Research Paper

Title -Technological Influence on Religious Practice

Author – Aarushi Singh

Designation - Research Scholar, Amity University, India

Co-Author- Dr Jolly Jose

Designation -Research Head, Amity University, India

Abstract

Religion is one of the social cultures as a unique social philosophy for people from many
years. It has played a crucial role throughout the history of humanity. The expansion of
religion and advances in human communication technology has an interdependent
relationship. Specialized communication is made feasible by unique technology, and distinct
communication gives rise to specific social and cultural forms. The evolution of
communication technology has progressed from straightforward to intricate, from verbal to
written to printed to electronic to digital, and from oral to written to printed to electronic to
digital. Religion has gone through its establishment, privilege era, popularity, secularisation,
and pluralistic eras with the advancement of communication technologies. Everyone can
observe how each development in communication technology has resulted in rational and
inquisitive minds of humans.

Every advancement in communication technology has, as is evident, resulted in religious

transformation. This paper explains how religion and communication technology are related,
and how they both affect and constrain one another.

Keywords: Religion, Communication and Technology, Development, Social Cultures

Introduction

Religion is one of the social cultures as a unique social philosophy. It has played a crucial
role throughout the lengthy history of humanity. The expansion of religion and advances in
human communication technology have an interdependent relationship.Specialized
communication is made feasible by unique technology, and distinct communication gives rise
to specific social and cultural forms. The evolution of communication technology has
progressed from straightforward to intricate, from verbal to written to printed to electronic to
digital, and from oral to written to printed to electronic to digital.Religion has gone through
its establishment, privilege era, popularity, secularisation, and pluralistic eras with the
advancement of communication technologies. Every advancement in communication
technology has, as is evident, resulted in religious transformation.

Research Problem

This study critically examines the ways in which technological modernization and religion
co-exist and mutually reinforce one another within the Indian context.Based on a thorough
study, this paper clarifies the relationship between communication technology and religion,
which influences and restricts each other. It also provides a theoretical basis and beneficial
exploration for religious practices in India.

People have encountered new living styles and space-time experiences since the 21st century
because to the rapid growth of media technology and new innovations have a development in
the transmission of religion.

Background

People have encountered new living styles and space-time experiences since the 21st century
because to the rapid growth of media technology and new innovations have a development in
the transmission of religion. India’s religious and spiritual markets have been consistently
growing for decades. The industry was worth USD 44 billion in 2020, and it is estimated to
further escalate at a CAGR of 10% between 2022 and 2027. Technology has been the key
driving force in the organisation of India’s ever expanding religious and spiritual sectors,
over the years. Technological advancements have a way of altering our surroundings. When
it comes to an institution as old as religion, the means and methods of reaching out to your
audience are sure to alter over time. The predominance of smart phones and easily accessible
internet connections has made it even easier for devotees across socio-economic segments to
have a seamless religious experience, virtually.
Research Objectives

 The purpose of this study is to investigate how technological advancements have

organised India's religious and cultural communities.

 To explore and study the concept of “Virtual Religion”.

 To study about the trends adopted by religious channels in promoting religious

discourse.

 To comprehend the pandemic religious changes caused by the technology.

 To explore the brief history of the religious use of the Internet, focusing on the
diversity of different religious traditions and groups that have appeared online.

 To understand the dependency of people on technology and religion.

 To study about the detailed review of different approaches and perspectives taken in
the study of religion online, attempting to categorize some of these research trends.

 To highlight the common themes taken during this decade of study of religion online
with supporting details for specific research studies.

 Finding current gaps and areas in need of further investigation.

Research Design & Procedures

This paper will use descriptive research design. The methodology adopted will be Systematic
thematic analysis in order to understand the specific themes.

Introduction

Over the past three decades, studies of religious technology and communication have been
categorised under a variety of different headings, including the study of cyber-religion,
virtual religion, and most recently, Digital Religion Studies. Early studies in the 1990s often
concentrated on capturing how religious users were bringing their religious practises onto the
Internet. These studies were sometimes referred to as "investigating cyber-religion," a term
used to capture how religion was possibly being re-wired through its interaction with the
culture of computers. Schroeder, Heather, and Lee's (1998) in-depth study of a prayer group
that meets in a virtual world and the ways they decide to modify conventional prayer
practises for the online setting serves as an illustration.

