New media and religion: observations on research.(Report)

1. Introduction

What proper metaphor might we draw of an academic area of inquiry that has developed at an enormous speed, yet in a disorganized and somewhat messy manner? The study of new media and religion constitutes such an area. Scholars apply a variety of theories to construct different paradigms, many of which do help in orienting further studies. Culturally speaking, the study of new media and religion is taken up in the West, the East, the Middle East, and Africa. Because of the pluralistic nature of the origins of new media and religion, it is difficult to point to a specific discipline, a set of methodologies, or theoretical rationales as the prime influence.

A fitting metaphor to describe the emergence of new media and religion comes from the story of the internet itself. From its beginnings as the government-sanctioned ARPANET [the United States Department of Defense's Advanced Research Project Administration network] in the 1960s and its grassroots utility for university students in North Carolina, the internet has grown exponentially since the 1990s. It is not technically owned by anyone, yet it is utilized by one-sixth of the population of the world. We have only recently begun to bring ourselves up to speed on how to understand the internet and apply offline regulatory policies to it. Boyle's (2008) work, for instance, explores the realm of intellectual property and the public domain. The internet is employed for a variety of uses, from entertainment to research, from information dissemination to socialization. When one takes a step back to survey the impact of the internet, one cannot help but marvel at it, despite its disjointed and often messy development.

In a similar way, the study of new media and religion has developed from a range of disciplines. The resulting body of knowledge is not necessarily cohesive, but when one takes a step back to admire the large picture, it is both exciting and promising, nonetheless.

Another helpful way to understand the current landscape of new media and religion comes from a media researcher, Lynn Schofield Clark. Clark used the term protestantization to describe the state of research in media, religion, and culture (Clark, 2002). By this, she does not imply the propagatation of Protestant Christianity, but rather refers to

the values emergent with the Reformation. Those values specific to my argument include the rise of intellectual inquiry as an endeavor separated from religious aims and the cultural norm of religious tolerance and relativism in the content of a U.S. society that is increasingly pluralistic. (Clark, 2002, p. 8)

Protestantization refers to the state of scholarly research specifically. Clark identifies the interdisciplinary approach, as well as the willingness of both sectarian (religious) researchers and scholarly researchers to engage in dialogue. The hard distinction made here between religious and secular interests makes the point that researchers have different agendas for studying new media and religion, and that while some fit along this dichotomy, other scholars may have both interests at heart. The protestantization of new media and religion refers to the interdisciplinary approach, as well as the pluralistic attitude towards it. While Clark refers to the broader study of media, religion, and culture, for our purposes it is helpful to apply her term to the more narrow study of new media and religion.

The landscape of new media and religion as described may not seem reassuring if our goal is to find a harmonious middle ground. The point, however, is not to find a compromised position that provides a vintage snapshot of new media and religion. Rather, in keeping with the "protestantization" of the study, we want to expand and incorporate interdisciplinary methods. This review identifies several key trends for the purposes of orienting ourselves in the direction of fruitful research. In preparation for this, i have familiarized myself with scholars contributing to new media and religion from a variety of different fields, including sociology, communication, religious studies, English, theology, and anthropology, and have identified key researchers at the forefront of the study, whose work I will point out.

This review chronicles the emergence of the study of new media and religion as a field of inquiry in its own right. First, it gives an overview of the history of research paradigms from a scholarly perspective using Hojsgaard and Warburg's observations (2005). A brief overview of sectarian views on new media and religion from Christian perspectives follows. second, this review offers an in-depth treatment of the author's observations regarding new media and religion. Several heuristic perspectives are identified that will constructively orient the landscape. The next section summarizes the methodologies employed by scholars from various disciplines. Finally, i propose several research prospects based on observations made in the field of new media and religion.

2. History of Research Paradigms

The use of the internet for religious purposes can be traced back to the early 1980s (Campbell, 2006). According to Hojsgaard and Warburg (2005), the first studies of religion and the internet were enthusiastic, and were either clearly Utopian or Dystopian in their views of the potential of religion on the internet. Hojsgaard and Warburg's characterization had to do with the theoretical potential of the religious uses of the internet. The fascination with internet-mediated religion had not yet yielded a considerable amount of scholarship to inform researchers of the nuances of new media and religion. Because of this lack of data, speculation on the potential of the internet as a place for religious rituals in the future did not seem so naive then (O'Leary 1996; 2005; Zaleski, 1997). Ess, Kawabata, and Kurosaki (2007) attribute the enthusiasm for computer-mediated communication (CMC) in the 1990s to the legacy of medium theorists like Innis, Eisenstein, McLuhan, and Ong, who saw technology as the defining factor in culture.

Hojsgaard and Warburg (2005) identify the second wave of research on religion and the internet as being "more reflexive and less unrealistic, as it seeks to come to terms with the technological differences, the communication contexts, and the overall transformations of the late modern society" (p. 5). This evolution of research is in part a function of time. Hojsgaard and Warburg identify first wave studies in the late 1990s. since the speculations in the first wave, we have accumulated more general knowledge as well as research into new media and religion. To dispel simple utopian or Dystopian views, researchers have identified nuances in the actual practice of religion on the internet. For example, in Hojsgaard and Warburg's volume, Barker surveys the potential for new religious movements (NRMs) to utilize the internet for the purposes of vertical control, as well as the internet's tendency to undermine that control with opportunities for horizontal interaction. What results is a tension between dichotomy of religious members/non-members and a more organic outgrowth of users sharing religious knowledge with one another (Barker, 2005). Another example of the nuanced use of the internet is introvigne's (2000, 2005) studies on information terrorism against religious movements in cyberspace. In addition to the positive uses of the internet, introvigne brings to our attention the negative use of the internet for information dissemination. What is apparent in the second wave of research, then, are the real outcomes of the practice of religion on the internet.

At the time of their writing in 2005, Hojsgaard and Warburg had hinted at the possibility of a third wave of research.

[We] believe that because of its chaotic and complex development, religion and the internet will continuously be a topic that needs to be addressed by scholars with very different approaches. In the light of that, a bricolage of scholarship coming from different backgrounds and with diverse methodological preferences may very well indicate that the topic is maturing academically, and that it is maturing well. The third wave of research on religion and cyberspace may be just around the corner. (Hojsgaard & Warburg, 2005, p. 9)

Since 2005 research has certainly not slowed down. We have indeed seen continuous contributions from scholars in a variety of disciplines employing various methodologies. What is more, we have begun to stratify the study of religion and new media according to (1) different religions, and (2) different uses of new media.

We have found that religion on the internet does not make up a singular stratum. Different religions use the internet in a variety of ways and encounter different issues. For instance, Islam, one of the larger and more prominent religions in the world, deals with issues of terrorism in a post-9/11 world and of the navigation of Internet use for purposes of dialogue and self presentation (Abdulla, 2007; Hashim, Murphy, & Hashim, 2007). In another example, different branches of Buddhism struggle with issues of authority and individual self actualization through Internet dissemination of religious artifacts (MacWilliams, 2006).

In addition to stratifying new media and religion according to its use by different religious groups, studies have begun to address different uses of new media. The Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet published an issue dedicated to rituals on the internet. Analyses of religious websites find out how religious organizations use the internet; they revolve around uses such as information dissemination, identity, and evangelization (Asamoah-Gyadu, 2007; Baab, 2008; Frobish, 2006; Hutchings, 2007; Kim, 2007; Smith, 2007; Sturgill, 2004). Virtual community has also attracted the attention of scholars (Campbell, 2005a; Kim, 2005).

The stratification of research as outlined above does not necessarily indicate that new media and religion has completely fragmented as an area of inquiry. Rather, it shows that scholars have created a landscape that appreciates the complexity of the field given that religion itself is a term that represents, sometimes inaccurately, highly diverse groups of people and their activities. The current state of research is indeed promising given the different directions that scholars are taking the study.

It will be helpful at this point to briefly outline the attitude towards new media and religion from a religious scholarship viewpoint. The diversity of scholarship includes those of a more sectarian persuasion who have religious interests in studying new media and religion. The sectarian attitudes as treated in this section will be specifically from a Christian perspective for two reasons. First, Christianity constitutes one of the largest religions in the world, and thereby offers a fair representative of a large portion of the population. Second, sectarian scholarship, to the author's knowledge, consists mostly of Christian scholars. It is safe to assume that sectarian scholars from other religions may have different attitudes according to their religious traditions. This will be a promising area of study in the future.

From the outset we should mentioned that, within Christianity, scholarly views regarding new media and religion are not uniform. Consider, for example, the series of lectures in the 1970s by famed British television journalist, Malcolm Muggeridge. A convert to Protestant Christianity and later to Roman Catholicism, Muggeridge's lectures focused on his judgment that media create a fantasy world that deprives British society of moral values. The cure for this obsession with fantasy is reality grounded in Jesus Christ (Muggeridge, 1977). Muggeridge had operated under the assumption of a dichotomy between media and real life: real life inherently represented what was real, and media lent themselves to fantasy. Muggeridge's pronouncements did not anticipate the golden age of televangelism led by the Fundamentalist Christians a decade later. Fundamentalist Christians also operated with an assumed dichotomy, but between the things of the world and things of God. A theological characteristic of the Fundamentalists was premillenial dispensationalism: the idea that God will take up his followers in the rapture from the earth before the millenial period of tribulation. Because of this belief, Fundamentalist Christians heavily emphasize the salvation of the soul, and remain at liberty to use a variety of means in the necessary process to spread God's message, including television.

