Dr.Christopher Helland is the patron saint of this blog. He once mentioned in a class I took with him (as well as in this post's link) that there are more sites on the Internet that deal with religion then deal with sex. That comment is what gave birth to this blog. You can watch a multimedia lecture of his ground breaking research on Google Tech Talks. Here's the abstract of the talk followed by the link:
In a recent survey conducted by the PEW Internet and America Life Project it was found that ... all 64% of wired Americans use the Internet for religious and spiritual activity. People are going online to do everything from searching for religious information and answers, to joining in online prayer groups, undertaking virtual pilgrimages, and even participating in online rituals. Dr. Christopher Helland, one of the foremost authorities studying religious activity on the World Wide Web, will present a summary of his current research, demonstrating the unique ways people are utilizing Internet technology so that it can meet their religious and spiritual needs. As the Internet has developed, people continue to push the boundaries of their religious practices so that they can incorporate this technology.
Dr. Helland will show some of the most cutting edge uses of the World Wide Web for online religious activity, which includes interactive virtual pilgrimages and long-distance ritual practices, to demonstrate this unique manifestation of the social shaping of technology. These new forms of religious practice are becoming extremely popular and they are changing how people "do" religion. This is transforming peoples' perception of what it means to be religious and altering the very religious and spiritual matrix of our culture
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