The utopian and dystopian arguments concerning how traditional religious groups and
cultures will be affected by such integrations with computer and network technology were at
the centre of study inquiries. Some people have also used the term "cyber-religion" to suggest
that a new category of religion may be developing, and that online religious experimentation
will usher in a religion that is both technologically dependent and spiritually inventive. This
field of study examines how Internet platforms enable experimentation with both new and
established religious rituals, from religious study to the celebration of high holy days, in ways
that may potentially reshape users' religious sensibilities online. O'Leary's study of Neo-
pagan and Christian religious practises (1996) emerging online illustrates this.

As research in this area gained momentum, some academics in the early to mid-2000s started
to speak of "virtual religion" to describe how religious practises and beliefs were increasingly
being adapted, particularly to virtual reality technologies like MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons),
MOOs (MUD, object-oriented), and video gaming platforms. Virtual religion made it
necessary to start thinking about what components of religion could stay "genuine" in these
virtual settings and whether the very nature of spirituality might be altered by technological
intervention. Researchers like myself (Campbell, 2004) and Hutchings (2007) have observed
patterns in the development of online and Internet-based congregations for various Christian
communities, many of which lack an offline counterpart. 

Hutchings carefully considered how employing digital technology as the foundation for
community-building, worship services, and bible study can alter participants' religious
conceptions of community and foster or strengthen their social isolation or integration in such
groups.

Others wondered how the establishment of online temples and altered meditation techniques
may undermine the traditional communities within religions like Sikhism and Buddhism
(Jakobsh, 2006; MacWilliams, 2006). Because of the technological forms of religion that are
emerging as a result of the usage of the Internet for religious reasons, scholars have
frequently attempted to challenge or problematize conventional understandings of religion.
Lövheim's work from 2005 on Swedish Christian and Wiccan youth's use of discussion
forums as a platform for religious self-expression, where youth could experiment with
various ways of expressing their religious identity and beliefs in online conversation,
provided crucial insights into the motivations of religious people using digital technologies.
Additionally, it demonstrated the unique opportunities for freedom of expression that the
Internet provided.

Additionally, it demonstrated how the Internet provided unique opportunities for freedom of
speech that the majority of young people in their offline religious communities did not have
access to. Their perceptions of religion and what it means to be spiritual in modern culture
were altered by these chances.

In the last ten years, studies of religious technology and communication have received
increased attention under the heading of "digital religion studies." Digital religion is
described as the technological and cultural context that is invoked when discussing the
blending or integration of the online and offline religious domains (Campbell, 2013). Since
digital culture can be perceived as reconstructing what is considered religious, it is also used
to describe how religious groups and practitioners are forced to change their ideas of religious
tradition, authority, and authenticity (Hoover & Echchaibli, 2012). Instead of seeing online
and offline religion as distinct or antagonistic entities, digital religion views online religious
practises and beliefs as interwoven into offline religious communication and communities,
and vice versa. Because many religious practitioners use the Internet as a part of their daily
lives, digital culture and technologies frequently expand online religious practises and places
into offline religious situations.

The embeddedness of the Internet into the everyday life of many religious practitioners
means that digital culture and technologies often bridge, connect, and/or extend online
religious practices and spaces into offline religious contexts. For example, research
conducted by Cheong, Huang, and Poon (2011) explores the paradox of religious authority
online. The researchers reflect on how traditional religious authorities (especially religious
leaders and structures) may be undermined by the rise of new religious spokespersons online,
allowing the faithful to seek wisdom from alternative, and often unsanctioned, religious
teachers found on blogs and personal websites. Yet the Internet simultaneously empowers
pastors and priests by offering them the ability to reassert their influence through social
media – e.g. by constantly reaffirming their teachings and religious expertise by issuing daily
affirmations to their membership via Twitter or Facebook. Digital Religion Studies focus
BOTH on carefully investigating how digital religion is imprinted with traits of online culture
(such as its traits of interactivity, convergence, etc.) AND traditional religion (such as
patterns of belief and rituals tied to historically grounded communities), and the implications
of this interplay.