Mark Noll, an Evangelical Christian historian, labeled the rise of Fundamentalism in the 20th century as an intellectual disaster (Noll, 1994). Fundamentalism's lack of ability or unwillingness to critically survey worldly phenomena, including the very technology it was employing, had led to a simplistic view regarding media and religion. suffice to say that the dichotomy between worldly and spiritual things made investigation into technology and media unnecessary. Noll's indictment of Fundamentalism was part of his larger indictment of Evangelical Christianity, which has its roots in Fundamentalism.

Evangelical Christianity can be characterized by four traits, as observed by British historian David Bebbington: conversionism, activism, biblicism, and crucicentrism (as cited in Noll, 1994, p. 8). Evangelical Christianity's activism allows it to think more critically about worldly phenomena than its Fundamentalist cousins. This challenge is taken up by Douglas Groothuis, an Evangelical Christian philosopher, in his book, The Soul in Cyberspace (1997). Groothuis's approach to the soul in cyberspace accounts for a more nuanced look at the tendencies of cyberspace, including its postmodern character, its lack of physical embodiment, and its fragmentary nature. Each of these characteristics poses a potential threat to Christianity, which is incompatible with postmodernism, gnosticism (a body/spirit dichotomy), and an assault on contextual truth. Groothuis concludes his work, however, by vindicating his approach and defending himself from a cyberdystopian worldview:

Given the present tendency to worship technology, some negativity is necessary in order to bring some balance. In this sense, being negative is positive. The raving digitopians are easily blinded by the power of their machines; they tend to equate power and speed with moral and social improvements ... The simple realization that what is newer may be neither truer nor better should drive us to a deeper level of analysis with respect to our culture and worldview. (Groothuis, 1997, pp. 155-156)

Groothuis operates in a thoughtful and critical manner while maintaining his position on Evangelical Christianity. Cyberspace is not merely a neutral tool for evangelization; rather, Groothuis identifies what he sees as the characteristics of cyberspace of which the Evangelical community needs to be wary.

Pierre Babin and Angela Ann Zukowski treat the issue of new media and religion from a distinctly Catholic perspective. In The Gospel in Cyberspace (2002), they take less of a negativity vs. positivity approach and instead address cyberspace in a direct and engaging manner. Applying the primacy of ground over figure, Babin and Zukowski stress that

for the media generation the place from which one speaks, the tone of voice, the conviction, and the emotion springing up from the heart are more important than words. ... All these surroundings of the message are the message itself. (Babin & Zukowski, 2002, pp. 56-57)

The ground is also referred to in a later chapter as the body or the media or technology itself. The primacy of the medium is a McLuhanesque idea, and this statement of Pope John Paul II falls in line with McLuhan: "One no longer thinks or speaks of social communications as mere instruments or technologies. Rather they are now seen as part of a still unfolding culture whose potentialities remain for the moment only partially exploited" (as cited in Babin & Zukowski, 2002, p. 168). That the medium transforms the demands of culture is not lost on Babin and Zukowski. They write that the hope of their book is to "help readers understand that it is not simply a matter of amplifying a doctrinal speech with the media; the challenge is to deeply transform the communication system" (p. 181). Implied in this statement is that the religious community must transform itself in order to take advantage of, as well as understand, the frontier of cyberspace.

This section has provided a brief history of research paradigms as outlined in Hojsgaard and Warburg's work. The first wave of research in new media and religion was polarized regarding the beneficial or harmful potentials of new media. The second wave of research is characterized by a nuanced understanding of new media's potential for benefit or harm as evidenced by several case studies; the presence of new media is not wholly a helpful development, nor is it wholly a harmful one. At the time of writing, Hojsgaard and Warburg predicted a third wave of research in new media and religion in which a variety of scholars would begin to contribute to the field of inquiry with different methodologies and approaches and from different disciplines. This they took as a sign of a maturing field. In addition to chronicling the waves of research, this section has also highlighted thoughts on new media and religion within Christianity. The modes of thought briefly surveyed here make apparent the diversity of viewpoints regarding new media and religion arising within the various Christian perspectives. such diversity within one religious perspectives argues for the value of studying the paradigms of other religious communities regarding new media and religion.

3. Heuristics

The following section presents a number of observations regarding certain trends in the study of new media and religion. Less a review of common themes in new media and religion, it seeks to idenfity some guiding heuristic perspectives. In a past issue of Communication Research Trends, Campbell (2006) identified some of the common themes and provided a helpful bibliography. She divided the research into nine themes: Theology/Spirituality, Religion, Morality/Ethics, Practical Ministry Applications; Religious Traditions, Community, Identity, Authority/Power, and Ritual.

Rather than repeat her work here, this section outlines approaches to studying new media and religion. Heuristic perspectives as understood here describe viewpoints that scholars both employ in approaching their studies and develop from their findings. They offer insight into the interpretive lenses that are used to understand the intersection of religion and new media. The value of such heuristic observations lies in the tentative picture they paint of the landscape of the study, as well as in the precedent they offer for how scholars should further pursue studying the field

A. The Internet as an information transmission medium

A number of scholars in new media and religion have identified the tendency of religious communities, churches, and individuals to use the internet as a means of information dissemination or transmission. Their studies focus on the phenomenon of religious communities utilizing the internet mainly for the purpose of exchanging information. This appears in distinction to using the internet to mediate religious experiences, practices, and rituals (see below Section 3D, "Online-religion and religion-online: The prime heuristic," for a treatment of this distinction). Smith's (2007) study measured nonprofit organizations' use of internet websites. using Kent and Taylor's (1998) criteria for effective web communication, she found that many religious nonprofit websites were underutilizing their potential for two-way communication and surmised that this was the case because nonprofits depended on more traditional one-way communication mediums (Smith, 2007). Her study highlights for us the fact that the nonprofits surveyed had yet to adapt to the two-way communication opportunities of the internet, and thereby do not have a strong interactive presence with internet users. The organizations themselves approach the internet as if it were a broadcast medium, such as a newsletter, television, or radio, thus reinforcing their tendency to use the internet as a means for information dissemination.

Most researchers typically characterize church websites as information oriented. Sturgill's (2004) study of organizational and ideological purposes of websites outlines the way that churches communicate. in her content analysis of Southern Baptist churches, she looked for signs indicating the purpose of websites. she concluded that "promoting the church as an organization (or attracting visitors) was of major importance in the sites examined. There was little attention spent in developing relational aspects of the site that might in some way extend the church experience in the online realm" (p. 175). The church as an organization is contrasted to the church's ideology: that of evangelization. sturgill's conclusion was that the scope and purpose of the Church websites she analyzed centered more around the church as a organization and less on evangelization. Hence, the most prevalent content on the southern Baptist websites were worship service times, church addresses and phone numbers, photos of the main church building, weekly schedules, and listings of church staff, among other things (p. 172).

Bedell (2000) studied the use of the internet by Mainline Protestant congregation members. In his survey, he found that the top priority items for congregants' use of the web included information about services and programs, announcements to members, and prayer requests and other support for those in need, while the items that were least selected as top priority included conducting educational classes, conducting business meetings, and conducting worship or spiritual meetings (Bedell, 2000). While we can consider requesting prayer and other support as more than merely exchanging information, Bedell's study overall finds that members of Mainline Protestant congregations seek information on websites more often than they would seek out meetings, classes, and worship services.

Horsfall's (2000) qualitative analysis of five different faith traditions' church websites yielded general characteristics of religious groups. The general characteristics included external (outside of the religious group) and internal (within the religious group) communication. External communication included evangelistic outreach, about which Horsfall observed that "no one indicated that the internet information is sufficient in itself for a religious experience" (p. 174). Other external communication consisted of publicity, directories, addresses and contact information, and legitimization. None of the contents listed above lent themselves particularly to mediated religious experience. Internal communication, while it also consisted of information dissemination such as member directories, published testimonies, and shared resources, consisted of online discussions between members in newsgroups, listservs, and e-mail. This is an indication that the web had facilitated two-way conversations, which opened up the possibility for members to share religious experiences mediated by the web.

The studies cited above are instances in which religious communities, organizations, and individuals utilized the internet mainly for the purposes of information dissemination. While it may seem rudimentary, the study of such phenomena is helpful because many religious websites today use the web for informational purposes (as will be discussed later on); however, information transmission is not the only purpose to which religious communities put their websites. internet users, religious organizations, and webmasters all have a variety of different opinions regarding the extent to which religious experience can and should be mediated online. What all of them seem to agree upon, however, is that the internet, at the very least, is conducive to and useful for information transmission.

B. Online religion's relationship to offline religion

The following section addresses online religion's relationship to offline religion in two distinct aspects. First, how is online religion incorporated into offline religion? Does it act as a supplement, a substitute, or a usurper of offline religion completely? second, what is the nature of online religion? This second question deals with issues of whether the nature of religious rituals changes with the transition from the offline to the online.

