%0 Journal Article %J Zeitschrift für junge Religionswissenschaft %D 2017 %T #WhatBritishMuslimsReallyThink: Negotiating Religious and National Identity on Twitter %A Aeschbach, Mirjam %X In the discursive construction of intra-national sameness, religious identity is often a key criterion for inclusion or exclusion from the imagined national community. In today’s Europe, the boundaries of individual nations are increasingly secured by applying a logic characteristic of Islamophobia and cultural racism. Therefore, the negotiation of Muslim identity and its intersection with the respective national identity category is of particular interest. In this study, the Twitter hashtag #WhatBritishMuslimsReallyThink was examined in order to analyze how members of the British Muslim digital community both construct and reinforce their collective identity as well as employ discursive strategies to negotiate British national identity and their national belonging in the face of exclusionary political rhetoric. Drawing on a corpus of 480 tweets containing the hashtag #WhatBritishMuslimsReallyThink, a mixed-method content analysis approach was employed to analyze the topics and strategies present in the hashtag discourse. Thereby, the issues addressed and the strategies of belonging employed in the Twitter conversation are embedded in a larger public discourse on British national identity and intra-national boundary making. This research investigates Twitter as a site of national and religious identity construction and sheds light on the contested nature of such identity categories. %B Zeitschrift für junge Religionswissenschaft %G eng %U https://journals.openedition.org/zjr/896 %0 Book Section %B In Religions of Modernity. Relocating the Sacred to the Self and the Digital %D 2010 %T Where the Zeroes Meet the Ones’ Exploring the Affinity Between Magic And Computer Technology %A Aupers, S %K Computer Technology %K magic %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 classical theoretical accounts of modernity by Max Weber, Emile Durkheim and others, it is argued in the introductory chapter, already hinted that there's a future for such religions of modernity. %B In Religions of Modernity. Relocating the Sacred to the Self and the Digital %I Brill %C Leiden %G eng %U https://books.google.com/books?id=l85zsiTI28sC&pg=PA219&lpg=PA219&dq=Where+the+Zeroes+Meet+the+Ones%E2%80%99+Exploring+the+Affinity+Between+Magic+And+Computer+Technology&source=bl&ots=PKOkW7Zlke&sig=I6iq-gAyURsGIdYs-5qxB7fwZ_M&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi1uMzW %1 S. Aupers, D. Houtman %0 Book Section %B Religions of Modernity: Relocating the Sacred to the Self and the Digital %D 2010 %T “Where the Zeroes Meet the Ones”: Exploring the Affinity between Magic and Computer Technology” %A Aupers, Stef %A Aupers, Stef %A Houtman, Dick %K alternative religion online %K technopaganism %B Religions of Modernity: Relocating the Sacred to the Self and the Digital %I Brill %C Leiden %P 219-238 %0 Book Section %B Youth, Identity, and Digital Media Volume %D 2007 %T Why Youth Heart Social Network Sites %A Boyd, Danah %K Social Networking %K Young %K Youth %X Social network sites like MySpace and Facebook serve as "networked publics." As with unmediated publics like parks and malls, youth use networked publics to gather, socialize with their peers, and make sense of and help build the culture around them. This article examines American youth engagement in networked publics and considers how properties unique to such mediated environments (e.g., persistence, searchability, replicability, and invisible audiences) affect the ways in which youth interact with one another. Ethnographic data is used to analyze how youth recognize these structural properties and find innovative ways of making these systems serve their purposes. Issues like privacy and impression management are explored through the practices of teens and youth participation in social network sites is situated in a historical discussion of youth's freedom and mobility in the United States. %B Youth, Identity, and Digital Media Volume %I MIT Press %C Cambridge, MA %P 119-142 %G eng %U http://www.danah.org/papers/WhyYouthHeart.pdf %0 Journal Article %J Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication %D 2007 %T Who’s got the power? The question of religious authority and the internet %A Heidi Campbell %K Authority %K Christianity %K internet %K Islam %K Judaism %X While many themes have been explored in relation to religion online—ritual, identity construction, community—what happens to religious authority and power relationships within online environments is an area in need of more detailed investigation. In order to move discussions of authority from the broad or vague to the specific, this article argues for a more refined identification of the attributes of authority at play in the online