In the last five years, a clear set of theoretical approaches has emerged, seeking to explain the
increased integration of the Internet within many individuals’ daily religious lives and the
impact this has on traditional, or offline, religious communities and structures. Here we see
scholars employing theory primarily to explain the phenomena occurring in one of these
contexts, either: (1) the interplay between religion and the digital, or (2) how notions of the
religious may be changing in a digital age. Digital religion has primarily theorized about how
religion and the digital intersect by focusing on how religious communities respond to digital
technologies, and/or how digital cultures are shaping religious individuals’ behaviors and
practices. Here scholars have drawn on work emerging from Media, Religion, and Culture
Studies, a growing interdisciplinary area that looks at how traditional religious groups and
expressions interact with media and investigates new ways of expressing and understanding
religion within contemporary media culture (i.e. Hoover, 2006). Within Media, Religion, and
Culture Studies, a number of theoretical lenses have commonly been employed to help
interpret these interactions, including technological determinism, mediatization, mediation of
meaning, mediation of sacred forms, and religious-social shaping of technology (for an
overview see Lundby, 2013). Most influential within Digital Religion Studies has been
mediatization, which focuses on the role media plays in creating and socializing public
understandings of religion; mediation of meaning, concerned with how audiences consume
and make connections or contrasts between media messages and their core values or beliefs;
and religious-social shaping of technology, which asserts religious communities’ negotiations
with technology are constrained by their moral beliefs and social boundaries, grounded in
their religious histories and traditions (for overview see Campbell, 2017). These theoretical
approaches have served as useful tools for scholars describing and analyzing how digital
media are used to express personal religiosity online; how digital culture informs perceptions
of communal spirituality, especially offline; and connections individuals and groups make
between online and offline religious practices.

