Abstract
The invention of the Internet and social networks has greatly affected almost all spheres of life. Cyberspace has gained increased usage especially among the young population that uses it as the exclusive communication channel. However, this invention has advantages and disadvantages based on its influence on different activities. Its effect on religion is twofold. It has influenced religion both positively and negatively.
The issues surrounding the effects of the Internet on religion have been the center of controversy of the debate on the topic with scholars belonging to either of the sides seeking to substantiate their arguments. This paper explores the different arguments on the topic to determine the most convincing side. To achieve this objective, the paper examines the positive and the negative effects of the Internet on religion with a view of determining the overall outcomes. The positive impacts of the cyberspace on religion outweigh the negatives.
Introduction
The topic of the effects of the Internet on religion has sparked heated debate among scholars and theologians. Some individuals argue that the cyberspace has produced positive results while others disregard such assertions. The supporters of the positive impacts argue that the internet has facilitated the interaction between the followers, thus, leading to the strengthening of the concerned religion. Additionally, the cyberspace facilitates the availability of religious materials and information about religions, which leads to the absorption of more people to different faiths (Crabtree, 2013).
The result of this move is the reduction of unaffiliated populations across the globe. On the other side of the divide, critics argue that the Internet has harmful effects on religion owing to the availability of contradictory materials about different faiths. The Internet allows for the comparison of different religions, thus, leading to confusion among the followers and the complexity in choice about the religion to follow (Crabtree, 2013).
The other negative impact that the cyberspace has on religion is that it promotes immorality due to the lack of online censorship. Therefore, people end up sharing immoral content like pornography, which disregards the concepts of morality. Henderson, Larsen, and Thumma (2002) argue that following the invention of the Internet, the number of affiliated members of different religions has grown tremendously with the majority of individuals across the world associating with a certain faith.
For example, the members of Christianity fraternity have grown exponentially over the past few decades following the increased use of the cyberspace to spread the gospel of Christ. Therefore, while the Internet is attributed to a few wrongs, it is beneficial as it allows people to interact with fellow followers. Additionally, the cyberspace provides a venue through which religious leaders can promote their message to woo more followers. For example, social media users tend to be affiliated to one or more faiths, thus, sealing the affiliation gap.
Hu (2014) disputes the positive effects on religion. The author cites some major negatives of the Internet on religion namely the promotion of immorality, the creation of disloyalty amongst followers, and the increased number of unaffiliated individuals. The cyberspace affords anonymity to the users, which allows them to post critic messages for a certain religion to create confusion and discourage the followers from associating with the involved sect.
Besides, the anonymity allows the users to post immoral content such as pornography and other related smut pictures and videos that are against religious teachings. In the recent past, the Internet has also been accused of promoting paganism owing to the myriad of articles comparing different religions and criticizing some faiths. Such comparisons and criticisms result in the detachment of people from different faiths (Crabtree, 2013). Owing to the varying views concerning the effects that the cyberspace has on religion, it is important to explore the topic to shed light on the influence of this development on religion. This paper explores the positive and negative effects that the Internet has on religion to give insight into the contribution of this development to the advancement or failure of different faiths.
Literature review
This section explores the different arguments put forward concerning the topic of the influence of the Internet on religion. The first three paragraphs will highlight the positive impacts while the last one will be on the negatives. Different reference materials will be used as the source of information concerning the topic.
On one side, the cyberspace has promoted religion but deterred the advancement of the same in other cases. Some of the positive effects identified include the increased availability of religious materials over the Internet and the increased anonymity of the users (Crabtree, 2013). Regarding the availability of learning materials online, the affordability of the cyberspace offers a remedy to the increasing cost of scriptures and other religious materials.
Additionally, the anonymity afforded to the users allows them to ask controversial questions about certain religious practices, thus leading to the elimination of doubts. The Internet has greatly boosted religions across the globe due to the availability of doctrinal materials in different online channels. Crabtree (2013) posits that the available materials include the basic convictions for the various global religions as well as scriptures. Some religious materials in the print media are costly, which bars most people from accessing the relevant information. However, the cyberspace has increased accessibility of such information, thus promoting the spread of religions across the globe (Henderson et al., 2002).
Additionally, Internet access costs have plummeted significantly in the recent past. Most governments around the world are offering free cyberspace access to their citizens. Therefore, following the affordability of the Internet in terms of cost, people across the globe are empowered to access scriptures and other necessary information regarding a certain religion, which promotes the growth of the affected costs.
The effects of the cyberspace on religion can be viewed from a regional perspective. The rapid growth in the number of religions is attributed to the speedy embracement of the Internet. The growth of religion in the developing world depends largely on the funding provided to religious leaders from the developed countries. The Internet provides a venue through which religious leaders from across the world can meet and interact with each other, and through such interactions, their varying needs are addressed (Ravitz, 2014).