The first aspect of online religion's relationship with offline religion deals with how people or groups incorporate online religion into offline religion, if at all. An early worry about computer-mediated communication (CMC) in general arose from the fear that users would engage in less face-to-face (FtF) communication. studies have indicated that, however, those who connect to the internet can both maintain contact through CMC, as well as increase their levels of FtF communication (Wellman & Haythornthwaite, 2002). The issue is not lost in religion. Campbell's (2005a) ethnographic participation in three e-mailed based communities addresses the issue of online community and offline community. she found that those who engaged in online community maintained their friendships over a period of years; indeed they had done so not only through e-mail, but through face-to-face encounters. Campbell herself had participated in one of these meetings, The Great Anglican Online Listmeet, a weekend gathering of participants in Anglican Communion online in Toronto. In participating in such an event, Campbell reminds us that relationships can be maintained through a combination of both online and offline interaction.

Online social networks are not seen as isolated, simply located online, but are considered embedded in the "real," or offline, world. This means people are active participants in both realms and move seamlessly between the two. They do not consider their internet friendships to be only online, but see them as part of their general social network. Online communication often creates a desire for individuals to go beyond the screen and transcend the limitations of online textual interaction. This can occur simply by adding emoticons in texts or orchestrating face-to-face meetings with online friends. (Campbell, 2005a, p. 148)

Campbell's findings were, first, that the online Christian community acted as a supplement to a user's involvement in local church, and second, that individuals supplemented these relationships online in addition to using the internet for information. In this instance, the online involvement in religious community has not usurped the offline religious institution's place or role. The blend of online and offline community also appears in new religious movements (NRMs) such as the House of Netjer, a revival of ancient Egyptian religion (Krogh & Pillifant, 2004).

In addition to the supplementary nature of online communities, researchers have found instances in which churches primarily engage online. Simon Jenkins, one of the founders of the virtual Church of Fools, chronicles his experiences in beginning one of the first virtual churches online. The Church of Fools started as an outgrowth of an online community board on Jenkins's online magazine website, ship of Fools. The church ran as an experiment from May 2004 to September 2004, and as of this writing exists as St. Pixels church on the web. Jenkins stated his aims in creating Church of Fools:

1. We wanted to try translating church into the medium of the net. It was to be a genuine experiment, seeking visitor feedback, to find out if online church is a viable way to "do church."

2. We wanted to create moments of genuine depth and spirituality, helping people feel they were connecting with God, themselves and others.

3. We wanted to educate and inform people who would never darken the doors of a church about Christian worship and fellowship. We hoped to break down the barriers people have about going to church. (Jenkins, 2008, p. 100)

Kluver and Chen (2008) evaluate the possibility of spiritual experiences online by conducting a virtual ethnography and interviews with participants in Church of Fools and St. Pixels. From their data, they imply that such an experience may indeed be possible. Hutchings comes to the same conclusion in his own observations and interviews in three online churches (Hutchings, 2007). Other instances in which online community operates without an offline counterpart appear in Berger and Ezzy's (2004) study of American and Australian teenage witches. Because becoming a witch is less organized around adherence to an institution or a set of doctrines, there is less of an opportunity to get involved in physical covens. Berger and Ezzy's interviews with teenage witches found that "active participation in Witchcraft-related online communities provides young Witches with an important sense of contact with and belonging to a group of people who share similar beliefs and practices but who were perhaps 'just out of reach' geographically" (p. 186). Online religion in this instance acts as a substitute for the lack of offline community. indeed, it presents itself as an entirely new and different phenomenon. Kim (2005) echoes this sentiment regarding Buddhist community online. He writes, "more than an additional locale for religious practice, online religious community seems to develop into an alternative religious organization that sat isfies the multi-pattern needs of contemporary individuals" (p. 147).

From these studies we identify three patterns regarding online religion's incorporation into offline religion. The first is a complementary role; online religion acts as a supplement to offline religion, as demonstrated by Campbell and by Krogh and Pillifant. The second pattern is that online religion acts as a substitute for offline religion, as was the case with Church of Fools. However, because Church of Fools was an experiment that ran for a short period of time, the sustainability of such religious communities cannot at present be substantiated. To do that, some longitudinal studies of such online religious communities are required. And third, online religion takes a form that is qualitatively different from offline gatherings, or lack thereof, as was demonstrated by Kim and by Berger and Ezzy.

The second aspect of online religion's relationship to offline religion deals with the nature of online religion. Researchers have demonstrated this by surveying rituals online. specifically, they look at modifications to rituals when communities transfer them online. Some rituals have yet to be adapted successfully online because of their nature. For instance, in an interesting contrast, Protestant Christian communion has been mediated through the Internet (Helland, 2005) while the Catholic Eucharist has yet to be officially sanctioned online because of the "transubstantiated" nature of the bread and wine; that is, the elements take the actual physical property of Jesus's body. Where is the body if people partake of the Eucharist online? Do the virtual bread and wine become Jesus's body?

Some studies chronicle the experience of participating in some type of online ritual, such as pilgrimages (Kalinock, 2006; MacWilliams, 2004). Those developing them form the nature of online rituals around the notion that while some potential exists for rituals to mirror or mimic offline rituals, the rituals themselves are also transformed in some ontological way, or, in some instances, an entirely new ritual is formed online. While practictioners model some rituals after offline traditions and modes of communication and thereby allow participants to see the rituals as virtual extensions of physical religious communities (Jacobs, 2007), more often than not they act in such as way as to make some changes in the rituals apparent in the transfer. Radde-Antweiler (2006) focuses on the contextual changes in rituals online using the concept of transfer of ritual developed by Langer, Luddeckens, Radde, and Snoek, which states that "when a ritual is transferred, i.e., when one or more of its context aspects changes, changes in one or more of its internal dimensions can be expected" (as cited in Radde-Antweiler, 2006, p. 58). Miczek states that one of three processes can occur with online rituals: transformation, invention, or exclusion (Miczek, 2008).

A particularly interesting case study regarding the change in rituals is MacWilliams's (2006) case study on the Gohonzon controversy. Independent Nichiren Buddhists made the Dai Gohonzon and other Gohonzon available to download via the internet. The Dai Gohonzon is a calligraphic scroll which acts symbolically for Buddhists and is an object of veneration. Prior to its free dissemination, the Gohonzon was distributed either by priests (as is the case with the Nichiren Shoshu branch of Buddhism) or the community of Buddhists (as is the case for Soka Gakkai international, also known as the SGI). The availability of the Gohonzon online coincides with an increase in the number of independent Nichiren Buddhists, who practice their religion more individually. This sparked a controversy among the Nichiren and SGI because some felt that the free availability of the scroll outside of the context of Buddhist communities compromised the sacred nature of the Gohonzon. This marks an instance in which independent Nichiren Buddhists, who have a fundamentally different understanding of the ritual and the internet, had recreated the ritual for a more individual use. MacWilliams writes that for the independent Nichiren, the internet Gohonzon "are as real and authentic as the originals since, as mirrors they reflect the true Buddhahood that emerges from the heart of the chanter" (MacWilliams, 2006, p. 116).

The nature of online religion, as manifest by the rituals that it employs, is seen as being a mirror or branch of offline religion, as well as being qualitatively different in its practices. Thus it both reflects offline religion--the case when it is modeled after offline religion--and it manifests something new, as in the case when new rituals arise out of the old. Kluver and Chen's study of the Church of Fools finds that it is "a curious melange of levity and gravitas, of sacred within the profane" (Kluver & Chen, 2008, p. 137). The idea of the sacred within the profane suggests that online religion's relationship to offline religion is dynamic and can potentially recreate the nature of religion in contemporary society.

C. Online influence on the offline

As mentioned above, researchers view online rituals either as maintaining their original form or, as Miczek pointed out, as taking a different form when transferred online. An interesting area of study that as yet awaits a full exploration lies in the implications of online religious influence on the offline. Teusner's 2007 study on the emerging Christian bloggers in Australia demonstrates this. The emerging Christian bloggers embrace the postmodern notions of identity construction and religion. They do not belong to traditional churches nor adhere to all their beliefs and look for a better way to live meaningfully. As an auxiliary point, Teusner observes that these bloggers aim not simply to contribute to the online world, but also to the offline world. The following quote comes from an interviewee in his study:

[Emerging church] is a conversation that I think is only useful if it's grounded at some point. I think there's way too much abstract theology in a whole lot of these blogs. That's nice, but it needs to be grounded at some point. My site is focused on my particular reality. I want to recruit [readers] to their own context. I don't have goals for the blog to grow or be huge. Having a counter on my blog is of use to me as I like to know not how many but where from. My blog is a conversation to try and help people reflect on the Gospel in their own world. (quoted in Teusner, 2007, p. 12).