context. This involves distinguishing between different layers of authority in terms of hierarchy, structure, ideology, and text. The article also explores how different religious traditions approach questions of authority in relation to the Internet. Through a qualitative analysis of three sets of interviews with Christians, Jews, and Muslims about the Internet, we see how authority is discussed and contextualized differently in each religious tradition in terms of these four layers of authority. %B Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication %V 12 %U http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue3/campbell.html %N 3 %& 14 %0 Book %D 2007 %T When Religion Meets New Media: Media, Religion and Culture %A Campbell, Heidi %X This lively book focuses on how different Jewish, Muslim, and Christian communities engage with new media. Rather than simply reject or accept new media, religious communities negotiate complex relationships with these technologies in light of their history and beliefs. Heidi Campbell suggests a method for studying these processes she calls the "religious-social shaping of technology" and students are asked to consider four key areas: religious tradition and history; contemporary community values and priorities; negotiation and innovating technology in light of the community; communal discourses applied to justify use. A wealth of examples such as the Christian e-vangelism movement, Modern Islamic discourses about computers and the rise of the Jewish kosher cell phone, demonstrate the dominant strategies which emerge for religious media users, as well as the unique motivations that guide specific groups. %I Media, Religion, and Culture %G eng %U https://www.routledge.com/When-Religion-Meets-New-Media/Campbell/p/book/9780415349574 %0 Journal Article %J Continuum: Journal of Media and Culture %D 2007 %T "What hath God wrought”: Considering how religious communities culture (or kosher) the cell phone %A Heidi Campbell %K cell phone %K Israel %K kosher phone %K Orthodox Judaism %K religion %B Continuum: Journal of Media and Culture %V 21 %P 191-203 %G English %U http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10304310701269040 %N 2 %0 Book %D 2010 %T When Religion Meets New Media %A Heidi Campbell %K Christianity %K Islam %K Judaism %K New Media %X This book focuses on how different Jewish, Muslim, and Christian communities engage with new media. Rather than simply reject or accept new media, religious communities negotiate complex relationships with these technologies in light of their history and beliefs. I suggest a method for studying these processes called the "religious-social shaping of technology" and students are asked to consider four key areas: religious tradition and history; contemporary community values and priorities; negotiation and innovating technology in light of the community; communal discourses applied to justify use. A variety of examples such as the Christian e-vangelism movement, Modern Islamic discourses about computers and the rise of the Jewish kosher cell phone, demonstrate the dominant strategies which emerge for religious media users, as well as the unique motivations that guide specific groups. %I Routledge %C London %U http://books.google.com/books?id=UykFd5cBsrYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false %0 Journal Article %J Information, Communication and Society %D 2008 %T ‘WWW.Faith.Org’: (Re)structuring communication and social capital building among religious organizations. %A Pauline Hope Cheong %A Poon, Jessie %K community %K internet %K social capital %K theory of religion online %X This paper examines the relationships between Internet and social capital building within religious organizations, a relatively understudied foci. Building upon theoretical insights provided by new institutionalism and recent research on the Internet, social capital and religion, this article explores the ways in which religious organizations, have (re)structured their norms, values, and practices of religious community in light of the incorporation of the Internet into their congregational life. Drawing from interviews conducted with Christian and Buddhist religious leaders in Toronto, this article discusses three major relationships in which the effects of the Internet on social capital may be understood, that is, complementary, transformative, and perverse relationships. Religious organizations are traditionally associated with relatively high stocks of social capital, yet findings here suggest that their communicative norms, values, and practices are changing to varying extent. The results also indicate that the relationship between the Internet and social capital building is largely complementary; however the Internet is perceived by some to be a ‘mixed blessing’, facilitating the potential transformation of organizational