Dynamic Secularization: Information Technology and the Tension Between Religion and Science
Author: Bainbridge, William Sims

Publisher: Springer, 2017

Explores how information technology reveals and energizes the conflict between science and religion

This book discusses secularization, arguing that it may be more complex and significant than is generally recognized. Using a number of online exploration methods, the author provides insights into how religion may be changing, and how information technology might be energized in this process.

Working from the premise that the relationship between science and religion is complex, the author demonstrates that while science has contradicted some specific religious beliefs, science itself may have been facilitated by beliefs formed many centuries ago. Science assists engineers in the development of powerful new technologies, and asserts that the universe is based on a set of fundamental principles that can be understood by humans through the assistance of mathematics.

The challenging ideas discussed will benefit readers through sharing a variety of Internet-based research methods and cultural discoveries. The book provides a balance between quantitative methods, illustrated by 24 tables of statistics, and qualitative methods, illustrated by 30 screenshots of computer-generated virtual worlds. Analysis interweaves with description, creating a sense of involvement in the experience of exploring online realities at the same time as radical insights are shared.

Table of contents (9 chapters) Fragmentation: Online Evidence About Religious Innovation Humanization: The Crash or Reboot of Social Psychology Paganization: The Virtual Revival of a Cult Online Residualism: Online Survival of Rejected Religions Jediism: The Most Popular Online Virtual Religion Pessimism: Critiques of Religion and Technology in the Fallout Games Optimism: Religious Diversity in the WildStar Massively Multiplayer Game Transhumanism: An Online Network of Technoprogressive Quasi-Religions Transcendence: Virtual Artificial Intelligence