Digital Religion

Understanding Religious Practice in Digital Media

Heidi A. Campbell, Ruth Tsuria, Heidi A. Campbell, Ruth Tsuria

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780367257767
• eBook ISBN: 9781000435016
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

This book offers a critical and systematic survey of the study of religion and digital media. It covers religious engagement with a wide range of digital media forms and highlights examples of new media engagement in all five of the major world religions. From mobile apps and video games to virtual reality and social media, the book:

• provides a detailed review of major topics including ritual, identity, community, authority, and embodiment;

• includes a series of engaging case studies to illustrate and elucidate the thematic explorations;

• considers the theoretical, ethical, and theological issues raised.

This unique volume draws together the work of experts from key disciplinary perspectives and is the go-to volume for students and scholars wanting to develop a deeper understanding of the subject area. Thoroughly updated throughout with new case studies and in-depth analysis of recent scholarship and developments, this new edition provides a comprehensive overview of this fast-paced, constantly developing, and fascinating field.

1 Introduction to the study of digital religion

DOI: 10.4324/9780429295683-1

Ruth Tsuria and Heidi A. Campbell

Ten years ago, Routledge approached the lead editor of this collection, asking her to put together a survey text that would give students and scholars an introduction to the growing study of religion and the internet. This invitation marked an important moment in the area of research that has come to be known as digital religion studies, a public recognition and legitimation of a growing, but often overlooked, field of inquiry in early internet research. Although scholars had been investigating and documenting the emergence of religion online since the mid-1990s, and examples of religious engagement online could be found as early as the 1980s, the study of religion and the internet had, in many respects, remained an interdisciplinary conversation looking for a home.

Though scholars in many fields, such as sociology of religion and media studies, had begun to take seriously the implications of the performance of online religious practices for offline religious communities, much time had to be spent enacting a scholarly apologetic for this work. This involved, on the one hand, explaining to traditional religious studies scholars why studying religious engagement with new, digital forms of media was important to fully understand manifestations of contemporary religiosity (Campbell 2006). Yet on the other hand, in media and internet studies contexts, scholars of religion and the internet had worked hard to justify why studying religious manifestations online was a worthwhile pursuit; they argued it provided a valid and robust microcosm for investigating unique user communities’ technological decision making (Campbell 2005a). This required scholars to spend a significant part of any research presentation or article offering a detailed narrative that carefully contextualized and justified this interdisciplinary work.

However, this changed in 2012, when the first version of this book came out. This is illustrated by a book launch event held as a session at the annual American Academy of Religion, where key chapter contributors presented their work to a packed, standing-room crowd of more than 100 scholars. Instead of questions about why one would study the intersection of religion and digital media, those present focused on questions about how this was being lived out and what broader implications these studies pointed to. Several participants and chapter authors described this as the moment when they first felt their work was legitimated and lauded by the academy.

The book and panel also drew attention to this new label of “digital religion” as a way to describe this growing area of scholarship, which continues to draw together diverse scholars, including those from psychology, Asian and Middle East studies, human–computer interactions, information science, and theology, to explore how digital technologies and environments are shaping religious groups and cultures, and vice versa. Digital religion studies continues to be a dynamic area of research covering a diverse range of topics, from ethical questions raised by artificial intelligence and techno-influenced worldviews such as transhumanism to ethnographic exploration of religious groups’ use of social media and apps, or how turns towards secularization are giving rise to new understanding of the religious and non-religious within digital culture.

Almost a decade after the launch of the first edition of this book, the field of digital religion has changed in various ways. During this decade, this field of study became much more established: An official association for the study of media, religion, and culture was formalized in 2012 and gave birth to the Journal of Religion, Media, and Digital Culture (now published with Brill). In international associations such as ICA and AAR, pre-conferences on religion and media are now held frequently, if not regularly. And, during the last 10 years, the internet itself has continued to shift, forcing the field of study to change with it. Social media have become much more prevalent, and new arenas of digital culture have emerged, such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, and big data, to name a few.

In this second edition of Digital Religion, we seek not only to document and update how this area of study has developed over the past decade, but also to look at how this field is impacting our understanding of how religion is defined, lived out, and interacted with in a global networked society. In this introduction, we cover some familiar territory, such as describing the emergence of religion online and scholarly approaches to this study, as well as provide a new assessment of where the field of digital religion studies is and is going in the decade to come.