The spread of a certain religious conviction requires funding to facilitate the establishment of places of worship and other necessary equipment for the promotion of the gospel among other followers. Such funds are easily obtained from individuals in developed countries through constant communication. Hence, the Internet provides the platform through which such funds may pass from the donors to the target audience, which is mainly the developing regions.
Cyberspace has facilitated the growth of religion, especially in developing countries. Religious leadership in developing countries supports the integration of the Internet in the spiritual matters not realizing the dangers that such an endeavor would present in the long term. The Internet is resourceful in providing supportive and educative materials on religious matters.
Cyberspace promotes communication among followers from different regions across the world. Such communications lead to the recruitment of more followers, thus sealing the gap of the unaffiliated persons. Additionally, the Internet leads to the rapid growth of new religions, thus, breaking the monopoly that initially existed (Ravitz, 2014). Traditionally, the dominant religions such as Christianity and Islam were the major recognized faiths across the globe.
People who did not belong to the major faiths could not command attention from the international community. However, following the evolution of the Internet, the minority religions acquired a voice and they can now reach more people all over the globe. The ability to reach global followers gives people a wide variety of religions to choose from as opposed to the major religions. Additionally, cyberspace has led to an increase in the number of affiliated individuals owing to the availability of different religions.
Besides, the Internet has increased connectivity across the globe, thus creating a venue through which the young generation may communicate and share information (Henderson et al., 2002). The different online platforms provide a venue through which this audience can exchange information and videos regarding different topics.
However, critics point out that the Internet is largely to blame for the rapid growth in the number of unaffiliated persons (“Nones” on the Rise, 2012). The online platforms facilitate the comparison of different religions, thus, making it possible for the believers to choose religious affiliations based on data. It is important to note that the global religions have contradictory convictions and it is upon the believer to choose the most suitable sect (Sommer, n.d.).
The comparison of the different faiths may result in confusion among the believers, thus, leading to the abandonment of one’s faith. Hu (2014) laments that some of the Internet sites have gone to the extent of discrediting certain faiths and offering substantiating views for the disrepute. Such sites incite the followers of a certain belief to abandon it, which leads to the evolution of pagans. Therefore, cyberspace has negative effects on religion since it leads to an increase in the number of unaffiliated people across the globe. Besides, the affordability of the Internet has enabled people to exchange videos and pictures that promote immorality hence going against the teaching of the different global religions.
The availability and circulation of pornographic materials in cyberspace is one of the major challenges the growth of religion. Even though various religions have different convictions about morality, some practices are generally seen as immoral. For example, pornography is perceived as immoral by all faiths. The lack of Internet censorship is largely to blame for the negative impacts on religion.
The cyberspace has affected religion both positively and negatively. However, the positive impacts of the Internet on religion outweigh the negatives. One of the greatest positive impacts is the availability of religious materials on the Internet. Additionally, different online platforms promote communication, which has assisted in the spread of the gospel for the different religions. Finally, the accessibility of the cyberspace has allowed individuals to make informed choices when deciding their religious fate. However, critics argue that the Internet has allowed the proliferation of immorality and irreligious information, which has led to increased paganism and societal rot.
Effects of the Internet on religion
One of the positive effects of the Internet is that it provides a venue through which the believers of a certain faith can interact and share ideas about their beliefs. Through cyberspace, such believers are empowered to seek clarification about the various controversial topics concerning their religion by posing questions and getting good answers (Henderson et al., 2002). The anonymity afforded to the users by the Internet facilitates the posing of the question by the believers about controversial topics that could not otherwise be asked in real life. The clarification of the issues may go a long way in extirpating the falling out of the members of a given religious affiliation.
Research indicates that people tend to detach from a certain religion due to a lack of sufficient knowledge regarding certain controversial topics. The Internet facilitates communication of the believers from across the globe to counter rumors and negative assertions about a certain religion. The religious leaders from a certain affiliation may use cyberspace to address negativity and slander about a certain sect and to convince the believers about the authenticity of the issues at hand. As stated earlier in this paper, the high number of unaffiliated individuals in the world is attributed to the criticisms from different quarters including the Internet concerning their religions. Therefore, addressing the controversial issues may build the believers of a certain religion spiritually, thus reducing the number of pagans.
Besides, the Internet has helped break the monopoly initially exhibited by major religions such as Christianity and Islam. Currently, cyberspace facilitates the sharing of the beliefs by the minority sects leading to the spread of different religions to people across the globe. As compared to the word of mouth, the Internet facilitates the reaching of more people at minimal costs. Therefore, the small religions, with a small number of followers and fewer resources, are empowered to influence more people globally to join their faith, thus breaking the monopoly (Henderson et al., 2002). For instance, before the Internet, little was known concerning the numerous religious practices from the East.
