The Creation of Spiritual Space on Social Networking Websites

While many aspects of the modern world appear to be continually excluding religion, this may not actually be true. Rather, as Roman Williams argues in his article “Space for God: Lived Religion at Work, Home, and Play*”, religion is manifesting itself in new, more subtle ways . Roman discusses how individuals form sacred spaces, such as the home, office, and outdoor areas, that portray their spirituality. This discussion of the creation of sacred physical spaces leads me to consider how this is done in a different kind of space: cyberspace.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are designed specifically for expressing identity, including spiritual or religious identity, whether explicitly or subtly. “Along with efforts to reinforce their own sense of self, people “‘display symbols that have shared meanings to make statements to others about how they would like to be regarded . . . . By displaying such symbols . . . [people] may be intentionally communicating their attitudes and values to others.’” (Roman, p.17). Personal profiles on sites such as Facebook and MySpace provide countless opportunities for individuals to post symbols that reflect their religious or spiritual identity, from obvious ways such as claiming to belong to a particular religion in the “religion” field on the profile, to posting pictures with religious elements, to posting religious or spiritual comments or quotes. Roman gives one example of how a man posts religious symbols in his office to initiate religious conversation. He writes, “Andrew Hsu camouflages his Christianity in artistic renderings of Greek and Hebrew scripture verses that hang on his office wall. He cleverly employs his artwork as a legitimate means to introduce his faith to unsuspecting co-workers” (p. 210). Social networking sites provide vey similar opportunities. By posting interesting comments, pictures, and quotes, the creator of the profile may lead others viewing the profile to ask questions, allowing for an opportunity to spread religious beliefs. Even for individuals who do not closely align with a traditional religion, social network profiles portray spirituality in subtle ways. This too may be done through various symbols posted on the profile. As explicit forms of religion make their way out of everyday life, more subtle forms of spirituality are seeking a way in, not only into physical spaces such as the home, office, and places of recreation, but also into cyberspace and social networking websites in particular.

God, Glee, and Grilled Cheesus

A few weeks ago, the popular television show Glee tackled the issue of religion in the episode "Grilled Cheesus." Among representations of traditional religion, Finn's character was depicted as following a sort of unconventional lived religion. One day while making a grilled cheese sandwich, he believed he saw the image of Jesus in the toast's burn marks (images and episode synopsis can be found here) and thus set aside the "sacred" meal with an authoritative "DO NOT EAT" note and continued to pray to the "Grilled Cheesus" throughout the rest of the episode. While Finn was giving authority to a traditional Christian depiction of Christ, he was reshaping it to fit his personal, postmodern understanding of the divine (it should be noted that among his prayers was a desire to be high school quarterback again, in order to selfishly regain his former popularity). Finn's seemingly kooky understanding of religion was a clear parody of such real-life phenomena. In 2004, a similar sandwich supposedly depicting the image of the Virgin Mary was auctioned off for a whopping $28,000 on eBay.

As Elizondo (2005) argues in his analysis of "The Virgin of Guadalupe as Cultural Icon" in Quoting God, religious symbols--a form of "popular" religion--are not rejected over time, but rather reinterpreted as a means for a new understanding between the faith of the people and "faith in Christ, which appears to be the religion of the intellectual elite" (p. 201). As Our Lady of Guadalupe came to be a symbol of a new era and power granted to the oppressed for St. Juan Diego and thousands of Mexican Roman Catholics, so too, does the Grilled Cheesus grant liberation to Finn's interpretation of religion. For him, the holy sandwich is a sort of hotline to heaven, an indication to him that God reaches out in contemporary times to ordinary people in simple ways.

However, as Ammerman states in her introduction to Everyday Religion, "individuals' definition of their own experiences may or may not be recognized as religious--either by the culture around them or by the scholars who study them" (p. 14). Fittingly, Emma, the school's guidance counselor, informs Finn that "God works in mysterious ways. But I'm pretty sure he doesn't spend a lot of time trying to speak to us through sandwiches," shattering Finn's newfound faith, as highlighted by his performance of REM's "Losing My Religion." But is his faith in Christ as revealed by the Grilled Cheesus a less authentic version of religion than, say, his girlfriend Rachel's more traditional participation in the Jewish faith?

Ammerman would argue no, that "the study of religion...is a much more complicated (or interesting) manner than simply measuring a given set of ideas or counting places of worship and members" (p. 14). Contrastingly, in the book Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture, Miller states that when religious symbols are "abstracted from their traditional contexts and engaged as free-floating signifiers, put to decorative uses far removed from their original references and connections with other beliefs and practices...it is less likely that they will impact the concrete practice of life" (p. 32). Accordingly, Finn's confession that he has "found and accepted Christ" does not affect his lifestyle. He continues to aspire for popularity and further sexual intimacy with his girlfriend, values in direct contradiction to traditional Christian morals of humility and purity. Just as the Grilled Cheesus conveniently appeared to him as a sign of God's existence, so does it become "a decorative function of providing private meaning to fill in the voids left by the structures of everyday life" (p. 91). The sandwich allows Finn to make sense of things in his life that simply don't otherwise--Rachel's refusal of his sexual advances, his demotion from quarterback, and later, Mr. Hummel's troubling post-heart attack condition. Through his faith in the Grilled Cheesus, he is able to navigate each of these challenges.