The emergence of digital religion studies

The birth of digital religion studies can be traced to several scholarly articles published in the mid-1990s. For example, in 1995, Greg Grieve wrote about neo-Pagans online, showcasing the internet as a space for religious communities. A year later, key articles such as O’Leary’s “Cyberspace as Sacred Space” (1996) and O’Leary and Brasher’s “The Unknown God of the Internet” (1996) were the first high-profile pieces documenting how religion, from Christianity to Paganism, was being manifested in online environments.

This was an era where the terms internet and cyberspace were synonymous, and the term cyber-religion began to be used to describe manifestations of religious worship, gathering, and community popping up in online platforms. The popular notion was that cyberspace is a different space, unrelated to people’s real life. Therefore, this framing evoked popular utopian and dystopian images of cyberspace as a mythic space that both freed people from traditional and bodily constraints and yet could, somehow, entrap them in a false reality beyond the screen. Cyber-religion was used by some to suggest new kinds of religious community and ritual could be imagined through the new technology of the internet and the mediated virtual environment of cyberspace. The emphasis was on a type of religious engagement that is different, new, alienated, even, from traditional religion. Research on cyber-churches and temples suggested a new alliance was emerging between computer technology and religion as people experimented with bringing their spiritual lives into cyberspace (Bauwens 1996). From the 1990s to mid-2000s, the term cyber-religion was used to describe a variety of religious manifestations on the internet. Hadden and Cowan used it to identify “those religious organizations or groups which exist only in cyberspace” (2000: 29). Brasher, in Give Me that Online Religion (2001), uses cyber-religion as a broad concept that could refer both to “the presence of religious organization and religious activities in cyberspace” (p. 9) or could encompass the notion of “the gradual emergence of new, electronically inspired religious practice and ideas” (p. 30). Hojsgaard’s (2005) thoughtful reflection on cyber-religion as a theoretical concept concluded it was a term “whose contents reflect the main features of postmodern cyberculture . . . a solid opposition to traditionally structured religious institutions” and yet as “a phenomenon addresses the same type of ontological and metaphysical questions that religious institutions and traditions have usually done” (p. 62). Cyber-religion provided a way to explore and call into question traditional assumptions about religion found in this new technological, mediated context.

In the mid-2000s, some scholars began to use the term “virtual religion” instead of cyber-religion. This move was meant to emphasize the nature of digital or online environments as one unique from offline spaces. However, the use of the term “virtual” became problematic, as it linked it to the concept of “virtual reality” (VR). VR in the 2000s was used to refer to technologically created simulated experiences, often created by game environments, which are seen as distinct from the “real world.” Virtual religion thus evoked the assumption that it was a form of religion that was somehow incomplete or a false form of religiosity. This limited the usefulness of the term in the long run. Though virtual religion is still used from time to time in scholarly work, its use often points to problematic assumptions that religion taking place online or mediated through digital technologies is disconnected from true, embodied religion, which is only offline.

In an attempt to reframe and clarify scholars’ exploration of religion and the internet, Helland’s early work (2000) offered another conceptual framing through using the categories of “religion online” and “online religion.” He sought to differentiate whether information and rituals were largely based on offline sources and practices or on unique forms of practice arising from digitally born expressions of religion. Religion online was lauded for empowering its members to reform rituals and bypass traditional systems of legitimation or recognized gatekeepers, and for the opportunities it provided to transcend normal limits of time and space. Online religion represented how the fluid and flexible nature of the internet allowed new forms of religiosity and lived religious practices online. Though much less common than the occurrence of religion online, the concept of online religion helps scholars distinguish the ways the internet created a truly new social landscape for imaging the spiritual contemporary society. These categories initially helped scholars distinguish the context and type of practice they were studying and played an important role in many studies of religion and the internet. Distinguishing religion online from online religion allowed scholars to talk in more concrete terms about the traits of internet-based religiosity (Kawabata & Tamura 2007) and the extent to which traditional religious practices and community could be transported or replicated online (Howard 2010), as well as debate the relationship between, or overlapping nature of, the framings of religious expression and activity online (Young 2004). Helland later went on to critique his own categories as theoretical endpoints in and of themselves. He even reformulated them as standalone categories in his own work. By the mid-2000s, he stated that any attempt to fully separate religion online from the offline was becoming increasingly difficult, as people frequently blended their online and offline social networks and interactions in ways that blurred their distinction (see Helland 2005). Although the terms religion online and online religion are still used by scholars as basic tools for mapping the different ways individuals and groups conceive of or engage with online activities, other theoretical concepts continue to be developed.

