Hey, there's religion in my music?!

I'm continuing to search out new forms of religious expression popping up in popular culture. The last few weeks I have I spent a bit of time exploring emerging genres of religious music, especially related to Islam and Judaism. Contemporary Religious Music has facinated me since my stint as DJ at a Christian Radio station back in the early 1990s. Now I have discovered the wonders Muslim Hip Hop and Jewish Rock.

A great web site for a quick introduction to Muslim, Hip Hop and contemporary Nasheed is MuslimHipHop.com; I recommend checking out the music of Danish group Outlandish or New York native Miss Undastood. I am also anxiously awaiting the arrival of a recent CD purchase The So Called Seder: A Hip Hop Haggadah to add to my growing collection of Jewish pop music. For an introduction into Jewish Rockers, religious and not so religious, check out Jewsrock.org and for fun test your knowledge of with the "Jew or Not?".

Christian Bloggers Survey

An interesting survey on Christian Bloggers has just released its results. The 2007 Christian Bloggers Survey was conducted by Cory Miller of ChurchCommunicationsPro
in partnership with Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox recieved much hype on a variety of Christian blog sites while the study was being conducted during January 2007. In some econversations with Miller he described the survey as an attempt to "at a rough estimate at the "Christian" blogosphere...and give some general observations " (personal communication, 1 March 2007).

The snowball sampling method counducted "word of mouth" via Miller's site and Rick Warren's pastors.com meant the population surveyed was somewhat self-selecting, which might account for the high percentage of Pastor and male respondents. Still it managed to offer important insights into the some dominant characteristics Christian blogging including the most popular platforms (Blogger & WordPress), primary age range (Gen Xers, 31-40) and lenght of blogging (most under 2 years, highlighting it as a recent trend). This exploratory study has helped me frame my own current project on how religious identity and authority is framed in religious blogs, a content analysis study I am currently overseeing here at TAMU.

What do religious organizations have to say about the internet?

One of my project this week is trying to track down official statements or documents issued by Christian Denominations or Church organizations on internet use and/or ethics.

After much googling and searching the bibliographies of my research library, I still have only been able to track down three: the PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS documents"Church and the Internet" and "Ethics in Internet" and the Church of England’s "Cybernauts Awake" report.

So the question is, are there any other such documents or statements like these floating around out there? If you have a recommendation, please let me know!

If only all life's questions were this easy...

Wonder who has the answers to your burning theological questions? Check out EZ answer squirrel! Brought to you by the wise people of the Church of Canada.

Center for Media & Religion

If you are reading this blog you probably already know about the NYU's Center for Media & Religion. If you are in the New Your area I would encourage you to check out their spring event series on secularism, media and the globalization of religion which is looking at some very interesting themes. I only wish I was closer to be able to attend. Would love to hear from anyone who does have a chance to participate esp. in the ones on Judaism and Islam.

The Face of Godcasting...?

Today I am doing a little research on “Godcasting” (aka sermons or religious oriented podcasts). It made headlines in the summer of 2005 in news sources such as the Guardian Online, New York Times and the International Herald Tribune—who had the great headline “Religion on Demand”. In early 2006 there was some conversation in religious publication (see Leadership Journal) about concerns and potential implication of the phenomenon, and in my online searching I did come across several portal sites such as Godcast.tv and the GodCast Network. I know it is also becoming a common trend in many churches to offer weekly downloads of their sermons online, including two in my local are which I have attended: St Francis Episcopal and LifeChurch.

But from what I can tell things have been a bit quiet the past 6 months about what is developing around Godcasting. Is anyone out there doing research on this or know of any new developments?

Special Issue from Religious Studies Review on Religion & Internet

The latest issue of Religious Studies Review may be of interest to those doing work on religion online...

Special Issue: Religion and the Internet
Guest Editor: Christopher Helland

Read the introduction by Guest Editor Christopher Helland FREE onBlackwell-Synergy: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/toc/rsr/32/4.