practices that affect community norms while leading to the dispersion of religious ties that could undermine community solidarity. Thus, contrary to earlier studies that have documented no evidence of innovations involving the reconfiguration of organizational practices and the adjustment of mission or services, findings here illustrate how some religious organizations have expanded the scope of their calling and restructured their communicative practices to spur administrative and operational effectiveness. Like other organizations, religious organizations are not insulated from technological changes including those associated with the Internet’s. This study clarifies and identifies key ways in which the distinct spirituality, cultural values, and institutional practices and norms of religious organizations influence communication processes that constitute bridging and bonding forms of social capital in this dot.org. era of faith. %B Information, Communication and Society %V 11 %P 89-110 %U http://www.paulinehopecheong.com %N 1 %0 Journal Article %J Journal of International and Intercultural Communication %D 2009 %T Weaving Webs of Faith: Examining Internet Use and Religious Communication Among Chinese Protestant Transmigrants %A Pauline Hope Cheong %A Poon, Jessie %K Chinese %K Communication %K Immigrants %K Media use %X This paper examines the relationship between new media use and international communication that addresses religiosity and affirms users' standpoints occupied by transmigrants that are marginalized in dominant societal structures. Drawing from focus group interviews among recent Chinese Protestant immigrants in Toronto, we argue that new media “use” is broadened by users' cultural appropriation in situational contexts to include proxy internet access as accommodative communication given the political and legal constraints in their home country. Chinese transmigrants not only reinterpret and alter semantic associations that spiritualize the internet, they also engage in innovative strategies that involve the intertwining of offline and online communicative modes. These include deploying complementary media forms or communicating in codes that are mutually understood among participating members to facilitate intragroup networking among Chinese religious communities. Implications are discussed with regard to the importance of cultural norms and situational context in shaping mediated international communication. %B Journal of International and Intercultural Communication %V 2 %P 189-207 %G English %U http://www.paulinehopecheong.com %N 3 %R 10.1080/17513050902985349 %0 Book Section %B Religion and Reality TV: Faith in Late Capitalism %D 2018 %T When the most popular format reaches the most atypical country: reality TV and religion in Israel %A Cohen, Y %A Hetsroni, A %K Israel %K reality TV %K religion %X This chapter looks at the ways in which Judaism finds expression in reality shows in Israel. Three aspects are examined: reaction to the programs from religious leaders and religious communities; participation of religious people in the shows; and the appearance of religion-related topics in the programs. %B Religion and Reality TV: Faith in Late Capitalism %I Routledge %C London %G eng %U https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781134792078 %1 Mara Einstein, Katherine Madden, Diane Winston %& 6 %0 Book %D 2008 %T The Wonder Phone in the Land of Miracles. Mobile Telephony in Israel %A Cohen, Akiba %A Lemish, Dafna %A Schejter, Amit %K Israel %K mobile %K technology %K Telephone %X Studies conducted over several years in Israel explored social aspects of the developing mobile phone phenomenon. Using a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods the research examined the place that the "Wonder Phone" has been occupying in many facets of life. It was concluded that the mobile is "not only talk"--as a recent campaign slogan of one of Israel's mobile providers suggests. Rather, it is a medium through which Israelis define their gendered and national identities; it offers an experience of "being there" and a security net holding family members and loved ones together, especially in terms of terror and war; and it provides a lifeline during existential crises around which rituals of mourning are crystallized. In analyzing the mobile phone as it is contextualized in Israeli society, two opposing social forces can clearly be seen: on the one hand, the mobile is an expression of late modernity and globalization; but on the other hand it is recruited as a tool--as well as a symbol--for the expression of locality and patriotic sentiments. %I Hampton Press, Inc %C Cresskill, NJ %G English %0 Journal Article %J Social Media + Society %D 2016 %T Who would Jesus bomb? The Republican Jesus meme and the fracturing of ideology %A Duerringer, C. A %K Ideology %K Jesus %K meme %X This project joins