@article {2143,
	title = {The counterpublic of the J(ewish) Blogosphere: gendered language and the mediation of religious doubt among ultra-Orthodox Jews in New York},
	journal = {Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute },
	volume = {23},
	year = {2017},
	pages = {727-747},
	abstract = {While there have always been doubters and heretics among ultra-Orthodox Jews, access to the Internet over the past fifteen years has amplified opportunities for anonymous expression and connection. An early key platform was the Jblogosphere (Jewish Blogosphere), which flourished between 2003 and 2009. This article focuses on four Hasidic bloggers (three men and a woman) who were part of a growing counterpublic of secret religious doubters. I trace how this counterpublic challenged the authority of the ultra-Orthodox religious public sphere through gendered digital writing and reading in varieties of Yiddish and English. Linguistic resources for those engaging with the new medium of the blog became proxies for bodies that could not change without risk of expulsion. However, the counterpublic remained almost exclusively for men, reproducing the exclusion of women from the ultra-Orthodox public sphere. The analysis focuses on dynamics between gendered languages and media/semiotic ideologies in order to highlight a historical moment when the mediation of religious doubt became publicly legible, with implications for religious change for individuals and their wider communities.},
	keywords = {Blogosphere, Jewish, language, mediation, religious, ultra Orthodox Jews},
	url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1467-9655.12697},
	author = {Fader, A}
}
@article {2146,
	title = {Ultra-Orthodox Jewish interiority, the Internet, and the crisis of faith},
	journal = {Journal of Ethnographic Theory },
	volume = {7},
	year = {2017},
	abstract = {This article argues for a recuperation of interiority. Rather than conflate interiority with belief, as immaterial and individualized, research with ultra-Orthodox Jews in New York reveals interiority to be as public and political as is the material. Over the past fifteen years, ultra-Orthodox Jews have been increasingly concerned with religious doubt. Many communal leaders have called the current moment {\textquotedblleft}a crisis of faith,{\textquotedblright} with the perception that there are new challenges to ultra-Orthodoxy, especially from the Internet. In response, leaders have turned to explicit communal talk about interiority in their attempts to strengthen faith and therapeutically treat those with religious doubts. Public talk, where certain forms and locations of interiority are cultivated and others disciplined, shows efforts by ultra-Orthodox leadership to defuse the power of secular epistemologies, such as psychology and technologies, while harnessing their potentialities for religious authenticity},
	keywords = {digital media, interiority, Judaism, language, religion, technology, Ultra-Orthodox Jewish},
	url = {https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.14318/hau7.1.016},
	author = {Fader, A}
}
@article {1993,
	title = {Facebooking Religion and the Technologization of the Religious Discourse: A Case Study of a Botswana-based Prophetic Church},
	journal = {Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet},
	volume = {11},
	year = {2016},
	month = {12/2016},
	pages = {26},
	type = {Research},
	chapter = {66},
	abstract = {Technologization of discourse is generally conceptualized as a process of influencing people{\textquoteright}s way of thinking through the use of certain linguistic strategies. In this process, power is exercised through the use of linguistic strategies that shape the construction of identity as well as socio-religious vision. This study analyzes the ways in which certain linguistic strategies and religious discourses used in Facebook posts, reviews and comments on a religion-based Facebook page create and shape the narratives of religious authority, religious identity and religious community. Using the Facebook page of a popular prophetic Christian church in Botswana, Gospel of God{\textquoteright}s Grace (3G Ministries), as a case study, this study examines the following questions: in what ways can an active religion-based Facebook page reconfigure and provide a platform for religious practice? To what extent does the use of various linguistic strategies inform and shape religious discourses found in various Facebook postings and comments? And how does a religious Facebook page provide a venue for the discursive interpretation of religious authority, the negotiation of religious identity and the development of socio-religious vision?},
	keywords = {Facebook, identity construction, religious authority, technologization},
	doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.17885/heiup.rel.2016.0.23628	},
	author = {Faimau, Gabriel},
	editor = {Behrens, Camden}
}
@article {1992,
	title = {Religious testimonial narratives and social construction of identity: Insights from prophetic ministries in Botswana },
	journal = {Cogent Social Sciences},
