RT0229_C00.qxd 4/6/04 12:22 PM Page i. Religion Online

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3 RT0229_C00.qxd 4/6/04 12:22 PM Page iii Religion Online Finding Faith on the Internet Edited by Lorne L. Dawson and Douglas E. Cowan ROUTLEDGE NEW YORK AND LONDON

4 RT0229_C00.qxd 4/6/04 12:22 PM Page iv Published in 2004 by Routledge 29 West 35th Street New York, NY Published in Great Britain by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane London EC4P 4EE Copyright 2004 by Taylor & Francis Books, Inc. Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group. Printed in the United States of America on acid free paper. All right reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Religion online : finding faith on the Internet / edited by Lorne L. Dawson and Douglas E. Cowan. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN (alk. paper) ISBN (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Religion Computer network resources. I. Dawson, Lorne L., 1954 II. Cowan, Douglas E. BL37.R dc

5 RT0229_C00.qxd 4/6/04 12:22 PM Page v Contents Acknowledgments vii 1 Introduction 1 LORNE L. DAWSON AND DOUGLAS E. COWAN 2 Cyberfaith: How Americans Pursue Religion Online 17 (Executive Summary) ELENA LARSEN, PEW INTERNET AND AMERICAN LIFE PROJECT Part I: Being Religious in Cyberspace 3 Popular Religion and the World Wide Web: A Match Made 23 in (Cyber) Heaven CHRISTOPHER HELLAND 4 Cyberspace as Sacred Space: Communicating Religion on 37 Computer Networks STEPHEN D. O LEARY 5 Young People, Religious Identity, and the Internet 59 MIA LÖVHEIM 6 Religion and the Quest for Virtual Community 75 LORNE L. DAWSON Part II: Mainstream Religions in Cyberspace 7 Reading and Praying Online: The Continuity of Religion 93 Online and Online Religion in Internet Christianity GLENN YOUNG 8 This Is My Church : Seeing the Internet and Club Culture 107 as Spiritual Spaces HEIDI CAMPBELL 9 Rip. Burn. Pray. : Islamic Expression Online 123 GARY R. BUNT 10 The Cybersangha: Buddhism on the Internet 135 CHARLES S. PREBISH v

6 RT0229_C00.qxd 4/6/04 12:22 PM Page vi vi Contents Part III: New Religions in Cyberspace 11 New Religions and the Internet: Recruiting in a New 151 Public Space LORNE L. DAWSON AND JENNA HENNEBRY 12 The Internet as Virtual Spiritual Community: 175 Teen Witches in the United States and Australia HELEN A. BERGER AND DOUGLAS EZZY 13 The Goddess Net 189 WENDY GRIFFIN 14 The House of Netjer: A New Religious Community Online 205 MARILYN C. KROGH AND BROOKE ASHLEY PILLIFANT Part IV: Religious Quests and Contests in Cyberspace 15 Virtual Pilgrimage to Ireland s Croagh Patrick 223 MARK W. MACWILLIAMS 16 Searching for the Apocalypse in Cyberspace 239 ROBERT A. CAMPBELL 17 Contested Spaces: Movement, Countermovement, 255 and E-Space Propaganda DOUGLAS E. COWAN Contributors 273 Index 277

7 RT0229_C00.qxd 4/6/04 12:22 PM Page vii Acknowledgments The editors would like to express their appreciation to several publications and publishers for permission to reprint edited versions of the following materials in this book. Cyberfaith: How Americans Pursue Religion Online, by Elena Larsen and the Pew Internet and American Life Project, is available as a report at Cyberspace as Sacred Space: Communicating Religion on Computer Networks by Stephen D. O Leary is a slightly edited version of an article that first appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion 64, 1996: New Religions and the Internet: Recruiting in a New Public Space by Lorne L. Dawson and Jenna Hennebry is a slightly edited version of an article that first appeared in the Journal of Contemporary Religion 14, 1999: 17 39, Chapter 10, The Cybersangha: Buddhism on the Internet by Charles S. Prebish, is a modified version of Chapter 5 of Prebish s book Luminous Passage: The Practice and Study of Buddhism in America (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press). Chapter 15, Virtual Pilgrimage to Ireland s Croagh Patrick by Mark MacWilliams, modifies and extends material that first appeared in Virtual Pilgrimages on the Internet, Religion 32, 2002: , published by Elsevier. Finally, as always, Douglas Cowan would like to thank his wife Joie for her endless patience and unfailing support. Lorne Dawson would like to thank his wife Dianne for providing the loving support that makes everything possible, including this book. vii

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