a growing conversation about the cultural significance of memes (and Internet memes in particular), offering a critical analysis of Republican Jesus—one popular image macro that mocks contemporary American conservatism—in order to illustrate the rhetorical potential of these putatively harmless do-it yourself (DIY) creations. Ultimately, I argue that Republican Jesus offers a critique of contemporary conservatism that creates “perspective by incongruity” and, thereby, creates a space for ideological struggle. %B Social Media + Society %V 2 %P 1-12 %8 Jan-March %G eng %U http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2056305116637095#articleCitationDownloadContainer %N 1 %0 Journal Article %J The Pomegranate %D 2009 %T Witchcraft: Changing Patterns of Participation in the Early Twenty-First Century %A Douglas Ezzy %A Berger, Helen %K alternative religion online %K paganism online %X There are indications that the phenomenal growth of Witchcraft and Paganism during the late twentieth and early twenty-first century may be slowing, based on statistics from selected search engines, websites, and blogs. In particular, inquisitive inquiry about contemporary Witchcraft— that is, those who are not Witches but are looking for information about it, such as seekers, dabblers, researchers, students doing term papers, and newspaper reporters—has declined since 2004. This decline, however, does not indicate that the religion is “dying out” because while the rate of increase has slowed it has not been eliminated; and of greater import, community networking appears to have remained stable, or possibly to have increased. Community networking can be seen in the use of Internet sites to share information about Witchcraft, upcoming rituals, or books and teachers, those participating in dialogue, or using the Internet as part of their spiritual work or for communications between coven meetings, or with coven members who are unable to attend. The statistics suggest that contemporary Witchcraft and Paganism may be in a period of change, in which there is a consolidation of membership with a slowing of the rate of new members, particularly among the young. Community building on the Internet continues to be important, but the intensity appears to be lessening, with indications of more people “posting” but doing so less frequently. We suggest that this indicates that Witchcraft is now entering a new phase of consolidation with less intense participation by members. %B The Pomegranate %V 11 %P 165-180 %G English %N 2 %& 165 %0 Book %D 1999 %T What is apologetics? Baker encyclopedia of Christian apologetics %A Norman L. Geisler %X This comprehensive reference volume covers every key issue, person, and concept related to Christian apologetics from Anselm to Zen. %I Baker Academic %G eng %U https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Christian-Apologetics-Reference-Library/dp/0801021510 %0 Journal Article %J Nordicom Review %D 2015 %T Why Does the Archbishop Not Tweet?: How Social Media Challenge Church Authorities %A Gelfgren, Stefan %X In summer 2012, the Archbishop of the Church of Sweden appeared on Twitter. There was only one problem – it was not the Archbishop himself who was tweeting, but an anonymous person. A discussion then ensued on Twitter and in the blogosphere between those in favor of the Archbishop and his department and mainly social media proponents. The present article describes and analyzes the social media debate, and how authority and hierarchies are negotiated in and through social media. The analysis is based on Heidi Campbell’s “Religious-Social Shaping of Technology” model, and emphasizes the need to take into account not only the faith and tradition of the religious actor, but also the societal context in which the negotiating process takes place. In this case, the concepts of “media- tization” and “secularization” are used to understand the broader context of the process. %B Nordicom Review %G eng %U http://umu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A827966&dswid=-1496 %0 Journal Article %J Nordic journal of religion and society %D 2018 %T Wear White: The mediatized politics of religious anti-LGBT activism in Singapore %A Han, Samuel %X As a result of the perceived rise in LGBT visibility and acceptance in Singapore, a social media campaign started in 2014 called Wear White, which brought together both Muslim and Christian participants to counter the annual Pink Dot rally. This is Singapore's version of (gay) pride parades, which are held in major cities all across the world. This article aims to analyze this religious backlash against LGBT, paying attention to its “media logic,” a term borrowed from the “mediatization” literature, and presenting it as a framework to understand the politicization of religion in the context of the Singapore state. It asks: (1) What sorts of intellectual