Podcasts of presentations have been posted from a symposium on Contemporary Religion and Popular Culture on 21 October, 2011 at Monash University Caulfield Campus

Contextualising Digitally Mediated Alternative Spiritualities: Texts and Approaches

Dr Danielle Kirby

The late modern digitised world has seen a significant increase in new spiritualities within the context of both traditional and alternative spheres of religious engagement. With the heightened visibility afforded by the Internet, contemporary alternative narrative religions in particular have entered both into popular consciousness and scholarly discussions, as exemplified by the cases of Jediism and various Paganisms. Notwithstanding some notable exceptions, however, beliefs of this nature are often assumed to function in similar fashions, with believers approaching texts as some type of popular revelation. It will rather be argued here that there are quite distinct approaches to texts that can be seen across a number of these groups, and that these differences can significantly clarify the specific beliefs and intentions of such spiritualities. This paper will explore the implications of the differing roles of fictional narrative in the creation and development of alternative spiritualities. In doing so, it is suggested that exploring distinctions between the types of relationships with the text allows for a more nuanced reading of particular beliefs.

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Deus Omnividens: The Rise of the Digital Age God

Dr Chris Hartney

“Oculo omnividens te vigilet” was a well-known Roman blessing; may the all seeing eye look out for you. The eye as a manifestation of fortune, of “God,” or of some protective force has always been with us and as a symbol is connected to the feeling we have (either comforting or disturbing) of being watched over, this symbolic-emotive discourse remains alive today in such Islamic superstitions as the eye of Fatima, Masonic and Caodaist imagery, South American hand-eye designs, the examples are endless. In this paper, I suggest that from this wealth of symbology, popular culture from Orwell on, has taken the symbol of the eye, and its derivatives such as the CCTV camera and so forth, and the feeling of living under surveillance to the core experience of existence in the West for the 21st century. Here I modestly suggest a new concept of God is emerging, one who is defined by its all-seeing characteristic. Towards this end, I will be discussing the works of Banksy, Moffat and numerous other artists. I conclude that it does not follow that an all-seeing God is necessarily an all-powerful God and will examine some of the consequences of such a conclusion.

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Living in the Cloud: Configuring the religious Cyborg in a mobile world

Dr Paul Teusner

Haraway (1985) suggests a Cyborg is both a fiction and a lived reality. For Haraway, the Cyborg is a metaphor used to help deconstruct narratives that construct and contain gender. In this presentation I wish to consider how the Cyborg may be useful as a metaphor and model for exploring the role of new media technologies in reconstructing religious identities in a contemporary Western context. To do this, I want to locate the concept of the Cyborg at the intersection of three theoretical contexts. The first is the presentation and exploration of values in relation to the Cyborg as depicted in a sample of recent movies and television series, and the religious themes and imagery involved in these depictions and narratives. The second is the evolution of religious values that are embedded in the social construction of Cyberspace. The third is the range of moral and ethical debates around the use of mobile devices in daily life, specifically in relation to “user-generated media content”, “cloud computing” and “augmented reality”. At the nexus of these three contexts I wish to consider how the use of mobile technologies is setting the conditions for new aspirations for humanity and society and our daily travels between the sacred and profane in contemporary Western culture.

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Virtually sacred: An exploration of religious worship, space and ritual in Second Life

Helen Farley and Adrian Stagg

Religious communities of every persuasion have leveraged, to varying degrees the enormous potential of the internet to not only provide religious information to worshippers but also bring them together as a faith community. They have used chat rooms, discussion boards and podcasting to create or augment that sense of community generally only experienced at a service or religious festival. Virtual worlds, however, offer a step beyond what is traditionally seen as ‘supplementary’ religious information by creating online sacred spaces. It is within these spaces (be they churches, mosques or henges) that worshippers – through motional avatars –come together and worship. Adherents and participants claim that their worship experience in this space is genuine, yet this raises numerous issues around legitimacy, authority and authenticity.

The virtual world of Second Life is home to many religious buildings and spaces. Communities sometimes overtly, sometimes less so, come together to discuss religion, study scripture and often to participate in rituals, festivals or religious services. While many are undoubtedly genuine in their involvement (using it to augment or replace their real life religious activities), many more are experimenting with new faiths or roleplaying as an intellectual curiosity. This paper will explore the diversity of religious activity in Second Life, while preempting how religious practice in this space may evolve with the advent of new technologies such as Microsoft Kinect.

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