More recently we have seen a revival in scholars placing attention on theorizing religion in
Digital Religion Studies. Here, the focus is placed on how religion is manifest and the role it
performs in a networked, digital world. In the 1990s many scholars (i.e. O’Leary, 1996)
speculated about how the Internet and computers might change not only the practice of
religion but the very perception of how religion was conceived or defined in contemporary
society. Helland’s proposed the category of ‘online religion’ (2000) captured this idea, which
saw religion beginning to adapt to digital culture and creating new interactive forms of
spirituality online. Yet over the years, scholars have noted very few actual manifestations of
born-digital new religions. Exceptions include documentation of Techno paganism in the
1990s, a new imagination of neo-Paganism whose rituals are conducted solely in digital
spaces, and the rise of Kopimism in the early 2010s, which turned the principles of the open
source movement and file sharing into a religious-like belief structure and is recognized in
Sweden as an official religion. More recent focus has moved from seeing ‘online religion’ in
terms of manifestations of new religious movements online to considering how digital
engagement shifts and expands in what is understood as lived religion in a digital age. In
other words, attention is being given to theories attempting to explain how people’s
integration of the digital in their daily lives encourages new manifestations of religiosity and
popular notions that can be considered the realm of religion in network society. Born-digital
theories of religion taking place online seek to explain how the boundaries of where religion
is found and what it looks like change as boundaries between online and offline religion
become blurred in what Hoover and Echchaibli (2012) highlight as new digitally informed
third spaces of social–religious interactions. We need more born-digital theories of digital
religion. By this, I mean theories emerging from a careful analysis of the unique social nature
and cultural context of our network society, an analysis that understands how religion is
situated in a technologically infused space and culture. This is seen in my own work around
the concept of ‘networked religion,’ arguing religion in a network society, both online and
offline, is manifest through a series of distinct characteristics, such as taking place in a multi-
site reality, involving convergent practices, and creating shifting religious authority relations
and structure. Here, religion in the broad sense is transformed as traditional notions of
religious communities as tightly bounded institutions transition into more loosely bound
social relations that are highly individualized (Campbell, 2011). This means how people live
religion both online and offline is changing due to the restructuring of cultural and social
space into network-based spheres of interaction, challenging the traditional religious
structures to which many religious beliefs are tied. This approach of theorizing about the
nature of Digitally Lived Religion has led scholars in the last five years to focus more
attention on two themes: (1) (Post) Secularization of Religion in a Digital Age and (2)
Existential Questions within Digital Religion. The past decade has seen an increase in
predictions and debates about whether globally we are moving towards a more secularized
society or a postsecular society. The secularization thesis argues that institutional religion
plays a diminishing role in everyday life, so religion, in general, is marginalized in society.
Post-secularists assert that people recognize the moral failings of modern society, which leads
to a resurgence of religion in the public sphere, where certain religious groups seek to re-
exert their influence alongside a noted rise in postmodern spiritual sensibilities advocating
peaceful coexistence between the spheres of faith and reason. In Digital Religion Studies both
discourses have been employed by scholars seeking to explain changes in the religious
landscape within digital culture. Evolvi’s work on religious bloggers in Europe (2017) found
religious Internet engagement plays an important role in framing Catholic Church members’
understanding and expectations of religious change within their communities and how
religious authorities should adapt and respond to such changes, in light of the practices of
flexibility and open-connectivity encouraged by digital culture. This suggests digital culture
may encourage movements towards cultural secularization by undermining institutional
religion. Yet Piela’s study (2017) of debates over the niqab via photo-sharing websites, such
as Instagram and Pinterest, notes how Muslim women are often stereotyped as ‘victims’ in
traditional media, while the Internet allows them to challenge such assumptions on a very
intimate and personal level. This approach asserts that digital religion manifests a turn
towards the post secular as religious individuals online are empowered with unique agency,
enabling them to reframe this socioreligious discourse in their own terms and change public
assumptions of religion in a way that can and does encompass the social world. Rather than
seeing these research trends as a battle over whether digital religion facilitates secularization
or a postsecular turn, scholars should note that information communication technologies can
encourage both trends, and the conditions on which these trends depend should be the focus.
The shared social by-products of these trends are also in need of further exploration. One
perspective both trends tend to agree on is a tendency towards syncretism within the lived
religious experiences of many digital cultures. Syncretism is manifest in individuals’
acceptance of combining and integrating different religious and cultural beliefs, even those
considered to be in tension with one another, into a common outlook. Numerous studies over
the last three decades have speculated about this occurrence with various examples and
singular case studies. More recently, scholars have begun to secure data to back up such
claims. For example, McClure’s study of social networking sites (2016) found that young
adults who use social media are more likely to think it is acceptable to pick and choose their
religious beliefs and practices from amongst multiple religions’ traditions, independently of
what their own religious tradition teaches. This is due to exposure to alternative viewpoints
gained by interacting with others online. Thus it becomes essential for current scholars to
focus attention on identifying the specific categories of belief and religious practices held in
tandem by religious individuals online and in network society. More broadly, this will greatly
assist in theorizing the extent to which, and in what specific contexts, secularization of post-
secularism emerge. Second, we have seen a turn in studies of Digitally Lived Religion from
speculation to focused investigation on how living in a digital world is shaping both our
attitudes and our practices relative to key existential questions. Such questions were often
initially engaged via the theme of embodiment and authenticity, concerning how we
understand what can be considered real and what is virtual or false, in relation to our bodies
and personas being represented through digital technologies and spaces online (Radde-
Antweiler, 2013). Another area of focused interest to scholars is beginningand end-of-life
issues. Studies of religion, digital media, and death over the past decade have paid attention
to common rituals within online memorialization, the lifecycle of one’s digital footprint and
persona, and what public grieving practices say about religious sensibilities in digital culture.
Whitehead (2014) found mommy blogging amongst Evangelical Christians has allowed
personal narratives of trauma and loss to become healing and community-building rituals
when engaged by an inclusive and interactive listening public that enables the creation of a
shared story of meaning. Here the digital space transforms personal religion into a communal
event and so publically affirms distinct spiritual narratives about the meaning of life. Scholars
are increasingly concerned with how digital technologies raise questions about human
existence. This is seen in the ways digital spaces and practices engage and shape our
understanding of classic themes (i.e. death, time, being there, and being-in-and-with-the-
world) as argued by Lagerkvist (2017). This also means paying attention to other key human
areas often overlooked within Digital Religion Studies, such as how sexuality and gender are
informed when the religious and digital contexts and outlooks intersect (i.e. Lövheim, 2013).
Many of these discussions increasingly engage notions of the posthuman, as an evolutionary-
based outlook that suggests humanity is becoming something more-than human as we
embrace and merge with new digital technologies, especially Augmented Reality, Virtual
Worlds, and mobile technologies. Scholars find posthuman discourse offers as a useful lens
for interrogating ethical concerns about the future of the human–technology relationship (i.e.
Campbell, 2016). Considering the existential in digital religion also requires investigating the
extent to which we can talk about digital discourse in creating norms for how we approach
religion as worldviews engage in the framing of reality and defining notions of truth.
Research has highlighted some forms of digital discourse, such as those facilitated through
religious Internet memes, which tend to essentialize religious meaning in problematic ways
that encourage stereotyping of particular groups and their beliefs (i.e. Aguilar, Campbell,
Stanley, & Taylor, 2017). While interesting and important work has been done, scholars of
digital religion must continue to push past studying religion primarily in its traditional and
institutional forms and consider how Digitally Lived Religion is morphing and even creating
new contexts of meaning with new constituencies. As stated by Lövheim and Campbell
(2017, p. 11), This requires a shift of perspective, where scholars of digital religion might
need to move from focusing primarily on organized religious groups and individual believers,
to asking how religious symbols and discourses are used by other actors in society and
culture as tools to understand and manage life in a digitally saturated world.