arguments and aesthetic techniques are deployed in Wear White's media discourse? (2) How does Wear White's media discourse balance its anti-LGBT message within the secular(ist) context of Singapore? (3) How does social media affect Wear White's message in its attempt to bring it to a larger audience? To this end, the article engages in a critical assessment of Wear White's media discourse of the campaign, including video logs (vlogs) and social media posts. %B Nordic journal of religion and society %G eng %U https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331996394_Wear_white_The_mediatized_politics_of_religious_anti-LGBT_activism_in_Singapore %0 Book Section %B Lived Religion in America: Toward a History of Practice %D 1997 %T What Scripture Tells me: Spontaneity and Regulation within the Catholic Charismatic Renewal %A Hervieu-Leger, D %K Catholic %K Charismatic Renewal %K Christianity %K Lived religion %K religious participation %B Lived Religion in America: Toward a History of Practice %I Princeton University Press %G eng %U http://books.google.com/books/about/Lived_Religion_in_America.html?id=IIk8WWy2kGsC %1 David D. Hall %0 Book Section %B Emotion, Identity and Death: Mortality Across Disciplines %D 2012 %T Wiring death: dying, grieving and remembering on the internet %A Hutchings, T. %K Death %B Emotion, Identity and Death: Mortality Across Disciplines %I Ashgate %G eng %1 Davies, D. Park, C. %0 Book Section %B Interactions in Virtual Worlds. Proceedings of the fifteenth Tewnte Workshop on language technology %D 1999 %T Why Bill was killed. Understanding social interaction in virtual worlds' %A Jakobsson, M. %X This paper deals with how we should approach the sociology of virtual worlds on the Internet. I argue for the importance of establishing an inside view based on direct experiences of the phenomenon, to avoid the risks of drawing erroneous conclusions about virtual worlds based on the physical world, and not realizing that virtual worlds are full of real people engaged in real interaction. I present an incident from a world based on the Palace technology to examplify the following points: The social interaction is fundamentally different from interaction in the physical world. The interaction is real. The social structures are hierarchical. People are not anonymous. %B Interactions in Virtual Worlds. Proceedings of the fifteenth Tewnte Workshop on language technology %I Tewnte University %C Enschede %G English %U http://www8.informatik.umu.se/~mjson/files/bill.pdf %1 A. Nijholt %0 Unpublished Work %D 2008 %T Waving a "Hi": Religion Among Facebook Users %A Johns, M.D. %K Facebook %K religion %K social media %K user %I Association of Internet Researchers 9.0 %C Copenhagen %G eng %0 Journal Article %J Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture %D 2014 %T When Church and Cinema Combine: Blurring Boundaries through Media-Savvy Evangelicalism %A D Justice %K Church %K Cinema %K Cineplex %K CityChurch %K Evangelicalism %K Germany %K Media-Savvy %X The use of social media presents new religious groups with opportunities to assert themselves in contrast to established religious institutions. Intersections of church and cinema form a central part of this phenomenon. On one hand, many churches embrace digital media, from Hollywood clips in sermons to sermons delivered entirely via video feed. Similarly and overlapping with this use of media, churches in cinemas have emerged around the world as a new form of Sunday morning worship. This paper investigates intersections of church and cinema through case studies of two representative congregations. CityChurch, in Würzburg, Germany, is a free evangelical faith community that meets in a downtown Cineplex for Sunday worship. LCBC (Lives Changed by Christ) is one of the largest mult-sited megachurches on the American East Coast. While LCBC’s main campus offers live preaching, sermons are digitally streamed to the rest. Both CityChurch and LCBC exemplify growing numbers of faith communities that rely on popular musical and social media to 1) redefine local and global religious relationships and 2) claim identity as both culturally alternative and spiritually authentic. By engaging with international flows of worship music, films, and viral internet sensations, new media-centered faith communities like CityChurch and LCBC reconfigure established sacred soundscapes. CityChurch’s use of music and media strategically differentiates the congregation from neighboring traditional forms of German Christianity while strengthening connections to the imagined global evangelical community. LCBC creates what cultural geographer Justin Wilford dubs a “postsuburban sacrality” that carves out meaning from the banality of strip-mall-stubbed suburban existence. Analyzing the dynamics of music and media in these new worship spaces assumes growing importance as transnational music and media choices play an increasingly a central role in locally differentiating emergent worship communities from historically hegemonic religious neighbors. %B Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture %V 3 %G eng %U http://jrmdc.