Although he does eventually abandon his faith, symbolized by his consumption of the once-revered sandwich, for the brief period in which he recognizes the sandwich as "set apart" and designates private prayer time in devotion to it, he is practicing a very much authentic form of "lived religion."

Visiting the Cyber-Temple: Ongoing Hindu Negotiations with Virtual Puja

In an increasingly fast-paced world, followers of different faiths are turning to technology to facilitate otherwise “inconvenient” aspects of their faith. One such instance of this is the development of Hindu puja-purchasing websites, such as EParthana.com. Puja (or pooja, as it is sometimes referred to) is an important Hindu ritual in which devotees present offerings such as water, flowers, or food, to a specific deity in order to receive their blessing. Parthana, as the website is named after, refers to the Sanskirt hymn sung at the end of a daily sakha. The website offers remote Hindu followers the possibility to purchase an archana (blessing) to be performed at a specific temple by an EParthana employee, who will then mail the prasadam (blessed offering) to the customer. Additionally, website visitors can perform virtual puja, in which a graphic depiction of a specific Hindu deity is displayed, accompanied by an appropriate musical mantra, and with which users can interact--offering digital flowers, incense, bells, and food to the image in a virtual act of puja. In fact, the site encourages users to use this multimedia experience as a means to practice their daily puja.

Such new media variations of traditional worships have received mixed critiques by scholars. In his article "Internet Threats to Hindu Authority," Heinz Scheifinger argues that such puja-ordering sites pose a threat to the authorities of traditional temple priests and administration. On the contrary, in another article entitled "Hinduism and Cyberspace," he states that he does not find acts of online puja to be problematic or sacreligious because "by virtue of the very fact that the puja ritual (like any other ritual) is a symbolic act, its performance only requires signifiers to represent the actual props conventionally used because these props are themselves symbolic signifiers." His only suggestion is that "the practitioner approaches worship sincerely and in the right frame of mind." In this sense, new technology is negotiated not so much in terms of physical space or issues, but in terms of mental approach. Worship is considered valid so long as it is approached with an honest heart; physicality is no longer essential to access the divine. In the book Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet (a rather unfortunate book title), Douglas Cowan compares the online-puja movement to virtual Catholic mass in its inferiority--the sensuousness of the traditional ritual is gone, and certain critical ritualistic elements such as cleaning the deities cannot be authentically replicated online.

In my research, I struggled to find any arguments by Hindus (or at least, not any in English) in support of these virtual worship acts. It is unclear how popular such websites are and what tends to be the attitude of Hindus toward these sites. Clearly the communication used by Hindus to defend or refute the sanctity of such acts--and the importance of traditional authority within the faith--will determine whether this becomes an acceptable religious use of technology or a condemned one.

Fundamentalism and Reality Television

In her article “A Framework for Understanding Fundamentalism,” (from Quoting God) Rebecca Moore discusses how fundamentalists, while often assumed to be “antitechnological or antimodern,” actually embrace technology and communication media in many ways. Moore defines fundamentalism as a way to classify a range of movements that oppose the beliefs and principles of the contemporary world. The cable network TLC provides an excellent example of a fundamentalist group with its new series “Sister Wives.” The show features a fundamentalist Mormon family, the Browns. TLC’s website provides a short summary of the new series: “Sister Wives introduces you to Kody Brown — along with his three wives: Meri, Janelle and Christine and their combined 13 children — and takes a look at how they attempt to navigate life as a "normal" family in a society that shuns their lifestyle. Sister Wives gives you an open look into a man trying to juggle three wives while trying to keep it a secret from the rest of the world.” The Browns are a perfect example of a group who is embracing modernity in attempt to introduce their beliefs to the rest of the world. They are, as Moore writes, “using mass media and the latest technologies in order to realize their vision of a future based on God-given truths.” The Browns certainly devote significant effort to explaining how well their “lifestyle” works. Kody Brown makes sure to spread the message that his love for a new wife does not replace the love for an old wife, making statements such as “love should be multiplied, not divided.” In spite of the Brown’s brave effort to shed light on polygamy, the show has recently caused a Utah investigation. This raises several interesting questions about the relationship between fundamentalism and the media. As this case illustrates, fundamentalists must weigh the benefits of using media to shed light on their beliefs against the risks of exposing too much to a world that for the most part does not understand. This show also raises questions about religious coverage in the age of reality television. Unlike news articles or even television news reports, reality television has the ability to follow the story line of one small group of people, in this case the Browns, who can explain their viewpoints thoroughly and whose daily lives are captured in a more personal setting. Perhaps most importantly, reality television allows viewers to develop deeper understanding of its characters. “Sister Wives” has the potential to unveil a plethora of new questions about the relationship between media and fundamentalism. The Browns have already demonstrated their want to embrace mass media, but now the question is whether this method will work for them.