In the 2010s, the study of religion and the internet in other digital contexts has come to be referred to as “digital religion.” Starting in 2012, this was used as the title of a number of international conferences focused on research on religious practice online (e.g., International Conference on Digital Religion, University of Colorado Boulder, January 2012; Digital Religion Symposium, Donner Institute in Turku, Finland, June 2012), research initiatives (e.g., the Digital Religion: Knowledge, Politics and Practice project run by the Center for Religion and Media at New York University), and book projects. Six months before the first version of this text was published, Cheong, Fischer-Nielsen, Gelfgren, and Ess put out an edited collection called Digital Religion, Social Media, and Culture (2012), which drew together a range of studies that reflect the complex relationship emerging between digital media and contemporary religiosity in a Web 2.0 world. Stewart Hoover suggests, in the forward of Digital Religion (2012), that the study of religion and digital media has passed from simply exploring the “digitalization of religion”— which considers how digital media force religious groups and practitioners to adapt altering notions of religious tradition, authority, or authenticity—to consider at a deeper level “the actual contribution ‘the digital’ is making to ‘the religious’” (p. ix). In other words, he suggested digital religion could be understood as religion that is constituted in new ways through digital media and cultures. Hoover highlights that this may lead to a new understanding of religion, one that is rooted in unique understandings and experiences of the mediation of meaning via digital technology. These recognized religious practices have both online and offline contexts and implications. This showed scholars of religion that, when religion takes place in digital technologies or platforms, our understanding of religious practice is challenged in ways that lead to new forms of religious experiences, authenticity, and spiritual reflexivity.

In the previous introduction of this text, Campbell described digital religion as “the technological and cultural space that is evoked when we talk how online and offline religious spheres have become blended” (2012: xx). She further encouraged readers to think of this concept as a bridge that connects and extends online religious practices and spaces into offline religious contexts, and vice versa:

This merging of new and established notions of religious practice means digital religion is imprinted by both the character of online culture (such as its traits of interactivity, convergence, audience-generated content, etc.) and traditional religion (such as patterns of belief and ritual tied to historically grounded communities). Digital religion as a concept acknowledges both how digital technology and culture shape religious practice and beliefs, but also how religion seeks to culture new media contexts with established ways of being and convictions about the nature of reality and the larger world.

(2012: xx)

Greg Grieve similarly argued, in his chapter on religion (2012), that digital religion represents a distinct cultural sphere of religious practice that is not dichotomous. This understanding of digital religion helps scholars push past previous discourses that simply looked at the innovation of religion online to consider the acceptance of online religious practice in contemporary culture, which may point to a different understanding of religion online and offline, one that is informed by the social structures and cultural practices of life in a technology- and information-infused society. It is with this recognition that this collection, Digital Religion: Understanding Religion in a Digital Age, emerges, seeking to offer a nuanced reflection on how religion is taking place in digital environments and becomes informed by the key characteristics and ideology of digital media that can alter not only practice, but the meaning-making process. This text is situated within a growing literature on religious engagement online spanning three decades. This introduction not only frames this collection, but provides an overview of the birth and development of this area of scholarly inquiry in order to contextualize both the state of the field and the contribution this volume seeks to make to it.

Religion and digital media studies: a growing scholarly subfield

The study of religion and digital media has evolved in multiple ways over the last decades. Although there are still only a few research centers that emphasize combining these areas of studies, research on this intersection can be found in leading association conferences, journals, and academic institutions around the world. The subfield is beginning to find its footing, and, as such, there is less of a need for an apologetic for this type of inquiry. That being said, it is worthwhile to highlight some of the reasons this is a valid area of interdisciplinary scholarly study.

First, it is important to note the rise of digital religion among the general population. Scholars have noted examples of people practicing and bringing their religious practice online as early as the mid-1980s, when computer hobbyists, governmental researchers, and individuals with early internetwo...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction to the study of digital religion
• PART 1 Themes in the study of religion and new media
• PART 2 Thematic case studies
• PART 3 Reflections on studying religion and digital media