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Justice.pdf %N 1 %& 84 %0 Journal Article %J Pew Internet and American Life Project %D 2000 %T Wired Churches, Wired Temples: Taking Congregations and Missions into Cyberspace %A Larsen, E. %K churches %K congregations %K internet %K Missions %K temples %K wired %B Pew Internet and American Life Project %8 12/2000 %G eng %U http://www.umcom.org/atf/cf/%7B60c02017-4f6a-4f3b-883a-4afaece1182f%7D/PEWWIREDCHURCHES.PDF %0 Generic %D 2004 %T Web of meanings: Dilemmatic aspects of ultra-orthodox Jewish women’s discourse concerning the Internet %A Oren Livio %A Keren Tenenboim %K GENDER %K internet %K Israeli society %K Jews %K Modernity %K Ultra-Orthodox Jewish %X Paper presented at Internet Research 5.0, University of Sussex, England. %G eng %U http://gsb.haifa.ac.il/~sheizaf/AOIR5/92.html %0 Journal Article %J Zadok Perspectives %D 2001 %T Would God Use Email? %A Lyon, D. %K email %K God %K religion %X Email is an ever-present tool of communication. It is used in business, among community groups, between friends and within families. But what is appropriate use? Are there occasions when email is inappropriate? David Lyon suggests a framework for answering these questions. %B Zadok Perspectives %V 71 %P 20-23 %G English %U http://www.zadok.org.au/perspectives/issue71/articles/lyon.shtml %0 Journal Article %J European Journal of Cultural Studies %D 2003 %T What's “home” got to do with it? Contradictory dynamics in the domestication of technology and the dislocation of domesticity. %A Morley, D. %X This article focuses on how we can understand the contradictory dynamicsthrough which communications technologies have been domesticated at the same time that domesticity itself has been dislocated. The article addresses questions of historical periodization and the need for a more developed historical perspective on the futurological debates about the new technologies with which so much of media and cultural studies is concerned today. %B European Journal of Cultural Studies %G eng %U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13675494030064001 %0 Book %D 2001 %T Witchcraft and the Web: Weaving Pagan Traditions Online %A Nightmare, M. Macha %X Witchcraft is one of the most popular and fastest growing spiritual paths in the US. it is also one of the busiest topics on the Web as once isolated communities find making connections a breeze with the advent of internet technology. M. Macha NightMare, a practicing with for 30 years, takes an unconventional look at the cultural effects of the internet on the ancient-future spirituality that is contemporary witchcraft. A new web is being woven with the threads of tradition and technology intertwined. %I ECW Press %C Ontario %G English %U http://www.insight-books.com/APPT/Witchcraft-The-Web/1550224662.html?PHPSESSID=2ab065a928fef4fb414965876e8670a4 %0 Book %D 2002 %T Webs of reality: social perspectives on science and religion %A Petry, Y. %A Stahl, W. A. %A Campbell, R. A. %A Diver, G. %K religion %K science %K social perceptions %K Webs %X Science and religion are often thought to be advancing irreconcilable goals and thus to be mutually antagonistic. Yet in the often acrimonious debates between the scientific and religious communities, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that both science and religion are systems of thought and knowledge that aim to understand the world and our place in it.Webs of Reality is a rare examination of the interrelationship between religion and science from a social science perspective, offering a broad view of the relationship, and posing practical questions regarding technology and ethics. Emphasizing how science and religion are practiced instead of highlighting the differences between them, the authors look for the subtle connections, tacit understandings, common history, symbols, and implicit myths that tie them together. How can the practice of science be understood from a religious point of view? What contributions can science make to religious understanding of the world? What contributions can the social sciences make to understanding both knowledge systems? Looking at religion and science as fields of inquiry and habits of mind, the authors discover not only similarities between them but also a wide number of ways in which they complement each other. %I Rutgers University Press %C New Brunswick %G eng %U http://books.google.com/books?id=GY6i84rSKMcC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false %0 Book %D 2002 %T Webs of reality: social perspectives on science and religion %A Petry, Y. %A Stahl, W. A. %A Campbell, R. A. %A