It also offers some theoretical tools especially useful in studying processes of technology
negotiation. Interrogating research findings from Digital Religion Studies around religious
user technology practices and systems of integration offers a focused microcosm for
identifying broader trends in how digital technology can be used to satisfy individual and
communal social and communicative needs. This can be done by considering works on how
individual religious users integrate digital technology into everyday patterns of life, and how
approaches such as the Mediation of Meaning help reveal personal and cultural motivations
for technology engagement. Further, by considering the patterns revealed through the
Religious-Social Shaping of Technology approach can help scholars study the technological
decision-making practices employed by other user-communities who share a common
identity or moral economy. Its emerging areas of research interest, especially in how
Posthuman and Postsecular discourse may shape ethical and cultural understandings of digital
culture, can also add to current discussions taking place in Media Ethics and the Philosophy
of Communication. While Digital Religion Studies are fairly focused on actors and practices
researchers choose to study, the field should not be overlooked within the discipline as a
source that offers useful insights revealing common patterns and processes of meaning-
making and motivation that lie behind contemporary individual and communal technology
practices in a global, network society.

Findings & Conclusions

This paper has a general understanding of the religious changes caused by the changes in
communication technology. As a unique spiritual activity and ideology of human beings,
religion plays an important role in human development. Virtual religion has been widespread
post covid. For eg Gone are the days when one had to visit a Temple, an Astrologer or a
Vaastu consultant personally to seek blessings or consultation. With the arrival and
persistence of the pandemic, people’s reliance on technology has grown significantly even for
their religious and spiritual needs. This naturally led tech entrepreneurs to rise to the occasion
and introduce products that infused religion with technology, which seemed like the need of
the hour.It is difficult to examine, grasp and analyze this prospect comprehensively. The
emergence and development, change and transformation of religion are closely related to
communication technology, which resonates with and interacts with religious civilization.
Especially, since the 21st century, the media has become the most important factor to change
the religious pattern, which has a profound impact on the survival and development of
religion in content and form. Given that digitization of any sector generally caters and
appeals to a broader audience, faith-tech has naturally gained popularity with tech-savvy
working professionals as well as the Gen Z, who find it difficult to visit a temple due to their
busy schedules.

Recommendations

The author's limited academic level, this paper only discusses the impact of communication
technology on religion from a macro perspective, and its research needs to be deepened,
which needs to be discussed in the future.
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