	volume = {3},
	year = {2017},
	month = {07/2017},
	pages = {15},
	type = {Research},
	chapter = {1},
	abstract = {Giving a testimony forms a central part of the religious practices among Pentecostal churches including prophetic ministries. Testimony links the understanding of one{\textquoteright}s religious experience and the configuration of the divine intervention. Utilizing data collected through ethnographic observation among prophetic ministries in Botswana and digital ethnography of the testimonial narratives circulated online through various new media outlets of these ministries, this paper examines the ways in which religious identity is constructed and understood through the testimonial performance in various religious services. Informed by the premise that narrative is closely related to identity, the paper pays particular attention to the extent to which religious testimonies influence the dynamic relationship between
individual, communal and institutional religious identity. The following questions are central to the analysis: In what ways does a religious testimony inform us about the construction and negotiation of religious identity? To what extent does a religious testimony influence the dynamic relationship between individual, communal and institutional religious identity? While suggesting that religious identity constructions and negotiations are embedded within the sharing of religious testimonies, I also argue that the sharing of a religious testimony has an agentive function of extending the social relationship between an individual believer, other believers and the religious community within which the testimony is shared.},
	keywords = {Facebook, identity, prophetic ministries, testimony},
	doi = {doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2017.1356620},
	author = {Faimau, G.}
}
@article {1991,
	title = {The dynamics and digitisation of religious testimonies: a case of prophetic ministries in Botswana},
	journal = {Anthropology Southern Africa},
	volume = {40},
	year = {2017},
	month = {07/2017},
	pages = {10},
	type = {Research},
	chapter = {85},
	abstract = {A major element in the religious practice of believers in prophetic Christianity is the sharing of religious testimonies. Focusing on prophetic ministries in Botswana, this paper examines the nature and function of religious testimonies and the dynamics of their digitisation and online circulation. It explores the ways in which religious testimonies mediate or extend the reach of prophetic ministries. Using data collected through fieldwork observation, in-depth interviews and digital ethnography, I argue that the sharing of testimony within Pentecostal Christian circles can be described as a system of institutional performance that aims to direct the spiritual development of believers, reinforce the central place and authority of a prophet and advance the institutional identity of a prophetic ministry.},
	author = {Faimau, Gabriel}
}
@article {1189,
	title = {The Divine Online: Civic Organizing, Identity Building, and Internet Fluency Among Different Religious Groups},
	journal = {Journal of Media and Religion},
	volume = {10},
	year = {2011},
	chapter = {73},
	abstract = {The number of religious congregations with Web sites nearly tripled from 1998{\textendash}2006, and each year another 10,000 congregations launch a Web site (Chaves \& Anderson, 2008). Couple this with the fact that 79\% of attendees are now in a congregation with a Web site. Scholars of media and religion know very little, however, about the content of these Web sites or what they tell us about the culture of different religious groups. The aim of this article, therefore, is to examine how congregations are constructing Web sites to advertise their identity, organize their followers to get involved in civic and political issues, and provide an interactive space for online participation in actual ministries. Extensive qualitative data were gathered from 600 individual congregation Web sites from nine denominations in 53 different cities across the United States. The results of the descriptive analysis of these data suggest that there is a strong correlation between the {\textquotedblleft}off-line{\textquotedblright} characteristics of a particular congregation and the {\textquotedblleft}on-line{\textquotedblright} characteristics of the same congregation. Evangelical congregations tend to have more complex, attractive, and interactive Web sites and fall into the {\textquotedblleft}online religion{\textquotedblright} camp. Liberal-Protestant and Catholic congregations tend to create static {\textquotedblleft}brochure{\textquotedblright} style Web sites that emphasize their denominational identity and thus fall into Hadden and Cowan{\textquoteright}s (2000) {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright} camp. This study expands our theoretical knowledge about the proliferation of media into, and out of, religious congregations, and offers a broader understanding about how institutions negotiate their online identity in the digital age.
[Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher{\textquoteright}s online edition of the Journal of Media and Religion for the following free supplemental resource: Appendix II: Web Site Screen Shots.]},
	keywords = {Catholic, Catholic congregations, Catholics, Computer, Contemporary Religious Community, cyberspace, internet, Mass media, media and religion, network, New Media and Society, new media engagement, New Technology and Society, online communication, Online community, religion, religion and internet, Religion and the Internet, religiosity, religious engagement, religious identity, Religious Internet Communication, Religious Internet Communities, religious media research, sociability unbound, Sociology of religion, users{\textquoteright} participation, virtual community, virtual public sphere, {\textquotedblleft}media research{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}online identity, {\textquotedblleft}religion online{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious congregations{\textquotedblright}, {\textquotedblleft}religious media research{\textquotedblright}},
	url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15348423.2011.572438$\#$.Uin0bMasim4},
	author = {Justin Farrell}
}
@article {510,
	title = {{\textquoteright}You wince in agony as the hot metal brands you{\textquoteright}: Religious behavior in an online pole-playing game},
	journal = {Journal of Contemporary Religions  },
	volume = {25},
	year = {2010},
	pages = {363-377},
	keywords = {Online, religion, video games},
	author = {Feltmate, D.}
}
@inbook {181,
	title = {Internet Ritual: A Case of the Construction of Computer-Mediated Neopagan Religious Meaning},
	booktitle = {Practicing Religion in the Age of Media},
	year = {2002},
	pages = {254-275},
	publisher = {Columbia University Publishing},
	organization = {Columbia University Publishing},
	address = {New York},
	abstract = {Increasingly, the religious practices people engage in and the ways they talk about what is meaningful or sacred take place in the context of media culture -- in the realm of the so-called secular. Focusing on this intersection of the sacred and the secular, this volume gathers together the work of media experts, religious historians, sociologists of religion, and authorities on American studies and art history. Topics range from Islam on the Internet to the quasi-religious practices of Elvis fans, from the uses of popular culture by the Salvation Army in its early years to the uses of interactive media technologies at the Simon Wiesenthal Center{\textquoteright}s Beit Hashoah Museum of Tolerance. The issues that the essays address include the public/private divide, the distinctions between the sacred and profane, and how to distinguish between the practices that may be termed "religious" and those that may not.},
	keywords = {internet ritual, Neopagan, religion},
	url = {http://books.google.com/books?id=9aDg8Ih78QAC\&pg=PA254\&lpg=PA254\&dq=Internet+Ritual:+A+Case+of+the+Construction+of+Computer-Mediated+Neopagan+Religious+Meaning\&source=bl\&ots=snoOkFzsiG\&sig=UjWRGsmRhiRZvf-Xqs9hBNHbTd4\&hl=en\&ei=Cx24TvCMEoKpsAK42a3eAw\&sa=X\&o},
	author = {Fernback, Jennifer}
}
@article {1307,
	title = {Religious Online Developments in a Secular Context},
	journal = {Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology},
	volume = {6},
	year = {2012},
	chapter = {49},
	abstract = {Religious groups have conceived the internet as both a promising way of increasing 
interest in religious issues and a threat to the core religious values. This article 
deals with religious developments on the internet based on theoretical perspectives 
on secularization. Four relevant themes are listed, namely secularization as loss of 
religious institutional power and authority, secularization as adaption, secularization as decrease in individual religious engagement, These themes are investigated through an empirical analysis of results from two large surveys with 1,015 Danes and 1,040 Danish pastors and secularization as changed conditions for religious communication. The article concludes that the internet does not seem to have dramatically changed people{\textquoteright}s religious orientation. As in offline contexts, religious institutions are under pressure on the internet. Though the internet has been viewed 
as a new direct channel to people, evidence suggests that people are difficult to 
reach and that other players than the religious institutions dominate the transmission of religious messages. Secularization does take place online, but the development is counteracted by deliberate attempts to use the internet in religious activities, for instance by pastors who engage in critical negotiation of the possibilities online.},
	keywords = {adaption, Authority, cyber church., dialogue, discussion groups, individualization, internet, media sites, Negotiation, religion, search engines, secularization, Social Networking},
	url = {https://mujlt.law.muni.cz/storage/1373984017_sb_03-fischer-nielsen.pdf},
	author = {P. Fischer-Nielsen}
}
@article {2757,
	title = {Religion on the Internet: Community and Virtual Existence:},
	journal = {Bulletin of Science, Technology \& Society},
	year = {2016},
	abstract = {There is considerable controversy concerning the ability of the Internet to provide communal experiences. This article looks at the ability of the World Wide Web to foster religious community, particularly from a Christian perspective. It looks at the nature of religion and community and shows to what extent the Internet has and has not been successful in recreating religious community. It looks at the reaction of two particular groups of users and categorizes Web sites into five types: research sites, extensions of local community, independent sites, spiritual retreats, and online worship. Finally it discusses the limitations of disembodied experience and argues that most individuals use the media within these limitations.},