Diver, G. %K religion %K science %K social perceptions %K Webs %X Science and religion are often thought to be advancing irreconcilable goals and thus to be mutually antagonistic. Yet in the often acrimonious debates between the scientific and religious communities, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that both science and religion are systems of thought and knowledge that aim to understand the world and our place in it.Webs of Reality is a rare examination of the interrelationship between religion and science from a social science perspective, offering a broad view of the relationship, and posing practical questions regarding technology and ethics. Emphasizing how science and religion are practiced instead of highlighting the differences between them, the authors look for the subtle connections, tacit understandings, common history, symbols, and implicit myths that tie them together. How can the practice of science be understood from a religious point of view? What contributions can science make to religious understanding of the world? What contributions can the social sciences make to understanding both knowledge systems? Looking at religion and science as fields of inquiry and habits of mind, the authors discover not only similarities between them but also a wide number of ways in which they complement each other. %I Rutgers University Press %C New Brunswick %G eng %U http://books.google.com/books?id=GY6i84rSKMcC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false %0 Web Page %D 2012 %T What is a thought leader? %A Prince, R. A. %A Rogers, B. %I Forbes.com %G eng %U https://www.forbes.com/sites/russprince/2012/03/16/what-is-a-thought-leader/#3d3e0ae97da0 %0 Book Section %B Ritual Matters. Dynamic Dimensions in Practice %D 2010 %T Wedding Design. Online: Transfer and Transformation of Ritual Elements in the Context of Wedding Rituals %A Radde-Antweiler, K. %X This book explores the interaction of rituals and ritualised practices utilising a cross-cultural approach. It discusses whether and why rituals are important today, and why they are possibly even more relevant than before. %B Ritual Matters. Dynamic Dimensions in Practice %I Routledge %C London/Delhi/New York %P 328-353, %G English %U http://books.google.com/books/about/Ritual_matters.html?id=ZwJPAQAAIAAJ %1 C. Brosius, U. Hüsken %0 Journal Article %J Social Media + Society %D 2020 %T Witches on Facebook: Mediatization of Neo-Paganism %A Renser, Berit %A Tiidenberg, Katrin %X This article investigates the mediatization of neo-Paganism by analyzing how Estonian witches use Facebook groups and Messenger and how Facebook’s affordances shape the neo-Paganism practiced in those spaces. This is a small-scale exploratory study based on ethnographic interviews and observational data. To understand the mediatization of neo-Paganism, we use the communicative figurations model which suggests three layers of analysis: framing, actors, and communicative practices. For a more granular understanding of these three on social media, we rely on the framework of affordances. We found that social media neo-Paganism is (1) characterized by networked eclecticism; (2) enacted by witches who amass authority by successfully using social media affordances; and (3) consists of practices and rituals that are preferred by seekers, easily transferable to social media settings and validated by Facebook algorithms. Social media neo-Paganism thus is a negotiation between authoritative witches, seekers, and platform affordances that validate some practices over others. %B Social Media + Society %G eng %U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2056305120928514 %0 Journal Article %J Studies in Christian Ethics %D 2008 %T Who watches the watchers? Towards an ethic of surveillance in a digital age %A Stoddart, E. %K Digital %K Privacy %K Surveillance %X The essay considers contemporary surveillance strategies from a Christian ethical perspective. It discusses first surveillance as a form of speech in the light of biblical themes of truthfulness, then draws on principles of subsidiarity and solidarity. Surveillance is dignified as human work whilst its dehumanizing outcomes are challenged. It is concluded that surveillance must contribute to human dignity and that accountability for data must follow a revised model of subsidiarity, appropriate to network rather than linear socio-political relationships. Mutual responsibility for one another's data-image is derived from solidarity which, further, offers a response to the angst of a culture of suspicion. %B Studies in Christian Ethics %V 21 %P 362-381 %G English %U http://sce.sagepub.com/content/21/3/362.abstract %N 3 %0 Journal Article %J Journal Of Theology For Southern Africa %D 2008 %T Web 2.0: technology for the postmodern sensibility and its implications for the church %A Van den Heever, James %X Web 2.0 is