Digital Religion offers a critical and systematic survey of the study of religion and new media. It covers religious engagement with a wide range of new media forms and highlights examples of new media engagement in all five of the major world religions. From cell phones and video games to blogs and Second Life, the book:

provides a detailed review of major topics includes a series of case studies to illustrate and elucidate the thematic explorations considers the theoretical, ethical and theological issues raised.

Drawing together the work of experts from key disciplinary perspectives, Digital Religion is invaluable for students wanting to develop a deeper understanding of the field.

Reviews

"Digital Religion is a watershed publication that documents and defines the field, one that will quickly establish itself as an essential teaching text and reference volume. It deftly balances more theoretical overviews with specific case studies rich in needed context and detail. Through its inclusion of work on Buddhist, Hindu, and other non-Western traditions, the book succeeds in the essential goal of providing genuinely global coverage of digital religion." - Charles Ess, University of Oslo, Norway

"Digital religion is evolving quickly from its creation. This network of scholars analyze in depth how people are finding their spiritual selves and community online." - Barry Wellman, University of Toronto, Canada

Contents

Part One Community Heidi Campbell Authority Pauline Cheong Religion Greg Grieves Ritual Christopher Helland Identity Mia Lövheim Authenticity Kerstin Radde-Antweiler Part Two Japanese New Religions Online: Hikari no Wa and "Net Religion" Erica Baffelli Digital Storytelling and Collective Religious Identity in a Moderate to Progressive Youth Group Lynn Schofield Clark and Jill Dierberg Islamizing New Media Nabil Echchaibi Charting Frontiers of Online Religious Communities: The Case of Chabad Jews Oren Golan Considering Religionity through Online Churches Tim Hutchings ">Go Online!< Said My Guardian Angel" The Internet as Platform of Religious Negotiation Nadja Miczek The Kosher Cell Phone in Ultra-Orthodox Society: A Technological Ghetto within the Global Village? Tsuriel Rashi Hindu Worship Online and Offline Heinz Scheifinger Playing Muslim Hero: Constructing Religious Identity in Video Games Vit Sisler Formation of a Religious Technorati: Negotiations of Authority Among Australian Emerging Church Blogs Paul Teusner The Digital Bricoleur: Authenticity in a Wired World Rachel Wagner Virtual Buddhism: Buddhist Ritual in Second Life Louise Connelly Part Three Theology and the Internet Stephen Garner Theoretical Frameworks for Approaching Religion and New Media Knut Lundby Ethics in Internet Research Mark Johns

Author Bio

Heidi A. Campbell is Associate Professor of Communication at Texas A&M University, USA. Her books include Exploring Religious Community Online (Peter Lang, 2005) and When Relig...