	doi = {10.1177/0270467603256085},
	url = {https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249747436_Religion_on_the_Internet_Community_and_Virtual_Existence},
	author = {Foltz, Franz and Foltz, Frederick}
}
@article {2924,
	title = {Discipline and punish},
	journal = {Journal of Management \& Governance},
	year = {1977},
	url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10997-008-9080-7},
	author = {Foucault, M.}
}
@article {2925,
	title = {The Subject and Power},
	journal = {The University of Chicago Press},
	year = {2000},
	url = {https://www.jstor.org/stable/1343197?seq=1},
	author = {Michel Foucault}
}
@book {257,
	title = {Thy Kingdom Connected},
	year = {2009},
	publisher = {Baker Books},
	organization = {Baker Books},
	address = {Grand Rapids, MI},
	abstract = {Networks are everywhere. From our roads to our relationships, from our food supply to our power grids, networks are an integral part of how we live. Similarly, our churches, denominations, and even the kingdom of God are networks. Knowing how networks function and how to work with rather than against them has enormous implications for how we do ministry.In Thy Kingdom Connected, Dwight J. Friesen brings the complex theories of networking to church leaders in easy-to-understand, practical ways. Rather than bemoaning the modern disintegration of things like authority and structure, Friesen inspires hope for a more connective vision of life with God. He shows those involved in ministry how they can maximize already existing connections between people in order to spread the Gospel, get people plugged in at their churches, and grow together as disciples.},
	keywords = {Christianity, Connection, networking},
	url = {http://books.google.com/books?id=H3CgMl08rzgC\&printsec=frontcover$\#$v=onepage\&q\&f=false},
	author = {Friesen, Dwight J.}
}
@article {2814,
	title = {Race, Religion, or Culture? Framing Islam between Racism and Neo-Racism in the Online Network of the French Far Right},
	journal = {Perspectives on Politics},
	year = {2018},
	abstract = {When debates about Islam acquire importance in the public sphere, does the far right adhere to traditional racist arguments, risking marginalization, or does it conform to mainstream values to attain legitimacy in the political system? Focusing on the aftermath of the 2015 terrorist attacks in France, I explore the framing of Islam, discussing how the far right{\textquoteright}s nativist arguments were reformulated to engage with available discursive opportunities and dominant conceptions of the national identity. By looking at actors in the protest and the electoral arenas, I examine the interplay between the choice of anti-Islam frames and baseline national values.

I offer a novel mixed-method approach to study political discourses, combining social network analysis of the links between seventy-seven far-right websites with a qualitative frame analysis of online material. It also includes measures of online visibility of these websites to assess their audiences. The results confirm that anti-Islam frames are couched along a spectrum of discursive opportunity, where actors can either opt to justify opposition to Islam based on interpretations of core national values (culture and religion) or mobilize on strictly oppositional values (biological racism). The framing strategy providing most online visibility is based on neo-racist arguments. While this strategy allows distortion of baseline national values of secularity and republicanism, without breaching the social contract, it is also a danger for organizations that made {\textquotedblleft}opposition to the system{\textquotedblright} their trademark. While the results owe much to the French context, the conclusions draw broader implications as to the far right going mainstream.
},
	url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/abs/race-religion-or-culture-framing-islam-between-racism-and-neoracism-in-the-online-network-of-the-french-far-right/FE258FCC20A9AAFFF2390E942426D491},
	author = {Froio, Caterina}
}
@article {388,
	title = {Internet use among religious followers: Religious postmodernism in Japanese Buddhism},
	journal = {Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication},
	volume = {12},
	year = {2007},
	abstract = {Strong sect organizations are a feature of traditional Buddhist denominations in Japan. Having long benefited from the protection of Japan{\textquoteright}s feudal society, these once strong organizations have been buttressed by factors of social change in the modern and post-modern eras, including modernization and the evolution of the media. The Internet is a rich source of information about innovations of religions adapting to social change. To examine these changes, I undertook a survey from 2002 to 2004 of 2,007 followers and religious specialists. The results highlight a critical attitude among followers: Sending and receiving messages in the interaction between a religious group and its followers results in followers expanding the scope of allowable subjects of criticism, and they have begun to entertain doubts regarding their faith systems. We may infer that in postmodern faith, horizontal interaction among religious followers will take on an increasingly important role in comparison with the vertical (top-down) structure of traditional doctrines.},
	keywords = {Buddhism, internet, Japanese, religion},
	url = {http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue3/fukamizu.html},
	author = {Fukamizu, K.}
}
