Post 8 | Online Religion

Finding Faith on the Internet

Virtual pilgrimages, online missionaries, cybertemples, e-prayer and religious blogs; it is without a doubt that religions are using information technology to get the attention of believers and nonbelievers who are seeking for a religion in their own privatised space. It seems apparent that to assume media and religion as distinct cultural domains, one sacred, the other secular, is no longer the common ideology. As shown about, this has radically changed. According to Radde-Antweiler (2006), 'Media can be seen to be providing the raw material for the intended or unintended construction of religious meaning among people in various contexts.' Chama's article (as cited in Campbell, 2010, p.23) demonstrates how media is prevalent and important for religion activity online. In her article she states, 'For many signing onto the Internet is a transformative act. In their eyes the web is more than just a global tapestry of personal computers. It is a vast cathedral of the mind, a place where ideas about God and religion can resonate, where faith can be shaped and defined by a collective spirit.'

Religion has now been established on the internet's virtual landscape. Religious organizations, leaders, groups and individuals have taken on the challenge to create and introduce new ways of conducting religious rituals and community practices online (Campbell, 2010, p.24; Stout, 2012, p.74). As Campbell (2010, p.25) further suggests, there are several ways religious individuals employ the internet: (1) as a 'spiritual network,' i.e. a place where spiritual encounters are being made; (2) a 'worship space,' i.e. the internet provides a space in which religious rituals or activities are able to be conducted; (3) a 'missionary tool,' i.e. the internet has become used as merely a way of promoting a religion's message and beliefs; or lastly, (4) a 'religious identity' affirmer, i.e. the internet is used for individuals to find out more about their own religion and theology which helps them build their own religious identity.

Brasher (as cited in Campbell, 2006, p.3) argues, 'that by invigorating the concepts of sacred time, presence, and spiritual experience, religion online allows people to see the religious cultural heritage of many faiths and thus can contribute to interfaith understanding.' Some examples ofcyber-pilgrimages are the Japanese Culture Club's Shinto virtual shrine and the pilgrimage to Virtual Jerusalem. Furthermore, the Internet is constructing a new environment which transforms the way in which people can conduct rituals. These include: visiting Second Life Synagoguge-Temple for Shabbat services to participate in a virtual hajj; participate in Salaat in a virtual environment; to be able to watch and participate in religious services; and so on. In essence, the incorporation of the internet into religion has helped people today to pick and choose their religions by the information presented by so many religious organizations online.

References

1. Campbell, H. (2010). When Religion Meets New Media. New York, NY:  Routledge.
2. Campbell, H. (2006). Religion and the Internet. Communication Research Trends Journal, 25(1), 1-44.
3. Stout, D. A. (2012). Media and Religion: Foundations of an Emerging Field. New York, NY: Routledge.
4. Radde-Antweiler, K. (2006). Ritual is becoming digitalised: Introduction to the special issue on rituals on the Internet. Journal of Religions on the Internet 2.1, 1-5.