This special issue of Religious Studies Review was organized to provide accurate, up-to-date information on websites useful to scholars studying religion. Contributors to the issue were asked two very general questions, posed as though they came from a student or a faculty member without a background in their field:

-"What are some good websites for getting information about your topic of research?"
-"Why are those websites reliable?"

In addressing these questions, some contributors selected three or four websites that they believed were the best for this pursuit. In other cases, the contributors recognized themes or categories of onlineactivities related to their field of study and then chose websites thatwere best suited for that particular theme. In both cases, contributorsreviewed some of the most up-to-date and important websites, explainingwhy they are good sources, what type of information can be found at thesite, and also some of the limitations or cautions that should be taken when using the Internet and the Web for their particular research.

Topics covered in the special issue are: Biblical studies, Christianity, Wicca, Witchcraft, Modern Paganism, New religious movements, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Religious statistics & Religion and the media

Browse the abstracts online: www.blackwell-synergy.com/toc/rsr/32/4.

Special Issue on Rituals on the Internet

Online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet has just launched it's second edition featuring a special issue on "Rituals on the Internet". This journal began through the impetus of the second international conference on religion and the internet called: Online-Religions and Rituals-Online, held in Germany in 2004. If you look closely at the site you will also see an article I wrote entitled "Spiritualising the Internet. Uncovering Discourses and Narratives of Religious Internet Usage" which was published in their first edition. They have also anounced a "Call for Papers" for an upcoming issues on "Virtual Worlds". For more information contact, Kerstin Radde-Antweiler at online-journal@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de

Going Into Godmode in Left Behind

A colleague just forwared me an interesting article from WIRED magazine. Going Into Godmode in Left Behind is a review of an interesting new Christian video game based on the Left Behind series focused on the book of Revelations. You too can join the tribulation force to battle the one-world government, just remember to not let your "spirit ranking" run low or you might be seduced or destoyed by the evil mineons of the anti-christ. Also check out Left Behind Games

A Long Hiatus...

Well it has been over four months since my last post. This was due to the fact my last post came right before a speedy retreat had to be made from Haifa due to Hezbollah firing rockets at the city. I spent the last 2 weeks of my time in Israel at a friend's parent's house in Jerusalem and left at the end of July minus most of my clothes and research material which were still in Haifa. Finally in October I was able to get most of my things back. Recovering from this eventful summer combined with a busy teaching schedule means I feel haven't had much time to even spit some weeks, let alone blog. But the semester is wrapping up and there is light at the end of the tunnel, so I hope to now get back to the business at hand…Looking for religion in the realms of new media.

The reason I haven't been blogging

My appologies for those who have been waiting for a report from the MRC conference that I promised. I have been a bit distracted the past few days. I am currently a refugee in Jerusalem after Haifa has been getting a lots of rocket fire courtsey of Hezzbolah in Lebanon. Some call it a war, some call it a conflict... I like to call it a very interesting ethnographic expereince (alway look on the bright side of life!). If you are interested in my reflections on this situation please check out my other blog "Long Way from Auld Reekie".

Bombings in Haifa...watching how news is constructed

Bombing in Haifa

Today has been an interesting time to reflect on how news in constructed.

At 8:40pm I awoke from a short nap and decided to make myself some dinner. Over my pita and hummus I decided to turn on the TV and when I flipped past CNN I was stunned to see an image of Stella Maris a neighborhood in Haifa about 20 mins down the hill from the University where I am staying. My first reaction was to go out to my balcony that overlooks the northern part of the city to see what was happening. But around me were no signs of this event. I saw no smoke rising from the cityscape; students were still milling around the campus courtyard and playing tennis on the university courts. If I had not turned on the TV I would not have known what was happening.

An hour later announcement came on the campus intercom for all students in the dorm are to go to their apartment safe rooms/bomb shelter. So slowly the students migrated inside but 2 hours later when the notice was made that all was okay the place came back to life. Overall it was just another peaceful night on campus in Haifa.