Mediating Meditation: Buddhist Teachings Online

According to the Access to Insight website, “many of today’s popular spiritual teachings borrow liberally from the Buddha, though only rarely do they place the Buddha’s words in their true context.” With the increasing infiltration of Buddhist-inspired wisdom and meditations gaining popularity in the Western world, religious teachers have sought to promote greater textual awareness of the Tipikata, or Pali canon, which is believed by practitioners of Theravada Buddhisim to contain the earliest surviving record of the Buddha’s teachings. As Westerners seek to understand these teachings, technology is able to provide a means by which to connect the modern world to such ancient texts.

As described in When Religion Meets New Media (Campbell, 2010), “looking at the history and tradition of a religious community becomes a vital starting point for understanding present engagement with media and possibly even helping to predict future appropriation or reactions” (p. 65). As referenced by Access to Insight, the Buddha himself warned of seeking truth in “fragmentary teachings of dubious accuracy,” when he talks to his stepmother of discerning which teachings are true in order to proclaim: “This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher’s instruction” (from “Gotami Sutta: To Gotami”). To alleviate this difficulty, Access to Insight offers over 1,000 translations of suttas/sutras, the canonical texts of Theravada. More recently, as of January 2010, Access to Insight launched an iPhone application, which provides free access to all such texts, as well as bookmarking, search, and audio features. In Ostrowski’s 2006 study “Buddha Browsing: American Buddhism and the Internet,” most surveyed respondents reported that they enjoyed the “convenience of obtaining large amounts of information and having access to resources without the requirement of traveling a physical distance” (p. 98).

In many ways, the Internet’s mass distribution of such scriptures is in direct alignment with Buddhism’s emphasis upon personal study of the Tipitaka—not because it is considered flawless, as the Bible is regarded in many Christian traditions, but because the Buddha’s teachings are meant to be self-evaluated in terms of their application in one’s own life. As Access to Insight says, “the truest test of these teachings, of course, is whether they yield the promised results in the crucible of your own heart. The Buddha presents the challenge; the rest is up to you.” If a majority (52%) of surveyed Buddhist practitioners reported that they used the Internet to seek dharma teachings (Ostrowski, p. 98), then there is good reason to believe that all is happening much like the Buddha intended: individuals outside of cloistered monasteries are gaining access to these critical texts and testing them out for themselves by integrating such text-based meditation into their highly mobile lives through the use of such Internet and phone-based technologies.

When Evangelism meets Immigration in the Newsroom

While the Danish cartoon controversy spurred on by the Jyllands-Posten was an instance of a mass medium wielding their freedom of speech at the risk of offending other religious faiths, the Salt Lake city-based paper The Deseret News is creating its own waves of controversy because it is using its freedom of speech to promote a particular faith. The paper's editorial board has been taking a beating for its liberal stance on illegal immigration, something contrary to the conservative nature of Utah's policies. As explained in a New York Times article, the publication is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which views Hispanic immigrants as "a vast potential constituency." While the LDS church does not directly review what The Deseret News prints, and despite the fact that a variety of faiths are represented in the news room, editor Joseph A. Cannon views the newspaper as a positive outlet for promoting the Mormon values of family and neighborly love to the Hispanic population. For others, perhaps it is doing so too aggressively, and to the detriment of journalistic standards of objectivism.

In a blog entry for The Tucson Citizen, David Safier explains that such "anti-immigration...hysteria is being ginned up for political purposes," but that in reality, the issue is much more complex. Not only does The Deseret's coverage of the issue lack objectivity, it also simplifies a much larger issue to conform with the LDS church's concern over saved souls versus the unsaved, the accepted versus the rejected.

This is not the first time a religious group has openly admitted to using the mass media for their own agenda. As Paul Soukup, S.J. details in his essay "Vatican Opinion on Modern Communication" (from Quoting God), the Catholic Church has heartily embraced the use of mass communication to further the faith formation of its laity, including to "[build] up the human community," much as The Deseret News is attempting to do by welcoming Hispanic immigrants. However, there is a distinction between the Catholic Church's Archbishop Fulton Sheen and the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), which openly use knowledgeable clergy to broadcast religious messages, and the Salt Lake City newspaper, which is known as a mainstream paper despite the LDS church's ownership.

While it may be a good idea to have a publically Mormon journalist on staff discussing the openness of the LDS church to immigrants, regardless of their legality (much like American newspapers have designated Muslim journalists to cover topics of more sensitive religious nature), it meddles too much with journalism's proclaimed standards of fairness and objectivity for such a publication to slyly promote their own spiritual cause. Especially since, as the Times explains, several Latino Mormons have left the church over The Deseret Times' aggressiveness. Overall, this issue raises important questions about what is an acceptable (and effective) use of mass media by traditional religious groups.