Identity in Adolescent Christians

Identity in Adolescent Christians

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Rituals on the Internet


Christopher Holland the Associate professor of Sociology of Religion from Dalhousie University presented his paper over rituals on the Internet.  A ritual is a powerful tool for helping us identify, understand, and make sense of social events and their impact.  The definition he discussed was a purposeful engagement with the sacred.  The sacred is a mix of performance, media, script and representation of belief. A ritual is a means by which supernatural beings and powers can be connected, influenced or coerced to helping humans; but are determined based on the social connection or setting.  No longer is it easy for some people to distinguish or change their life online with their life offline.  Religion ties in with the topic of rituals extremely easily, gained by the knowledge of church and community; also with the Internet it is not hard to believe religion has made it online.  Online religion is seen or viewed as a theater imagination.  Many of the participants believe that the religious activities they go through in cyber space, are the same as in real life, but depending on the individual’s perspective and relationship with their religion, depending on what they get out of it.  Cyber space has been transformed to be sacred.

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