Similarly, Mia Lovheim's (2004) interviews of young Swedish participants in online discussions on religion points to the Internet's role in the transformation of religion in contemporary society. She questions whether there is a synergistic link between the character of the internet and such change and argues that "the impact of the Internet on religion, at least in terms of its use as a resource for the construction of identity, must involve an examination of the intersection of 'embodied' religious experiences offline and 'disembodied' experiences online. We need to learn much more about the interplay of these worlds and context in the lives of ordinary internet users (Lovheim, 2004, p. 72).

The postmodern nature of online religion clearly appears in both of these studies. The construction of religious identity online does not follow Durkheimian distinctions between sacred and profane space. Whether this is symptomatic of the broader religious culture in contemporary society lies out of the scope of the research reported in this review. What is pertinent to our discussion, however, is the internet's potential as a space where people negotiate identities and define themselves, and whether this indicates such broader change, as well as instigates it.

Kim's (2007) study of Korean megachurch websites yields several observations about what she terms "ethereal Christianity" (Kim, 2007). In this instance, the internet serves as part of the instigation. She writes that the "'ethereal' world of the Internet therefore poses critical questions for Christian theology of matter and physicality. One obvious aspect of Korean pneumatology ... is a strong correlation between success in the spiritual world and in the material, which encourages involvement with the world rather than withdrawal" (Kim, 2007, p. 222). Her study indicates that the ethereal Christianity portrayed by Korean megachurch websites contributes to theological discussion in the offline realm. she points to the recent development in the study of cyber-theology and expects further studies to gain fresh insight into world Christianity.

These studies indicate that online religion's offline influence will necessitate a multi-disciplinary approach to new media and religion, with help from such fields as religious studies, the sociology of religion, and philosophy.

D. Online-religion and religion-online: The prime heuristic

one of the most often cited works in the young field of new media and religion is Helland's article on the distinction between religion-online and online-religion. Helland (2000) proposes the heuristic distinction to describe religious participation on the internet. Religion-online describes the situation when a religious organization "has adapted the medium to a traditional form of one-to-many communication. They have retained complete control over the belief system and presented it to their practitioners without allowing for any reciprocal input from those receiving the message" (Helland, 2000, p. 220). An outgrowth of this is that much of the way that religion manifests itself online takes on a broadcast model and therefore acts in mostly informational ways. Helland likens such religion-online to television worship. The previous section on the internet as an information transmission medium grows out of this approach.

Online-religion, on the other hand, takes advantage of the "unregulated, open-ended, non-hierarchical communications network" (Helland, 2000, p. 214). In online-religion, internet users become involved in a dialectic process of give and take. Rather than the one-to-many communication model of broadcasters, this approach embraces a model in which "the beliefs are developing and altering, adapting and fluctuating in the direction the participants wish to take them" (Helland, 2000, p. 214).

While the religion-online vs. Online-religion distinction proved helpful a decade ago and may still have its uses today, the fluidity of the use of the internet and its frequent changes, argues that we may well need to amend this heuristic tool. Glenn Young took up the task of doing this in his study, but he applies the heuristic specifically to Christianity. Young (2004) sought to demonstrate, by way of analyzing the content of Christian websites, that religion-online and online-religion form continuous rather than discrete categories. The websites Young studied indeed contained elements of information and participation, and elements of preexisting Christian traditions and newer, online traditions. Continuity between the two characteristics of internet-mediated Christianity proved helpful in light of websites evolving into more dynamic spaces.

Helland himself addresses the issue of online-religion in a later study. Using his distinctions between religion-online and online-religion, he attempts to clarify how researchers may see online-religion. In doing so, Helland adds clarification to what constitutes online-religion. Regarding whether an act can be considered online-religion, Helland stated that the authenticity of the act must be observable (Helland, 2005). He writes this because the interactive elements of the internet do not necessarily lend themselves to religious experiences. The religious act must be observable as having taken place online and must have attributed to it some sort of religious meaning. Furthermore, Helland writes:

In the case of online religion, people are living their religion on and through the internet medium. For those individuals who participate in online religious activity, there is no separation between their offline life and experiences and their online life and experiences, and their religious activities and worldviews permeate both environments. ... [T]he internet is not some place "other" but recognized as a part of their everyday life and they are merely extending their religious meaning and activity into this environment. (Helland, 2005, p. 12)

Following these lines, the continued investigation of new media and religion will find it helpful to study the continuity of these two elements in other religions on the Internet. As websites continue to evolve in use, especially in the realm of virtual representation of religion in avatars and online churches, mosques, synagogues, and other centers, the ability to observe online-religion will hopefully increase.

E. Basic observations on the Internet as a medium: The beginning and end of medium theory

Howard (2000) studied the rhetoric of dispensationalist Christians in online discussion boards. He draws the distinction between revelatory truth and negotiated truth, and posits their tension in the discussion boards. Because dispensationalist Christians understand God's revelation in particular ways and the rapture to be impending, rhetoric surrounding such topics usually takes the revelatory form--that is, dispensationalist Christians hold that truth is revealed directly from God or the Bible. However, when such dispensationalist discussions moved online, Howard identified the presence of negotiated truth, which does not come directly from a source verbatim; rather, members find truth through negotiations with fellow dispensationalist Christians and perhaps even with non-Christians. Howard writes that "if the Internet has had any effect on American Dispensationalism, it is the infusion of otherwise foreign or competing belief elements from radically distinct discourses and among individuals vastly removed in space and experience" (Howard, 2000, p. 243). This statement implies that the Internet as a medium has contributed to a more dialogical model of truth. Howard uses this model to demonstrate the lack of sustainable discourse in the 1996 "Heaven's Gate" campaign and its subsequent failure to recruit new members (Howard, 2005).

Scholarship that addresses the characteristics of the internet as a medium does so indirectly, as is the case with Howard's study. Barker addresses new challenges to religious authority by highlighting that the internet may undermine the vertical, hierarchical structure of traditional religions (Barker, 2005). Campbell highlights the opposite conclusion: she coins the phrase "spiritualising the internet" using the social shaping of technology (SST) approach, which views technological change as a social process (Campbell, 2005b). She implies in this study that religious users may themselves become able to frame discourses and narrative in internet mediated religion, rather than the internet medium playing a role in determining the shape of religion online. Other studies mention the influence of McLuhan and Ong as an ancillary point (Dawson & Cowan, 2004; Dawson & Hennebry, 2004).

Scholarship that directly applies medium theory, as posited by Meyrowitz (1985) and influenced by Ong and McLuhan, is scarce. O'Leary used Ong's theoretical framework in understanding religious communication (O'Leary, 1996). Horsfield and Teusner (2007) reference McLuhan and Ong in framing the study of mediated religion. Their approach discards the simplistic view of media as instrumental; they state that "significant hegemony has been at work in submerging this influence of media in the construction of different faith positions" (p. 281). They highlight the influence of print at its advent in the 15th century and draw parallels regarding internet-mediated religion. Casey's case study of an online Church demonstrates the potential of rituals to undergo significant changes in light of new technologies (Casey, 2006).

The term medium theory is not readily applied to new media and religion studies, albeit the clear influence that scholars such a McLuhan and Ong have had on certain aspects of those studies. Perhaps this results from the fact that the technological determinism debate has lost its place at the forefront of new media studies in general. Addressing medium theory and its usefulness, regardless of whether one adheres to technological determinism or not, would help at least in giving us a picture of the characteristics of new mediums as they relate to religion. For example, someone might expand Barker's study on authority longitudinally, as well as in depth. Campbell, in view of her study on social shaping of technology, acknowledges in her study of three religions' views of authority over the internet how "the internet may differently influence certain religious community perceptions of officially recognized religious roles" (Campbell, 2007, p. 11). What remains necessary, then, would be an application of medium theory in conjunction with a more robust understanding of the power of the religious community to define how it will shape its use of the internet.

This section of the review has made several heuristic observations on the trends in the study of new media and religion. First, it identified studies on religious use of the Internet as an information transmission medium. The value of these studies lies in the fact that churches and organizations use the internet for the purposes of disseminating information for congregants and outsiders. The study of these aspects reflects the interest and use of the internet by certain religious communities. The second heuristic development sees three ways in which online religion relates to offline religion: online religion can act in a complementary way to offline religion; it can act as a substitute for offline religion, as was demonstrated with the case study on the Church of Fools; and finally, online religion can take a form that is qualitatively different from offline gatherings. For example, religious rituals online can mirror rituals offline, or they can create entirely new rituals. The third heuristic explores the possibility that online religion can have an impact on offline religion. The fourth heuristic comes directly from

Helland's (2000) distinction between religion-online and online-religion. Religion-online is the phenomenon of religious organizations utilizing the Internet as a broadcast medium and mainly for information dissemination; online-religion adopts the heterarchical nature of the internet in which participants determine the direction of religious practices. Finally, the fifth heuristic observes that studies in new media and religion fall under the influence of medium theorists such as McLuhan and ong, yet do not explicitly employ medium theory. This disscussion concluded by noting the benefit of employing the theory in order to gain better insight into the internet as a medium and whether or not it is compatible with any particular religion.

