Net Worth?: Religion, Cyberspace and the Future

Abstract

The evolving technology of cyberspace, prefigured at present by the Internet, will have an impact on religion both as a social institution and in the spiritual life of the individual. The decentralized contact and conflict among followers of different religions that ‘the Net’ encourages may represent an end-run around institutionalized religious leadership, although those same hierarchies may reassert themselves online if the Net evolves in directions primarily favouring content providers with substantial financial and organizational resources. Usenet and the World Wide Web present two arenas where these competing tendencies can be seen, with alternative spiritual orientations (such as neo-paganism and the New Age movement) and opinionated individuals most active and visible at present. While technical innovations on the Net are likely to encourage the development of new forms of ritual and other interactive religious innovations, it is also likely that the ready availability of taboo material, competitive worldviews, and addictive entertainment in cyberspace will trigger spiritual crises for many people. Ultimately, the spiritual inner life of individuals may atrophy as the Net's commerce in readymade images and virtual realities increases, exacerbating a tendency already present within Western culture.