Religion On Your Phone

I am a little shocked that stuff like this has not already begun to become more viral but over the last couple of months we are beginning to see more and more religious mobile services popping up in order to fulfill your spiritual needs while on the go. I am sorry that these are mostly the Western religions. If you have information on other mobile religious services please pass them along.

Why just yesterday I received an email from Catholic Mobile which will provide services (a cell service not a church service) that will allow catholic cell phone users to receive daily prayers, saints of the day information, daily scripture readings and breaking news on cell phones and mobile devices. Its Spanish version Móvil Católico will make them the leader in the development and distribution of wireless Catholic based content in North and South America. Users will also be able to personalize their phones by downloading Catholic wallpapers and ring tones.

The Vatican under John paul II was reportedly doing something with Papal messages via SMS and had struck a deal with Verizon but I am not sure that anything ever evolved from that.

Last month on the Jewish end of the mobile spectrum the website AskMoses.com, which is very well known in Jewish communities for its wealth of Jewish information, launched an SMS text messaging to deliver content directly to mobile phones. Already famous for its live chat services with scholars 24 hours-a-day, 6 days a week the site can send Jewish-oriented content and Sabbath and Holiday reminders to users' cellphones and handheld devices. This is important for really religious Jews of whom it is important to know the exact time the sunsets and the Sabbath begins.

And on the Jewish Humor side comes these extremely popular Yenta Tones that anyone who has ever had a Jewish mother take care of them for at least one day will understand.

In March a new mobile phone text messaging service called muslimtext.com, was launched aims to boost the quality of life for Muslims, reports the BBC. Like Catholic Mobile "It sends daily uplifting messages to "spiritually enlighten" its users. Users are able to receive a host of different services, including messages from the Koran, the Muslim holy book, and daily prayers."