4. Methodologies

Scholars in new media and religion employ a variety of different methodologies. The following section offers a brief appraisal of methodologies and their contribution to the study. Because new media and religion defines a developing field of investigation, each methodology provides advantages in some respect in yielding new insights. Radde-Antweiler (2008) uses the term clusters when referring to religion. This is an advantageous distinction because the term religion, in addition to being difficult to define, represents a vast array of different populations. To attempt to study religion in general without making a distinction as to which religion is being studied lends itself to an overgeneralization that most likely fails to represent all religious groups. Clustering is advantageous because it allows researchers to employ both qualitative and quantitative methods based upon the demographic within the religion represented. The following outlines the strengths of different methodologies employed as they relate to new media and religion.

A. Qualitative approaches

A majority of study in new media and religion utilizes qualitative approaches; these include case studies, content and rhetorical analyses of specific websites and religious communities, virtual ethnographies, and interviews with participants in internet-mediated religion. Content and rhetorical analyses generally focus on religious websites (Abdulla, 2007; Asamoah Gyadu, 2007; Baab, 2008; Hashim, Murphy, & Hashim, 2007; Kim, 2007; Sturgill, 2004; Van Summeren, 2007). These methods prove helpful in studying religious websites that are generally more informational and less interactive. They are able to give us insight into the purposes of websites as well as to critically evaluate their effectiveness, as was the case in Howard's study of the rhetoric of the Heaven's Gate campaign (Howard, 2005).

A considerable number of scholars also chose to focus on case studies of different religious communities (Campbell & Calderon, 2007; Campbell & LaPastina, 2010; Casey, 2006; Frobish, 2006; Hutchings, 2007; MacWilliams, 2006; Rudolph, 2006; Schippert, 2007; Scott, 2002). The case studies offer great value, particularly in the realm of new media and religion, because they offer a detailed look at the diversity of religions represented on the web. Their in-depth analysis of particular events or groups of people gives a generally accepted comprehensive examination, even if they cannot easily be generalized due to their small and non-representative sampling. However, given the newness of the field and the diversity of religions on the Internet, there is a dearth of long established trends and populations on the internet. Many different religions appear on the internet, each with its own aims, context, and online presence--and they find some representation in these studies. It may be helpful to think of new media and religion, then, in terms of clusters, a term adopted from Radde-Antweiler (2008). The value of longitudinal studies in the future appears self-evident; however, the value of such qualitative studies lies in the fact that each scholar has unearthed significant findings for online religion as it pertains to specific religious demographics or clusters. The Church of Fools, one of the first online church experiments, was studied by Hutchings (2007) and Kluver & Chen (2008), and their findings imply the ability of Internet users to have significant religious experiences over the web, and moreover, have hinted at the possibility of incorporating the sacred in the profane (Kluver & Chen, 2008). MacWilliams's (2006) study of independent Nichiren Buddhist groups highlights the transfer of a religious artifact and its dissemination online, and the assumptions of the internet and religious experience that undergird such practice. Shippert's (2007) study of the 9/11 hero Mychal Judge and his popular sanctification (that is, his acclamation as a saint purely through online means) give us insight into the ability of the Internet community to construct religious meaning. As new media and religion continue to intersect in the future, the clusters of religious groups may grow larger in number, and so may call for more longitudinal and quantitative studies. However, future studies will build upon these studies and their findings as indicators of what to look for.

Regarding the use of interviews and online ethnographies, the same advantages and shortcomings appear. Interviews employ a more strategic method that gives insight into specific areas as related by the participants. Ethnographies function in a similar way, with the added advantage of immersion into communities and extended periods of observation and participation (Bainbridge, 2000).

The internet poses some issues with regards to such methods, however. In the case of interviews, the internet can potentially be a barrier for online interviews because of its anonymity and the concomitant inability for researchers to check their sources. This is a problem, however, that seldom appears for researchers because online identity and religious community is in many cases directly tied to offline identity and community (Kluver & Chen, 2008; Campbell, 2007). Regarding religious community, Helland's study addressed the theoretical problem of what constitutes online religion (Helland, 2005). Building upon his own defining distinction between religion-online and online-religion, Helland proposes that online-religion should be something that is observable and lived out through the internet. This theoretical framework provides the first step to affirming the validity of qualitative research methods such as ethno graphies and interviews in the context of online-religion. As part of this issue, Helland also identifies the discrepancies in individual users' religious experiences. While some may readily adopt online discussion boards and utilize e-mails to share prayer requests and pray for one another, others may not see these same experiences as being genuinely religious.

Radde-Antweiler proposes a possible solution to this particular issue. Radde-Antweiler applies the concept of an "Actor-Related Religious Historiography" to deal with issues of religious self understanding. To deal with the different religious experiences and perspectives within a cluster, the Actor-Related Religious Historiography seeks to understand religious experience on a subjective, individual level in an emic fashion. These individual experiences are integrated into a group dynamic (Radde-Antweiler, 2008). The advantage of such methods lies in the ability to see online religious clusters in a negotiated fashion.

B. Quantitative approaches

Surveying provides the main quantitative methodology employed by scholars. Indeed, they conducted surveys for a variety of purposes. Smith (2007) assesses the efficiency with which nonprofit organizations use their websites. Robinson-Neal's (2008) study finds that participants in online worship use that worship less as a supplement for real life worship and more out of curiosity. Fukamizu (2007) found that the internet allows Japanese Buddhist followers to critically assess their religion and give voice to doubt.

The surveys in new media and religion seek both clustered religious groups and the larger population in general. Cantoni and Zyga (2007) studied of the use of the internet by Catholic congregations; this significant study sought participation from all the Catholic congregations and autonomous institutions worldwide (a number totaling 5,812 congregations and institutions at the time of study, with a total of 858,988 members). While that may seem like a large number, Cantoni and Zyga's study sought to survey a specific religious group. As was mentioned before, the clusters of religious groups represented in the area of new media and religion perhaps make it more feasible at this time to conduct surveys that seek to accurately represent a population in a sample. In a similar way, the Pew Internet and American Life project attempted to measure faith online for the entire population of internet users in the United States (Hoover, Clark, & Rainie, 2004). This survey found that 64% of Internet users have done things related to religious or spiritual matters. This provides an instance in which a study seeks to measure the religious use of the internet indiscriminately, and helps to paint the larger picture of online religious participation in the United States. A continual study of new media and religion which employs such quantitative analyses will consist of longitudinal studies, as well as studies on specific clusters of religious communities online.

The present section outlined briefly the methodologies employed in the study of new media and religion. The strength of employing quantitative analyses lies in the ability to see specific clusters in online religion. We can refer to these demographics as clusters, a helpful term adopted from Radde-Antweiler. Because religion as represented online is extremely diverse, qualitative analysis may provide a more detailed and thus more representative view of target populations. Longitudinal studies will help to establish trends, as the field of inquiry is relatively new. Because of clustering, quantitative analyses also have the same advantage and can measure demographics according to varying degrees of specificity. As religion further interacts with new media, quantitative analyses may prove more useful, as the sheer growth in number of individuals, churches, and organizations online would necessitate study from quantitative perspectives and more representative sampling.

5. Conclusion

We have surveyed the history of the study of new media and religion, identified heuristic perspectives helpful in organizing current scholarship, and appraised methodologies employed in the study. The study of new media and religion has evolved from extreme utopian/dystopian discourses to a better understanding of the observable effects of new media, to incorporating into its scholarship diverse disciplines--hence the "protestantization" of the field. Perspectives on religion and the internet vary within religious traditions, as the diversity of thought within Christian uses demonstrates. Current heuristic perspectives in the study include the internet as an information dissemination medium, the relationship between online and offline religion, the potential influence of online religion on offline religion, the distinction between online-religion and religion-online, and observations of the Internet medium itself. Researchers emply both qualitative and quantitative methodologies in the study of new media and religion, with each methods having its advantages.

The study of new media and religion does, as Hojsgaard and Warburg (2005) maintain, show signs of maturing. scholars from a variety of disciplines with a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches have become involved in the field of inquiry. Based on the observations made in the literature review, I propose a few suggestions for further fruitful research.

First, since a wide variety of disciplines contributes to the field of new media and religion, continued application of different theories and methods would help it to develop. For instance, Armfield and Holbert (2003) and Armfield, Dixon, and Dougherty (2006) employ both secularization theory and uses and gratifications theory to measure the religiosity of internet users. Swanson (2004) employs frame analysis in his study of Christian apostasy on the web and concludes that apostate organizations employ websites primarily for the purposes of information dissemination. Herring (2005) applies contextual theology in her study of the virtual realm, positing that the study of God must begin in the context in which a religious group or individuals find themselves, rather than in propositional truths established via tradition or sacred scripture. In studying theology, this view is helpful because it affirms the context in which theology is done presently, which includes the virtual realm. This starting point can yield different theological results than one done propositionally. Another potentially promising theory to expand upon comes from James Carey (1988), who proposed a ritualistic view of communication; we have seen this applied by Fernback (2002). Carey posits that the two main views of communication prevalent in scholarship had their beginnings in religion. A ritualistic view of communication, in contrast to the transmission view, provides more help in exploring online religion because of its connection to a more communal and meaning-making view of communication. Researchers can expand the theory as a frame through which to understand how religious individuals communicate with one another through a shared medium; they can consider the possibility of shared communal space on the Internet, specifically in discussion forums, e-mail listservs, and perhaps even virtual worlds.

