%0 Book %D 2010 %T Religions of Modernity: Relocating the Sacred to the Self and the Digital %A Stef Aupers %A Dick Houtman %K Emile Durkheim %K individualism %K Max Weber %K modernization %K religion %K Spirituality %X Religions of Modernity challenges the social-scientific orthodoxy that, once unleashed, the modern forces of individualism, science and technology inevitably erode the sacred and evoke the profane. The book's chapters, some by established scholars, others by junior researchers, document instead in rich empirical detail how modernity relocates the sacred to the deeper layers of the self and the domain of digital technology. Rather than destroying the sacred tout court, then, the cultural logic of modernization spawns its own religious meanings, unacknowledged spiritualities and magical enchantments. The editors argue in the introductory chapter that the classical theoretical accounts of modernity by Max Weber, Emile Durkheim and others already hinted at the future emergence of these religions of modernity %I BRILL %G eng %U http://books.google.com/books/about/Religions_of_Modernity.html?id=l85zsiTI28sC %0 Conference Proceedings %D 2015 %T Média, spiritualité et laïcité : Regards croisés franco-roumains %A Bratosin, Stefan %K France %K laïcité %K media %K secularity %K Spirituality %X This scientific event brought together different authorities, academic institutions and political and media organizations at the Villa Noël in Bucharest to make an assessment on the sensitive questions related to religious freedom and liberty of conscience, on spirituality and secularity, full of meaning symbols, with a significant emotional and ethical charge. This book is a contribution to the public sphere debate on the secularity and the spirituality in the service of freedom considering two paradigmatic cases, two European countries: Romania – statistically the most religious country of Europe, and France – statistically the less religious country of Europe. *** Cette manifestation scientifique a réuni différentes instances, institutions et organisations académiques, politiques et médiatiques à la Villa Noël afin de dresser un bilan sur les questionnements sensibles liés à la liberté religieuse et de conscience, à la spiritualité et à la laïcité, symboles chargés de sens intellectuel, éthique et émotionnel. Les communications sont une contribution au débat concernant la prise de distance épistémologique et éthique « politiquement correct » pour une laïcité et une spiritualité au service de la liberté en considérant deux cas paradigmatiques, deux pays européens, la Roumanie et la France, dont l'un est statistiquement le plus religieux de l'Europe et l'autre le moins religieux, et qui, dans leurs espaces publics respectifs, déclinent différemment la relation entre spiritualité et laïcité. %7 Iarsic %I Iarsic %C Les Arcs/France %P 146 %@ 978-2953245066 %G eng %U http://iarsic.com/en/product/media-spiritualite-et-laicite-regards-croises-franco-roumains/ %0 Book %D 2004 %T Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet %A Lorne L. Dawson %A Douglas E. Cowan %K Australia %K cyberspace %K identity %K internet %K Islam %K religion %K Spirituality %K USA %K virtual community %K Youth %I Routledge %G eng %U http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=wv7yBEkNy90C&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=religion+and+internet&ots=CA4s_YcVP2&sig=xdDIUwtCtkJoZbGLjswTPVLMeg4#v=onepage&q=religion%20and%20internet&f=false %0 Thesis %D 2008 %T Technology, ecology and spirituality: neopaganism and hybrid ontologies in technoculture %A Susan Gallacher %K ecology %K neopaganism %K Spirituality %K technology %X This thesis considers three convergent issues pertinent to investigations of identity and agency in contemporary society: the proliferation of digital, network technologies, the rise of interest in secular — ‘new edge’ — spiritualities, and our growing awareness of impending ecological crises. I argue that these three issues necessitate a critical reconsideration of human agency, one that embodies a more sustainable and responsible ‘being-in-the-world’. With this goal in mind, I apply the insights of ecofeminism, feminist approaches to technology and science, and the philosophy of technology, to provide a critical analysis of the human-technology relation in the broader contexts of gender, ecology and spirituality. In particular, I highlight the strengths of ecofeminism, and then employ several alternative theories in order to attend to limitations I identify within ecofeminism; in particular, its uncompromising stance towards modern technology as wholly patriarchal and damaging to both nature and women. Against this position, I argue that technology is fully embedded in and central to our being-in-the-world, and thus must be accounted for in any consideration of contemporary agency. I then attend to both technophobic and technophilic approaches to technology and technoscience in feminism more generally, suggesting how these oppositional tensions are embodied in the figures of the ‘cyborg’ and the ‘goddess’. In search of more complex, hybridised ways to understand the human-technology relation, I then turn to three key theorists – Don Ihde, Donna Haraway and Bruno Latour. Synergising their approaches with the neopagan worldview, I propose a metaphorical and material identity which properly attends to and incorporates the treble issues of ecology, technology and spirituality into its worldview: the technopagan. At once nature-worshipper and digital dweller, the technopagan is a dynamic, multi-faceted and adaptable agent that can effectively challenge traditional humanist binaries between nature and technology, science and religion, and human