Online Religion

Tim Hutchings' article I am Second: Evangelicals and digital storytelling discusses the evangelical video series I Am Second, in which well-known American personalities discuss struggles they have overcome through Christian faith. It analyses the techniques I Am Second uses, and their efficacy, but does not expand very far into broader issues of online religion. Using Hutchings' findings, however, it is possible to examine some of these issues.

One of the questions online religion often raises is whether it is 'as good' as religious practice in real life. I am Second is interesting in that, while it delivers religious content, it also makes it very clear that watching an IaS video is not an explicitly religious act. That is, while it encourages and sometimes inspires viewers to commit to Christianity, it does not present itself as an alternative to real life Christian communities (Hutchings, 2012). What it does do is promote the idea that digital media, such as Facebook and YouTube, can be excellent vessels for religious conversation and that religion belongs on the internet as much as it belongs anywhere.

Another issue relating to online religion is the question of whether everything that is produced is honest, with honest and harmless intentions. For example, IaS might suddenly decide to only produce videos of extreme militant fundamentalists abusing non-believers. Were this to happen, IaS would undoubtedly lose the support of evangelical Christian communities, but there would be little these communities could do to stop IaS from producing hate material in the name of evangelism.
While there may always be places on the internet where religious material is militant or exclusivist, if more religious communities maintain a cyber presence, the variation of stance online will become an accurate representation of the variation in the real world. IaS is an example of a non-denominational Christian community promoting its values online without becoming detatched from communal religion offline.

Finally, the issue of personal religious identity is often raised in relation to online religion. If a person has a developed religious identity online, is this the same as having a developed religious identity offline? Is there a difference between being part of an online religious community and being a part of a real world religious community?
In the case of IaS,  this is not really an issue. The IaS community is made up of many different real world Christian communities, as well as some non-Christian viewers. What IaS does do is demonstrate how an online religious identity might add to or even inspire an offline religious identity. The two don't have to be distinct from each other. Being an IaS follower does not take the place of being a practising Christian, it encourages the viewer to develop their Christian identity.

Reference
Hutchings T. 2012. I Am Second: Evangelicals and Digital Storytelling. Australian Journal of Communication, 39(1): 71-86.