An application of social networking to online religion forms a second area of future research. Campbell (2005a) and Dawson (2004) each propose a number of characteristics that define a community online. The nature of online religion tends to be less geographically oriented and more individually oriented. What is more, studies such as Lovheim (2004) and Teusner (2007) indicate a postmodern shift in religious understanding online. This means that there are no longer clear cut distinctions between sacred and profane; instead, people negotiate religious identity as well as community. Because of this, relationships tend to be less formal and structured around religious institutions, and more centered around connections between individuals or groups of individuals. A social networking perspective may prove helpful in understanding the formation of such religious communities online. It may also help in studying the construction of religious identities online.

Third, research would benefit from a formal exploration of the medium theory as it applies to new media and religion. As mentioned above, many of the references to the internet as a medium and its potential to shape or affect religion online are secondary. Whether one adheres to a technologically deterministic stance or not, an exploration of the characteristics of the internet as a medium as it applies to religion online would help to clarify matters, even in the quest to understand how religious communities are able to shape such technologies for their own use. So far studies have suggested that the heterarchical nature of the internet lends to less structured and institutional forms of religion online. Therefore, religious authority comes under heavy scrutiny (Barker, 2005; Campbell, 2007). A detailed and deliberate exploration of the Internet as a medium as it relates to religion will help in addressing Dawson and Cowan's (2004) sixth concern regarding religion and the Internet: whether the Internet provides a more conducive environment to particular types or styles of religion.

Finally, much of the research cited in this review comes from studies in new media and religion rooted in a distinctly Western perspective. The expansion of the study of new media and religion to different regions of the world, both in its content and its contributors, would prove most valuable. Part of the reason for the present imbalanced study may result initially from the proliferation of the Internet in Western countries, and subsequently, the adoption of such technology by Western religious communities. I am fully aware of the possibility that I am missing some key studies from non-Western perspectives; as such, I offer the current review of literature with the realization that other studies may exist that can be extremely helpful in painting a more accurate picture. Religious communities from other countries may have distinctly different perspectives and uses. For instance, Japanese religious communities, while different from modern Western religion, may also experience the postmodern phenomenon of critical dialogue regarding religion (Fukamizu, 2007; Kawabata & Tamura, 2007). Korean use of the Internet presents a diverse religious representation, as studies of its use in both Buddhist and Christian contexts demonstrates, with differences in understanding cyberspace between the two religions highlighted in some cases (Kim, 2004; Kim, 2007; Lee, 2009). As non-Western religions flourish on the Internet, potential for insights increase accordingly.

References

Abdulla, R. (2007). Islam, Jihad, and terrorism in post-9/11 Arabic discussion boards. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(3), 1063-1081.

Armfield, G. G., Dixon, M. A., & Dougherty, D. S. (2006). organizational power and religious individuals' media use. Journal of Communication & Religion, 29(2), 421-444.

Armfield, G. G., & Holbert, R. L. (2003). The relationship between religiosity and Internet use. Journal of Media & Religion, 2(3), 129-144.

Asamoah-Gyadu, J. (2007). "'Get on the Internet!' says the Lord": Religion, cyberspace and Christianity in contemporary Africa. Studies in World Christianity, 13(3), 225-242.

Baab, L. (2008). Portraits of the future Church: A rhetorical analysis of congregational websites. Journal of Communication & Religion, 31(2), 143-181.

Babin, P., & Zukowski, A. (Eds.). (2002). The Gospel in cyberspace: Nurturing faith in the Internet age. Chicago, IL: Loyola Press.

Bainbridge, W. (2000). Religious ethnography on the world wide web. In D. Cowan & J. Hadden (Eds.), Religion on the Internet. Research prospects and promises (pp. 55-80). Amsterdam, London, and New York: JAI Press.

Barker, E. (2005). Crossing the boundary: New challenges to religious authority and control as a consequence of access to the Internet. In M. Hojsgaard & M. Warburg (Eds.), Religion and cyberspace (pp. 67-85). London: Routledge.

Bedell, K. (2000). Dispatches from the electronic frontier: Explorations of mainline Protestant use of the Internet. In D. Cowan & J. Hadden (Eds.), Religion on the Internet. Research prospects and promises (pp. 183-204). Amsterdam, London, and New York: JAI Press.

Berger, H., & Ezzy, D. (2004). The Internet as virtual spiritual community: Teen witches in the united states and Australia. In L. Dawson & D. Cowan (Eds.), Religion online: Finding faith on the Internet (pp. 175-188). New York: Routledge.

Boyle, J. (2008). The public domain. New Haven & London: Yale university Press.

Campbell, H. (2005a). Exploring religious community online. We are one in the network. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.

Campbell, H. (2005b). Spiritualising the Internet: Uncovering discourses and narratives of religious Internet usage. Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet, 1(1), 1-26.

Campbell, H. (2006). Religion and the Internet. Communication Research Trends, 25(1), 3-24.

Campbell, H. (2007). Who's got the power? Religious authority and the Internet. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(3). Retrieved January 18, 2011 from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue3/campbell.html

Campbell, H., & Calderon, P. (2007). The question of Christian community online: The case of the "Artist World Network." Studies in World Christianity, 13(3), 261-277.

Campbell, H. A., & La Pastina, A. C. (2010). How the iPhone became divine: New media, religion, and the intertextual circulation of meaning. New Media & Society, 12(7), 1191-1207.

Cantoni, L., & Zyga, S. (2007). The use of Internet communication by Catholic congregations: A quantitative study. Journal of Media & Religion, 6(4), 291-309.

Carey, J. (1988). Communication as culture. Boston: unwin Hyman.

Casey, C. (2006). Virtual ritual, real faith: The revirtualization of religious ritual in cyberspace. Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet, 2(1), 73-90.

Clark, L. (2002). The "Protestantization" of research into media, religion, and culture. In S. Hoover & L. Clark (Eds.), Practicing religion in the age of the media (pp. 7-36). New York: Columbia university Press.

Dawson, L. (2004). Religion and the quest for virtual community. In L. Dawson. & D. Cowan (Eds.), Religion online: Finding faith on the Internet (pp. 75-92). New York: Routledge.

Dawson, L. & Cowan, D. (2004). Introduction. In L. Dawson. & D. Cowan (Eds.), Religion online: Finding faith on the Internet (pp. 1-16). New York: Routledge.

Dawson, L. & Hennebry, J. (2004). New religions on the Internet: Recruiting in a new public space. In L. Dawson. & D. Cowan (Eds.), Religion online: Finding faith on the Internet (pp. 151-174). New York: Routledge.

Ess, C., Kawabata, A., & Kurosaki, H. (2007). Cross-cultural perspectives on religion and computer-mediated communication. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(3), 939-955.

Fernback, J. (2002). Internet ritual: A case study of the construction of computer-mediated neopagan religious meaning. In S. Hoover & L. Clark (Eds.), Practicing religion in the age of the media (pp. 254-275). New York: Columbia university Press.

Frobish, T. (2006). The virtual Vatican: A case study regarding online ethos. Journal of Communication & Religion, 29(1), 38-69.

Fukamizu, K. (2007). Internet use among religious followers: Religious postmodernism in Japanese Buddhism. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(3), 977-998.

Groothuis, D. (1997). The soul in cyberspace. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

Hashim, N., Murphy, J., & Hashim, N. M. (2007). Islam and online imagery on Malaysian tourist destination websites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(3), 1082-1102.

Helland, C. (2000). Online-religion/religion-online and virtual communitas. In D. Cowan & J. Hadden (Eds.), Religion on the Internet: Research prospects and promises (pp. 205-224). Amsterdam, London, and New York: JAI Press.

Helland, C. (2005). Online religion as lived religion: Methodological issues in the study of religious participation on the Internet. Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet, 1(1), 1-15.

Herring, D. (2005). Virtual as contextual: A net news theology. In M. Hojsgaard & M. Warburg (Eds.), Religion and cyberspace (pp. 149-165). London: Routledge.

Hojsgaard, M., & Warburg, M. (2005). Introduction: Waves of research. In M. Hojsgaard & M. Warburg (Eds.), Religion and cyberspace (pp. 1-12). London: Routledge.

Hoover, S., Clark, L., & Rainie, L. (2004). Faith online: 64% of wired Americans have used the Internet for spiritual or religious information. The Pew Internet and American Life Project. Retrieved January 18, 2011 from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2004/FaithOnline.aspx.

Horsfall, S. (2000). How religious organizations use the Internet: A preliminary inquiry. In D. Cowan, & J. Hadden (Eds.), Religion on the Internet: Research prospects and promises (pp. 153-182). Amsterdam, London, and New York: JAI Press.

Horsfield, P. & Teusner, P. (2007). A mediated religion: Historical perspectives on Christianity and the Internet. Studies in World Christianity, 13(3), 278-295.

Howard, R. G. (2000). On-line ethnography of dispensationalist discourse: Revealed versus negotiated truth. In D. Cowan & J. Hadden (Eds.), Religion on the Internet: Research prospects and promises (pp. 225-248). Amsterdam, London, and New York: JAI Press.