However it was interesting to not that in those 2 hours the peaceful atmosphere changed in my own space not because of what I was experiencing around me, but the tone set by the news. Haifa made the top headline on CNN with constant showing of images of the small area of town that was affected. Their was a series of interview with foreign correspondence, to local observers, and government official the described Haifa as “a place of panic” and “a war zone” to one where locals were experiencing with “a sense of hesitancy and fear”. As I listened to these CNN reports I grew more anxious, till I finally just turned off the TV. The media’s constant barrage of images and featuring Haifa as the crisis of the minute helped heightened the feeling of panic. I turned it off and called a few friends who lived in other parts of Haifa and learned they were all calm and more realistic about the situation.

Online I scanned the Israeli papers such as Haaretz online which:

Media, Religion & Culture Conference start today

Greeting from Stigtuna Sweden. The Fifth International Conference on Media, Religion, and Culture starts today. I am looking forward to learnign new things and meeting new colleagues from aroudn the world. I have already had several great chats with people from Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada and Britian and am looking forward to more. I will keep you posted with conference highlights.

Kosher Cell Phones

One of my current project here in Israel is to research more information on the Kosher cell phne developed in 2005. Kosher cell phones are designed forthe Ultra Orthodox community have been stripped of video, web & sms access that might expose users to harmful content. They also bear a kosher symbol, indicatign the devices are approved for use byt the rabbican coincil of the community. If you are interested in finding out more check out these recent articles:
Kosher phone line to be launched
Partner to provide kosher cell phones
and
Israel's 'kosher' cell phone testing appetite for growth

Conferences on Fundamentalism and Media

There are 2 interesting upcoming conferences focused around the theme of Fundamentalism and Media.

Fundamentalism and the Media is sponsored by the The Center for Media, Religion, and Culture at the University of Colorado at Boulder, USA will be held 10-12 October 2006. It will center on research and discussion of how best to address religious misunderstanding and conflict in the media.

And the conference Global Communication of Fundamentalist Knowledge will be held 14-16 December 2006 at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. One of the conference themes focuses on Media and fundamentalist knowledge and how people use different forms of media to serve various religious, naitional and ethinic interest.

Jewish Tele-Rabbis

One of my favourite evening activities here in Israel is watching the many different Middle Eastern TV stations. Most nights I spend at least some time watching religious programming. While my Hebrew is not very good so I can't follow much of the details of what is being said it is still interesting how similar the set-up, filming and the interaction is when compared to American Tele-Evangelist programs. The one I watch the most is called Hidaroot, which I think stands for something like negotiation. One of 3 Rabbis will share a message and interact with and audience of religious and secular Jews on different topics. They have a very interesting web site worth checking out.

Exploring Religious Community Online

FYI... I have been doing extensive research on religion online since 1996. My PhD at the University of Edinburgh combined the study of Computer-Mediated Communication with Practical Theology. I was very interested to see how involvment in an online religious community shapes people definitions of community and interaction in their offline church. If you want to find out more about what I learned, get a hold of a copy of Exploring Religious Community Online.

Muslims craft their own video games

Today I came across this article from the Christian Science monitor which tells about how Muslim designers are trying to create alternative naratives about Islam through video games. Check out: Muslims craft their own video games

Coming soon...International Conference on Media, Religion & Culture

It is only one week until...

The Fifth International Conference on Media, Religion, and Culture: Mediating religion in the context of multicultural tension will be held in about a week in Stigtuna, Sweden. This is an important meeting for researchers interested in a variety of aspects of the convergence of media culture with religion.

I will be presenting a paper on a research project I have been working on since 2001 on religious identity construction through prayer meetings within Christian youth culture in Scotland, as well as leading a panel on the future directions of research on religion online. Hope to see some of you there!

Following the herd

I found this article this morning on Haaretz online. Following the herd makes a few interesting comments and links to UO response to media and a percieved decline in religious authority within the community. Especially interesting to note is the slow take up of the Kosher phone, a technology I have been following for the last 2 years.