Contextualizing current digital religion research on emerging technologies

Over the last decade, many scholars have explored the thesis of the mediatization of religion proposed by Hjarvard and how mediatization has impacted religious authority. While some scholars have underlined the increasing opportunities for marginalized religious actors to make their voices heard, others have explored how mediatization can also result in the enhancement of traditional religious authority or change the logic of religious authority. Against this background, in this paper, I focus on Christian LGBT+ digital voices in Italy to explore how they discursively engage with the official religious authority of the Catholic Church. The analysis adopts Campbell typology of religious authority. It highlights the complex balance between challenging and reaffirming traditional religious authority, and points out the role of the type of digital community in exploring the effects of the mediatization of religion.

Section: Religious Authority In Digital Environments: Analytical Frammentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Religious Authority In Digital Environments: Analytical Frammentioning

confidence: 99%

Mediatized Catholicism—Minority Voices and Religious Authority in the Digital Sphere

Giorgi

2019

“…However, using the concept of "Sacred" to describe digital media seemed to have fallen out of favor. Indeed, as mentioned earlier, leading scholars in the field of digital religion call for a more ordinary, nuanced understanding of the internet, as a place where people express their everyday, lived religious experiences (Campbell and Evolvi 2020). This abandonment of the use of sacred is perhaps a result of the fact that during the development of the internet, it became increasingly mundane and, thus, profane.…”

Section: Digital Media and Religion: Sanctifying The Internetmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital Media: When God Becomes Everybody—The Blurring of Sacred and Profane

Tsuria

2021

This article explores the relationship between communication technology and religion. While previous research has focused on how religious institutions and individuals use digital media, this article emphasizes the religious feelings digital media seem to invoke, with examples like the Jesus Phone or Kopimism. This is explained using theories from Religious Studies. Borrowing from Durkheim, digital media are examined as “sacred” and as “profane”. It is suggested that digital media can be both sacred and profane because hypermodern societies have sanctified the profane. More specifically, hypermodern societies have “killed” god and replaced it with the human, with everybody. It is then digital media—a tool that is meant to be owned by everybody and represent everybody—that take the place of the divine. This tool then, because it connects and communicates human needs and everyday thoughts (and not despite that), inspires feelings of awe and sanctity, even as we use it for the most profane activities.

“…Digital religion studies are usually used to understand the impact of digital media on religion in digital culture in a broader context. The relevance of this approach within the context of religious populism can be seen in three general research areas: ideas of religious identity, authority, and community, which generally describe how religion is experienced and understood in a variety of digitally mediated contexts (Campbell and Evolvi 2019). In this respect, digital religion is understood as the exploration of the connection and interrelation between online and offline religious contexts and how these contexts become bridged, blended, and blurred over time (Campbell 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Internet and Islamic Learning Practices in Indonesia: Social Media, Religious Populism, and Religious Authority

Solahudin

Fakhruroji

2019

Like in many other developing countries, Indonesia’s population has been amongst the most enthusiastic ‘uptakers’ of the internet, especially of social media. Most Indonesians utilize the internet as an information source, including religious ones. Various groups and communities of Islamic studies have appeared on social media along with religious leaders who are also active on social media. Based on the various characteristics that have emerged, Islamic learning practices scattered across various social media platforms have increasingly illustrated the symptoms of religious populism. This is marked by the various socio-religious movements that have emerged from these practices. By using a digital religion perspective in order to observe Islamic learning practices on several social media platforms, this paper argues that social media has become a productive space for the development of religious populism in Indonesia. At first glance, religious populism on social media seems to challenge authoritative figures or religious institutions, but it can also be seen as a way for Islamic agents to convey Islamic teachings in a media-friendly culture.