Howard, R. G. (2005). Sustainability and radical rhetorical closure: The case of the 1996 "Heaven's Gate" newsgroup campaign. Journal of Communication & Religion, 28(1), 99-130.

Hutchings, T. (2007). Creating church online: A case-study approach to religious experience. Studies in World Christianity, 13(3), 243-260.

Introvigne, M. (2000). "so many evil things": Anti-cult terrorism via the Internet. In D. Cowan & J. Hadden (Eds.), Religion on the Internet: Research prospects and promises (pp. 277-308). Amsterdam, London, and New York: JAI Press.

Introvigne, M. (2005). A symbolic universe: Information terrorism and new religions in cyberspace. In M. Hojsgaard & M. Warburg (Eds.), Religion and Cyberspace (pp. 102-118). London: Routledge.

Jacobs, S. (2007). Virtually sacred: The performance of asynchronous cyber-rituals in online spaces. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(3), 11031121.

Jenkins, S. (2008). Rituals and pixels: Experiments in online church. Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet, 3(1), 95-115.

Kalinock, S. (2006). Going on pilgrimage online: The representation of the twelver-shia in the Internet. Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet, 2(1), 6-23..

Kawabata, A., & Tamura, T. (2007). Online-religion in Japan: Websites and religious counseling from a comparative cross-cultural perspective. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(3), 999-1019.

Kent, M. L., & Taylor, M. (1998). Building dialogic relationships through the world wide web. Public Relations Review, 24(3), 321-334.

Kim, K. (2007). Ethereal Christianity: Reading Korean mega-church websites. Studies in World Christianity, 13(3), 208-224.

Kim, M. (2005). Online Buddhist community: An alternative religious organization in the information age. In M. Hojsgaard & M. Warburg (Eds.), Religion and cyberspace (pp. 138-148). London: Routledge.

Kluver, R., & Chen, Y. (2008). The church of fools: Virtual ritual and material faith. Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet, 3(1), 116-143.

Krogh, M., & Pillifant, B. (2004). The house of Netjer: A new religious community online. In L. Dawson & D. Cowan (Eds.), Religion online: Finding faith on the Internet (pp. 205-222). New York: Routledge.

Lee, J. (2009). Cultivating the self in cyberspace: The use of personal blogs among Buddhist priests. Journal of Media and Religion, 8(2), 97-114.

Lovheim, M. (2004). Young people, religious identity, and the Internet. In L. Dawson & D. Cowan (Eds.), Religion online: Finding faith on the Internet (pp. 5974). New York: Routledge.

MacWilliams, M. (2004). Virtual pilgrimage of Ireland's Croagh Patrick. In L. Dawson & D. Cowan (Eds.), Religion online: Finding faith on the Internet (pp. 223238). New York: Routledge.

MacWilliams, M. (2006). Techno-ritualization: The Gohonzon controversy on the Internet. Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet, 2(1), 91-122.

Meyrowitz, J. (1985). No sense of place: The impact of electronic media on social behavior. Oxford and New York: oxford university Press.

Miczek, N. (2008). Online rituals in virtual worlds: Christian online services between dynamics and stability. Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet, 3(1), 144-173.

Muggeridge, M. (1977). Christ and the media. Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans.

Noll, M. (1994). The scandal of the evangelical mind. Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans.

O'Leary, S. (1996). Cyberspace as sacred space: Communicating religion on computer networks. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 64, 781-808.

O'Leary, S. (2005). Utopian and dystopian possibilities of networked religion in the new millenium. In M. Hojsgaard & M. Warburg (Eds.), Religion and cyberspace (pp. 38-49). London: Routledge.

Radde-Antweiler, K. (2006). Rituals online: Transferring and designing rituals. Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet, 2(1), 54-72.

Radde-Antweilier, K. (2008). "Virtual religion": An approach to a religious and ritual topography of second Life. Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet, 3(1), 174-211.

Robinson-Neal, A. (2008). Enhancing the spiritual relationship: The impact of virtual worship on the real world church experience. Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet, 3(1), 228-245.

Rudolph, M. (2006). Nativism, ethnic revival, and the reappearance of indigenous religions in the ROC. Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet, 2(1), 41-53.

Schippert, C. (2007). Saint Mychal: A virtual saint. Journal of Media & Religion, 6(2), 109-132.

Scott, D. W. (2002). Matchmaker, matchmaker, find me a mate: A cultural examination of a virtual community of single Mormons. Journal of Media & Religion, 1(4), 201.

Smith, M. (2007). Nonprofit religious organization web sites: underutilized avenue of communicating with group members. Journal of Media & Religion, 6(4), 273-290.

Sturgill, A. (2004). Scope and purposes of church web sites. Journal of Media & Religion, 3(3), 165-176.

Swanson, D. J. (2004). The framing of contemporary Christian apostasy on the world wide web. Journal of Media & Religion, 3(1), 1-20.

Teusner, P. (2007). Christianity 2.0: A new religion for a new web. Paper presented to Association of Internet Researchers conference, Vancouver 2007. Retrieved January 19, 2011 from http://paulteusner.org/docs/aoir8paper1.pdf

Van Summeren, C. (2007). Religion online: The shaping of multidimensional interpretations of Muslimhood on Maroc.nl. Communications, 32, 273-295.

Wellman, B., & Haythornthwaite, C. (Eds.). (2002). The Internet and everyday life. Oxford, uK: Blackwell.

Young, G. (2004). Reading and praying online: The continuity of religion online and online religion in Internet Christianity. In L. Dawson & D. Cowan (Eds.), Religion online: Finding faith on the Internet (pp. 93106). New York: Routledge.

Zaleski, J. (1997). The soul of cyberspace. New York: HarperCollins.

Additional Reading

(Prepared by the staff of Communication Research Trends. These recent studies fall beyond the specific scope of the featured review, but do give some indication of additional recent work on new media and religion.)

Ahmad, A. M., & Rahman, s. N. A. (2009). Civilizational Islam: Promulgating the new approach of Islam in Malaysia. Human Communication, 12(3), 303-324.

Anderson, A. (2008). The virtual side of the Mormon church: The LDS church reaching out Online. Paper presented to the 94th Annual Meeting of the National Communication Association, San Diego, CA, November.

Awan, A. N. (2007). Virtual jihadist media. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 10(3), 389-408.

Beckerlegge, G. (2001). Computer-mediated religion: Religion on the Internet at the turn of the 21st century. In G. Beckerlegge (Ed.), From sacred text to Internet (pp. 219-264). Aldershot, England: Ashgate.

Bittarello, M. B. (2008). Contemporary pagan ritual and cyberspace: Virtuality, embodiment, and mythopoesis. Religious Studies and Theology, 27(2), 171-194.

Bobkowski, P. (2008). An analysis of religious identity presentation on Facebook. Paper presented to the 58th annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Montreal, Canada, May.

Bontert, S. (2007). Jenseits aller Kirchenbanke Gottesdienst zwischen medialer Zivilisation und kirchlicher Grundgestalt: Theologischer Zwischenruf zu Ritualen und Elementen des christlichen Gottesdienstes im Internet. Liturgisches Jahrbuch, 57(1), 39-60.

Borgman, E., & Erp, S. V. (2005). Which message is the medium? Concluding remarks on Internet, religion, and the ethics of mediated connectivity. In H. Haker, & S. Van Erp (Eds.), Cyberspace--cyberethics--cybertheology (pp. 109-119). London: SCM Press.

Brandon, G. (2008). Rethinking the transmission of tradition in Yoruba religion. In J. K. Olupona & T. Rey (Eds.), Orisa devotion as world religion (pp. 448-469). Madison, WI: univ of Wisconsin Press.

Brasher, B. E. (2004). Give me that online religion. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers university Press.

Bunt, G. (2003). Islam in the digital age: E-Jihad, online fatwas and cyber Islamic environments. Critical studies on Islam. London: Pluto Press.

Bunt, G. (2009). Religion and the Internet. In P. B. Clarke (Ed.), Oxford handbook of the sociology of religion (pp. 705-720). Oxford: oxford university Press.

Busch, L. (2007). Global cybersangha: Strategies for constructing global Buddhist community. Paper presented to the 93rd annual convention of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL, November.

Campbell, H. (2004). Challenges created by online religious networks. Journal of Media & Religion, 3(2), 81-99.

Campbell, H. (2005). Considering spiritual dimensions within computer-mediated communication studies. New Media & Society, 7(1), 110-134.

Campbell, H. A. (2010). Religious authority and the blogosphere. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 15(2), 251-276.

Casey, C. (2008). Symbol and ritual online: Case studies in the structure of online religious rituals. Paper presented to the 94th annual convention of the National Communication Association, san Diego, CA, November.

Cheong, P., & Poon, J. (2009). Weaving webs of faith: Examining Internet use and religious communication among Chinese Protestant transmigrants. Paper presented to the 59th annual Convention of the International Communication Association, Chicago, IL, May.

Cheong, P. H., Halavais, A., & Kwon, K. (2008). The chronicles of me: understanding blogging as a religious practice. Journal of Media & Religion, 7(3), 107-131.