However, currently, anyone can access information concerning Taoism and Buddhism among other religions of different natures. The individuals leaving a certain well-established religion, such as Christianity, on the grounds of rumors from the cyberspace may establish an alternative niche in the minority religions instead of remaining unaffiliated (Thunderf00t, 2010). The rise of the minority religions has contributed to religious affiliations owing to the increased choices. Therefore, the Internet has contributed to the attachment of more people to different religions in the world.
However, since the cyberspace has positive impacts on religion, it has been attributed to some negative impacts evident in the contemporary world. Firstly, the Internet provides a venue through which religious critics air their criticisms. In most cases, the skeptics of religious conventions often criticize the existence of supreme beings that different sects rely on to convince the believers about the viability of the upheld beliefs.
Such critics often lead to the evolution of a group of hedonists who detach themselves from all the available religions. Hu (2014) argues that the availability of critical arguments about religions has contributed to the rapid growth in the number of unaffiliated people in the United States. This observation can be substantiated given the increased number of pagans over the past few decades. According to recent statistics, the number of unaffiliated adults in the US rose from 15 %to 20% between 2007 and 2012 (“Nones” on the Rise, 2012).
During the same period, the number of unaffiliated college teens rose 8% to 25%, apparently due to the view that such individuals are more exposed to the Internet as compared to the old population (“Nones” on the Rise, 2012). The speedy growth in unaffiliated groups is attributed to the invention of the Internet and the social networks, which facilitate the posting of criticisms by the skeptics of different religions.
The other negative impact on religion caused by the Internet is the erosion of the student-teacher model that was originally present in most sects. The mentioned model requires the believers of a certain faith to learn about the involved beliefs in stages based on the different phases of development. The typical teacher-student model involves teaching the followers of a certain faith in stages commencing with the most superficial doctrine followed by deeper insights on the truths upheld by a given sect. However, the cyberspace avails all the religious teachings to the believers, thus, allowing them to obtain teachings for the advanced stages before they exploit the basic doctrines (Nones” on the Rise, 2012).
Besides, some religions in the world emphasize the secrecy of some of their doctrines. In such cases, such doctrines are only accessible to followers. However, the Internet has compromised this vital aspect of religion due to the availability of such information through different online platforms. For example, the Church of Scientology has recently instituted vigorous legal battles requiring the deletion of some of its doctrines from the Internet.
Lastly, the Internet may be harmful to religion as it promotes immorality by allowing the posting of base content. The anonymity afforded to users by different online platforms allows them to post pictures and videos that promote immorality. For example, pornographic photos and videos are easily available on the Internet and they are cited as some of the greatest barriers to the advancement of religion in contemporary times. Pornography is deemed immoral in most religions and its uncontrolled availability over cyberspace may be harmful to the followers. Before the invention of the Internet, many people did not have exposure to such base contents (Thunderf00t, 2010).
However, the cyberspace introduced a new way of sharing such materials freely, thus, allowing irresponsible individuals to promote immorality propaganda, which is contrary to most religious tenets. The Internet could be a useful tool for promoting religion, but only if the relevant authorities control the contents. Under a regulated environment, people would utilize the Internet to share religious resources, thus promoting their faiths.
Conclusion
The controversies surrounding the effect of the Internet on religion has ignited heated debate amongst scholars. Some support the positive impacts of the Internet on global religions while others dispute such views. This paper has analyzed the arguments from both sides with a view of determining the most viable argument between the two. The analysis leads to the conclusion that cyberspace has both negative and positive effects on religion.
One of the positive impacts of the Internet on religion is that it facilitates the affiliation of more people to different faiths owing to the availability of accessible religious information in the cyberspace. The other positivity presented by the Internet in the promotion of loyalty among the followers of a certain religion. This goal is achieved through the control of rumors and disregard of the negative assertions about a certain religion through different online platforms. However, since cyberspace has positive impacts on religion, it has its challenges. One of the setbacks of the Internet on religion is that it promotes criticisms for the different sects and beliefs.
Such criticisms lead to disloyalty among the members of a certain faith, thus, leading to non-affiliation. Additionally, the cyberspace offers a venue through which people can access information about religious doctrines, which leads to the erosion of the role of religious leaders. However, the positive impacts of the Internet outweigh the negative ones. People can only learn through accessing information, and thus, to address some of the challenges, authorities should ensure strict censorship of immoral content from the cyberspace. Therefore, it suffices to conclude that while the Internet has affected religion negatively in some ways, it has created a platform for the spread of the gospel and growth of religious matters in different ways as explored in this paper.
References
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Henderson, C., Larsen, E., & Thumma, S. (2002). Religion and the internet. Web.
Hu, E. (2014). America’s less religious: Study puts some blame on the internet. Web.
“Nones” on the rise. (2012). Web.
Ravitz, J. (2014). Is the internet killing religion? Web.
Sommer, J. C. (n.d.). Some reasons why Humanists reject the Bible. Web.
Thunderf00t. (2010). The internet: Where religions come to die [Video]. Web.