Virtual religion in context

Abstract

This article explores the notion of 'virtual religion' in various ways. In part, it is a response to a number of ideas found in the articles by Philip P. Arnold, Shawn Arthur, Christopher Helland, Anastasia Karaflogka and Mark MacWilliams which appear in this issue of Religion, but it also discusses religion in online contexts in relation to various important themes such as the character of cyberspace both present and future, the multimedia Web and its alleged postmodern orientations, virtual identity, the dynamics of virtual community, and the controversies concerning the positive and negative ramifications of online life and experience, as discussed by technomystics, technophobes and others who hold more moderate views. The article ends by raising some questions about the future character of religion and spirituality in cyberspace. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.