Cheong, P. H., & Poon, J. (2008). WWW.FAITH.oRG (Re)structuring communication and the social capital of religious organizations. Information, Communication & Society, 11 (1), 89-110.

Cheong, P. H., Poon, J. P. H., Huang, S., & Casas, I. (2009). The Internet highway and religious communities: Mapping and contesting spaces in religion-online. Information Society, 25(5), 291-302.

Clinebell, D. (2009). Church on demand: There's good reason for online worship, even if you're not a megachurch. Leadership, 30(4), 49-318.

Coats, C. (2006). Exploring religious community online: We are one in the network. New Media & Society, 8(6), 1039-1041.

Coco, A. (2008). Pagans online and offline: Locating community in postmodern times. Sociological Spectrum, 28(5), 510-530.

Coco, A., & Woodward, I. (2007). Discourses of authenticity within a pagan community. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 36(5),479-504.

Cowan, D. E. (2006). The Internet and American religious life. In C. H. Lippy (Ed.), Faith in America Vol. 3, Personal spirituality today (pp. 119-140). Westport, CT: Praeger.

Crumbley, D. H. (2008). From holy ground to virtual reality: Aladura gender practices in cyberspace--an African diaspora perspective. In A. Adogame, R. Gerloff, & K. Hock (Eds.), Christianity in Africa and the African diaspora: The appropriation of a scattered heritage (pp. 126-139). New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.

Dawson, L. L. (2004). Religion and the Internet: Presence, problems, and prospects. In P. Antes, A. W. Geertz, & R. R. Warne (Eds.), New approaches to the study of religion Vol. 1, Regional, critical, and historical approaches (pp. 385-405). New York: Walter de Gruyter.

Dawson, L. L., & Cowan, D. E. (2004). Religion online: Finding faith on the Internet. New York; London: Routledge.

De Chirico, L. (2008). Internet, cultura, chiesa. European Journal of Theology, 17(2), 145-147.

Downey, K. (2008). Getting to God online. Broadcasting & Cable, 138(40), 16.

Echchaibi, N. (2009). Hyper-fundamentalism? Mediating Islam from the halal website to the Islamic talk show. Paper presented to the 59th annual convention of the International Communication Association, Chicago, IL, May.

El-Nawawy, M. (2010). Collective identity in the virtual Islamic public sphere. International Communication Gazette, 72(3), 229-250.

Frobish, T. S. (2000). Altar rhetoric and online performance: scientology, ethos, and the world wide web. American Communication Journal, 4(1), 1.

Garnett, J. (2007). Internet generation: Computer-mediated communication and Christianity. In J. Garnett, M. Grimley, A. Harris, W. Whyte, & S. Williams (Eds.), Redefining Christian Britain: Post-1945 perspectives (pp. 148- 157). London: SCM Press.

Gomes, P. G., & Neto, A. F. (2005). iDesciframe, o ...! Campo religioso versus espacios mediaticos. Comunicacion y Sociedad, 4, 147-173.

Gorke, A. (2010). Die spaltung des Mondes in der modernen Koranexegese und im Internet. Welt des Islams, 50(1), 60-116.

Griffiths, M., & Hardy, A. (2005). NZ Christian churches online: Websites, and models of authority and participation. Colloquium, 37(2), 143-156.

Helland, C. (2007). Diaspora on the electronic frontier: Developing virtual connections with sacred homelands. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(3), 956-976.

Hill-smith, C. (2009). Cyberpilgrimage: A study of authenticity, presence, and meaning in online pilgrimage experience. Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, 21(2).

Ho, S. S., Waipeng Lee, & Hameed, S. S. (2008). Muslim surfers on the Internet: using the theory of planned behaviour to examine the factors influencing engagement in online religious activities. New Media & Society, 10(1), 93-113.

Ho, W. (2010). Islam, China, and the Internet: Negotiating residual cyberspace between hegemonic patriotism and connectivity to the ummah. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 30(1), 63-79.

Hopkins, L. (2008). Young turks and new media: The construction of identity in an age of islamophobia. Media International Australia, 126, 54-66.

Hosseini, S. H. (2008). Religion and media, religious media, or media religion: Theoretical studies. Journal of Media & Religion, 7(Vi), 56-69.

Howard, R. G. (2010). Enacting a virtual 'ekklesia': online Christian fundamentalism as vernacular religion. New Media & Society, 12(5), 729-744.

Jakobsh, D. R. (2006). Understanding religion and cyberspace: What have we learned, what lies ahead? Religious Studies Review, 32(4), 237-242.

Kelly, D. (1999). Finding the path on the Internet: Getting in touch with the cyber sangha and accessing the online resources of the digital dharma. Middle Way, 74(3), 185-187.

Klassen, C. (2002). Cybercoven: Being a witch online. Studies in Religion/Sciences religieuses, 31(1), 51-62.

Kluver, R., & Cheong, P. H. (2007). Technological modernization, the Internet, and religion in Singapore. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(3), 1122-1142.

Larsen, E. (2004). Cyberfaith: How Americans pursue religion online. In L. L. Dawson & D. E. Cowan (Eds.), Religion online: Finding faith on the Internet (pp. 17-20). London: Routledge.

Lombaard, C. (2007). Thinking through the spirited web: some clarifications on the Internet and embodied experiences thereof. Communicatio: South African Journal for Communication Theory & Research, 33(2), 1-10.

Lovheim, M. (2008). Rethinking cyberreligion? Teens, the Internet and mediatized religion in Sweden. Paper presented to the 58th annual convention of the International Communication Association, Montreal, Canada, May.

Mishra, S., & Semaan, G. (2010). Islam in cyberspace: South Asian Muslims in America log in. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 54(1), 87-101.

Mitchell, J. P. (2007). In search of online religion. Studies in World Christianity, 13(3), 205-207.

Ostrowski, A. (2007). Beyond Belief(net): Interreligious dialogue and trauma communication. Paper presented to the 57th annual convention of the International Communication Association, San Francisco, CA, May.

Paine, C. (2005). Exploring the relationships between religion and Internet usage. Paper presented to the 55th annual convention of the International Communication Association, New York, NY, May.

Park, J. K. (2004). Expressive production of religion through virtuality: Theorization of the Internet as a medium for religious expression. Paper presented to the 54th annual convention of the International Communication Association, New Orleans, LA, May.

Phelps, C. (2009). Advancing online community: The Internet, artificial intelligence, and religion. Paper presented to the 95th annual convention of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL, November.

Prebish, C. S. (2004). The cybersangha: Buddhism on the Internet. In L. L. Dawson & D. E. Cowan (Eds.), Religion online: Finding faith on the Internet (pp. 135-147). London: Routledge.

Reed, H. (2007). Can the church be the church online? Defining a virtual ecclesiology for computer-mediated communities. Paper presented to the 93rd annual convention cf the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL, November.

Sanderson, J., & Cheong, P. H. (2010). Tweeting prayers and communicating grief over Michael Jackson online. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 30(5), 328-340.

Scheifinger, H. (2009). The Jagannath temple and online darshan. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 24(3), 277-290.

Scholz, J., Selge, T., Stille, M., & Zimmermann, J. (2008). Listening communities? Some remarks on the construction of religious authority in Islamic podcasts. Welt des Islams, 48(3-4), 457-509.

Schultze, Q. J. (2008). Following pilgrims into cyberspace. In Q. J. Schultze & R. H. Woods, Jr. (Eds.), Understanding evangelical media: The changing face of Christian communication (pp. 137-148). Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.

Siapera, E. (2006). Multiculturalism, progressive politics and British Islam online. International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, 2(3), 331-346.

Stout, D. A. (2003). The end of plovering: A new home for the study of media and religion. Journal of Media & Religion, 2(2), 69.

Turner, B. S. (2007). Religious authority and the new media. Theory, Culture & Society, 24(2), 117-134.

Useem, A. (2008). The new connectivity: How Internet innovations are changing the way we do church. Congregations, 34(4), 22-28.

Varisco, D. M. (2009). Religious communities on the Internet. Contemporary Islam, 3(2), 197-199.

Venkatesan, A. (2006). Virtual Hinduism: A survey of sources for the study of Hinduism on the world wide web. Religious Studies Review, 32(4), 230-232.

Wei, L. Y. (2009). Religious ecology on the Internet: A case study of Tibetan Buddhism. In F. K. G. Lim (Ed.), Mediating piety (pp. 209-237). Boston: Brill.

Winslow, G., & Bednarski, P. J. (2007). God comes to the Internet. Broadcasting & Cable, 137(7), 34-36.

Zuckerman, S. D. (2008). Asking questions online: Ask-arabbi.com as a way to reconnect to Judaism. Paper presented to the 94th annual convention of the National Communication Association, San Diego, CA, November.

A modified version of this review essay appears as Cho. K. (2011). Running head: New media and religion. In S.J. Miri (Ed.), Social Theory, Religion, and Cultural Discourses: Critical theory in the postmodern globe (pp. 331-360). Saarbrucken, Germany: Lambert Academic Publications GmbH. & Co. KG.

Kyong Cho

kyong.h.cho@gmail.com