a new technology approach that in essence builds on the Internet's existing culture of collaboration and individual freedom. This article argues that Web 2.0 is both creator and creation of the postmodern Zeitgeist, with technology and social development existing in a mutually reinforcing spiral. To minister effectively to the postmodern world, the Church needs to understand how to use these new technologies and, more importantly, respond to the new world they simultaneously reflect and create. The article outlines the main characteristics of postmodernism, the context of Web 2.0, before examining in some detail the nature of Web 2.0. This discussion is followed by an outline of the main technologies that enable Web 2.0. It then moves onto a consideration of what all this means for the Church. Tactical uses of some of the technologies are suggested before the article moves on to examine the main implications of the combination of Web 2.0 and postmodernism. It concludes with a summary of the opportunities and challenges this combination presents for the Church. %B Journal Of Theology For Southern Africa %P 86-107 %8 11/2008 %G English %N 132 %& 86 %0 Book Section %B God in the Details: American Religion in Popular Culture %D 2010 %T When 'Friend' Becomes a Verb: Religion on the Social Web %A Daniel Veidlinger %K Digital Religion %K integration %K Interaction %K interpretation %K social media %K social networks %B God in the Details: American Religion in Popular Culture %I Routledge %C God in the Details: American Religion in Popular Culture %G eng %U http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415485364/ %1 Eric Mazur, Kate McCarthy %& 11 %0 Journal Article %J Feminist Review %D 2011 %T Women responding to the anti-Islam film Fitna: voices and acts of citizenship on YouTube %A Vis, F %A van Zoonen, L %A Mihelj, S %K anti-Islam %K citizenship %K Digital Religion %K Feminists %K Fitna %K gender studies %K Islam %K Religious Internet Communities %K Research Political participation %K YouTube %X How feminists view the alternative videos uploaded to YouTube in response to the anti-Islam film 'Fitna' is discussed. The gender portrayal and narratives in 'Fitna' are contrasted with those in the alternative video. The videos were considered as acts of citizenship through which women constitutes themselves as global citizen by engaging in deliberation or by taking a voice. %B Feminist Review %V 97 %P 110-129 %G eng %U http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/159420348?q&versionId=173776629 %N 1 %0 Book %D 2020 %T Why Muslim Women and Smartphones: Mirror Images %A Waltorp, Karen %X Using an assemblage approach to study how Muslim women in Norrebro, Denmark use their phones, Karen Waltorp examines how social media complicates the divide between public and private in relation to a group of people who find this distinction of utmost significance. Building on years of ethnographic fieldwork, Waltorp's ethnography reflects the trust and creativity of her relationships with these women which in turn open up nuanced discussions about both the subject at hand and best practice in conducting anthropological research. Combining rich ethnography with theoretical contextualization, Waltorp's book alternates between ethnography and analysis to illuminate a thoroughly modern community, and reveals the capacity of image-making technology to function as an infrastructure for seeing, thinking and engaging in fieldwork as an anthropologists. Waltorp identifies a series of important issues around anthropological approaches to new media, contributing to new debates around the anthropology of automation, data and self-tracking. %I Routledge %@ 9781350127357 %G eng %U https://www.routledge.com/Why-Muslim-Women-and-Smartphones-Mirror-Images/Waltorp/p/book/9781350127357 %0 Journal Article %J Sexualities %D 2013 %T When religious ‘mommy bloggers’ met ‘mommy porn’: evangelical Christian and Mormon women’s responses to fifty shades %A Whitehead, D %K Evangelical Christian %K Fifty Shades %K Mormon %K religious %X While some conservative religious women have rejected Fifty Shades of Grey as contrary to their values and beliefs, others have embraced it. This article analyzes commentaries and reflections on the book series in US evangelical Christian and Mormon women’s blog communities, and shows how many of these women find value in the books because of their personal, cultural, and religious significance. I argue that attention to the reading strategies employed by evangelical and Mormon women in relation to Fifty Shades demonstrates a complex set of responses to ‘secular’ culture as well as ongoing negotiations of gender, sexuality, and authority within these conservative religious traditions. %B Sexualities %V 16 %P 915–931 %G eng %U http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1363460713508904?journalCode=sexa %N 8