderful and enlightening rather than wrong and misleading. Tom Sheridan, former editor of The Catholic New World, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Chicago and a deacon ordained for the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, marvels at the technology that permits him to send his article from a cruise ship in the Pacific while also noting that religion has been slow to take advantage of this revolution in communications.

 Surfing the Web requires a 'grain of salt' -- or two

 By Liz Quirin

I hate to admit it, but I rely on my Yahoo News for breaking news on basically whatever they run and see as "important." And more and more, many of us rely on the Internet as a source of information.

We seem to believe it without question, and "there's the rub," as Hamlet would say. We've dropped our "grain of salt" along the way and are ready to swallow whatever we find as gospel truth when it most assuredly is not. Often, it is a tremendous waste of time -- how many cat videos does it take to satisfy the ordinary viewer?

So much information is available, and no one puts anything on the Internet with a disclaimer that "this might not be true." As the authors tell it, they are the experts, and we should be thrilled they are giving us the opportunity to read what they wrote, not to mention to buy, buy, buy whatever is popular at the moment.

 Almost anything and everything is available, but sometimes value discernment is required.

For children, however, discernment is mentally premature because their Web use is not necessarily monitored, and they can be lured into schemes or scams that could prove dangerous or even deadly if they are not discovered. Every time something happens, more safeguards are put in place. Parents restrict access to the Internet or companies require proof of age before charges are accepted.

Even for adults, it's so easy to get in over your head, whether you're charging Christmas gifts at various stores or making poor choices about where you spend your free time and perhaps, money, on the Internet.

The flip side, of course, is that you can research anything, and as long as you look for more than one opinion on a topic, it can be a valuable experience. Using the Internet to find out about an illness from reputable sites can allay fears or help you make a decision to call a doctor now, not sometime in the distant future. Then, it can be a godsend.

We can find a saint for the day, a reflection on daily Scripture, the Bible, spiritual authors and material that fits our needs wherever we find ourselves in life.

In November, our thoughts and research can lead us to learn about All Saints or All Souls, how some cultures celebrate "el Dia de los Muertos," the Day of the Dead. Or we can look for information for holidays, whether they belong to us or other nations or cultures.

Catholic information abounds from Catholic magazines and newspapers to Catholic authors and essayists. All we have to do is get close to spelling a word or a name correctly, and we can be reading for hours.

That also points out a problem with the Internet and a highly frustrating one. If you don't key in the correct word or close to the correct word, it's like falling down Alice's rabbit hole. You search and search and find many interesting topics or pieces of information, but you can't find what you need. It's not that it isn't on the Internet, you just can't find it.

I've been lost in Wonderland myself, sometimes for lengthy visits without finding what I need. When that happens I call someone I've discovered who is expert at researching. That usually works.

However we use the Internet, we have to use caution. So much information exists, and while some of it is wonderful and enlightening, some of it is wrong and misleading. When we have questions about what we read on the Internet, we need to keep clicking, find a different source, contact a real person, someone we know and share what we're doing.

With the Internet, reading one entry is seldom a good idea, even if it's Yahoo or CNN or any other source. In this instance, truly more is better.

Can the Internet save souls?

By Tom Sheridan

In the beginning was the word. And it was spoken. Or written on papyrus. Or animal skin. Or scratched into rock or chiseled into marble. But it was the word.

Today, millennia later, there is the word. And it's in email, Web pages, Facebook, Twitter. The word has become the stuff of creation itself, quadrillions of electrons hurling themselves around the globe at the speed of light. The Internet. The World Wide Web.

But still, it remains the word.

It's tempting, perhaps, to view the Internet as just another form of paper, rock, skin or other medium for writing. It's not. It's a revolution in communication whose potential we have yet to recognize, let alone understand. Sadly, purveyors of porn recognized that potential more quickly than did religion. But religion is catching up.

A candidate for Congress recently proposed Internet access as a human right. Up there with food and water. Considering how the Internet has transformed 21st-century life that's not so far-fetched. Indeed, the Coca-Cola Co. has installed wireless web access -- free -- in vending machines in underdeveloped nations to open up the world to young people.

Information is a great equalizer. Just as the printing press shone knowledge on the illiterate world of the Middle Ages, the Internet is spreading it far wider. And, it's more than simply knowledge. It's how we live. We pay bills and make money with the Internet. We buy and sell. We can access almost unlimited news and information. We communicate in words, voice and face to face. Skype and FaceTime connect families. Messages and photos keep us close.

This column was written on a cruise ship plowing through the Pacific Ocean, transmitted to Catholic News Service and finally to Catholic newspapers and websites. By the Internet. For me, a kid who began his newspaper career in lead and ink, this is magic.

Nor is all this potential locked up on our desktops. Most of us carry it around in our pockets. Tablets and smartphones. And short of a worldwide societal breakdown, it's only going to become more ubiquitous.

Parishes, dioceses and even the Vatican are finding the Internet a valuable way to connect the faithful. And yes, Pope Francis is on Twitter and other social media, even recently helping to launch a Google Hangout site. Faith thrives on communication.

The Internet is not without its shortcomings. Certainly for some people, it can be an occasion of sin. Porn and heresy can be everywhere. And the Web, for all its benefits, is not always truthful. It's a flashback to the 18th century when anyone with access to a printing press could foist their thoughts -- right or wrong, nice or vitriolic -- on others. The Web today is much the same, full of slanted and often erroneous views of religion. There is bigotry and hate. Hundreds of sites spew anti-Catholic and other bile.

In that, the Internet is not unlike a huge, all-inclusive library -- though easier to access.

It is that ease of access, however, which will make the Internet an even more valuable tool for religion. There is a debate today over the benefits of "open Internet," as opposed to a Web where speed and access are limited by cost and corporate control.

Salt Lake City Bishop John C. Wester, chair of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Communications, wrote, "Access to the Internet is as essential and necessary for Americans as is access to education, news and other services that allow us to flourish and make positive contributions to society."

Whether spoken, written or electronic, the word remains the word. Maybe the church can get a few of those soft-drink machines and offer wireless access -- along with homilies.