and nonhuman. %I Murdoch University %8 2008 %G eng %U http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/706/ %0 Book Section %B Halos and Avatars: Playing Video Games With God %D 2010 %T Ultima IV: Simulating the Religious Quest %A Mark Hayse %K Britannia %K messianic figure %K quest %K religion %K religious games %K religious video games %K Spirituality %K Ultima %K video games %B Halos and Avatars: Playing Video Games With God %I Westminster John Knox Press %G eng %U http://books.google.com/books?id=GomyEvcocJsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=wagner&f=false %1 Craig Detweiler %& 2 %0 Journal Article %J Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet %D 2008 %T S(l)Pirituality. Immersive Worlds as a Window to Spirituality Phenomena %A Martinez-Zárate, Pablo %A Corduneanu, Isabela %A Martinez, Luiz M %K Phenomena %K Spirituality %X This paper focuses on several conceptual and methodological considerations for studying spirituality in Massive Multiuser Online Environments (MMOEs), taking Second Life (SL) as our main case study. This inquiry represents the follow-up of two previous research lines, one related with pop-esoteric products and operational belief system, and the other with communication patterns and social networks within online environments. Hence, our current objective pretends to highlight how operational belief articulates, or acquires meaning, through users’ interaction inside online environments. %B Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet %V 3 %U http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/volltexte/2008/8295/pdf/martinez.pdf %N 1 %0 Journal Article %J Religion %D 2002 %T Virtual Religion in Context %A Maxwell, P %K community %K Context %K religion %K Spirituality %K Virtual %X This article explores the notion of 'virtual religion' in various ways. In part, it is a response to a number of ideas found in the articles by Philip P. Arnold, Shawn Arthur, Christopher Helland, Anastasia Karaflogka and Mark MacWilliams which appear in this issue of Religion, but it also discusses religion in online contexts in relation to various important themes such as the character of cyberspace both present and future, the multimedia Web and its alleged postmodern orientations, virtual identity, the dynamics of virtual community, and the controversies concerning the positive and negative ramifications of online life and experience, as discussed by technomystics, technophobes and others who hold more moderate views. The article ends by raising some questions about the future character of religion and spirituality in cyberspace %B Religion %V 32 %P 343-354 %G English %U http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1006/reli.2002.0410 %N 4 %0 Journal Article %J International Journal of Communication %D 2017 %T Online Ultra-Orthodox Religious Communities as a Third Space: A Netnographic Study %A Okun, S %A Nimrod, G %K Judaism %K netnography %K networked religion %K online communities %K Spirituality %K third space %K ultra-Orthodox %X This research applies a netnographic approach to explore the extent to which online communities function as a third space that supports a networked religion. Five months of observation at a leading online ultra-Orthodox Jewish forum revealed four chief characteristics: religious–secular discussion—the forum served as a platform for religious discourse as well as a sphere for discussing a wide range of subjects unrelated to religion; identity game—members constantly played two types of identity games: personal and group; intense activity—the forum was characterized by rather intense activity patterns; and a unique religious expressiveness—this was reflected in textual and visual representations and exhibited in online debates. Findings indicate that the forum offers its members a third space of digital religion that is hybrid in any possible sense and reinforces a lively networked religion. While it aims at enabling serious discussion of religious matters, it also serves members as a social sphere in which they can communicate about extrareligious issues; express their personalities, skills and opinions; and even play with their anonymous peers. %B International Journal of Communication %V 11 %G eng %U http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/6515 %0 Journal Article %J Sociological Focus %D 2013 %T Internet Accessibility of the Mizuko Kuyo (Water-Child Ritual) in Modern Japan: A Case Study in Weberian Rationality %A Mieko Yamadaa %A Anson Shupea %K Buddhist %K children %K infants %K Japan %K memorial service %K mizuko kuyo %K New Religious %K religion %K Ritual %K Shinto %K Spirituality %K websites %X The mizuko kuyo is a Japanese (Buddhist, Shinto, New Religious, other) memorial service for infants or young children who have died through some misfortune, including disease, miscarriage, and, increasingly, elective abortion. Indeed, abortion is the predominant form of contraception for many Japanese families. Here we consider, in Weberian terms of the rationalization of institutions, how Internet accessibility and its created virtual reality of the mizuko kuyo has driven its popularity along the dimensions of privatization, bureaucratization, and commodification in decisions to perform the ritual by Internet. We utilize a sample of Tokyo mizuko kuyo Web sites and the contexts of their advertisements and available services for mizuko kuyo, including fee structures and other advertising “lures,” to analyze this merging of traditional and modern technological paths of spirituality along Weberian theoretical lines. %B Sociological Focus %V 46 %G eng %U http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00380237.2013.796833#.Ul1LyVCsim5 %N 3 %& 229