By Group 4.

*Technology and Religion

The History of Religion

*Early Agriculture

*Cave Art

*Architecture

The war between religion and technology

*More of a war against science.

*Technology and science go hand-in-hand.

Can technology win over religion?

*Internet to eliminate formal worship

*Religion adapting to use technology and science

Today…

Church environment.

*Technologically powered projection screens

*Musical Instruments

*Web cameras

*Membership databases

On-line.*New media forms:

- Social Networks(Facebook, Twitter)

-Emails

-Online Live translation

-Websites

Some Statistics…

"When I do pray in real time with them, I have a sense of a large, international community praying together. It's pretty powerful."

Religious environment anywhere…*hundreds of iPhone apps allow parishioners to

bring Bible quotes, Torah-chanting practice and Buddhist prayer wheels

* new times and spaces

*Available for everyone

(vs. being a luxury)

Positive Effects on Religion

Communication

Meet others with similar views

Bigger Growth

Good and Bad

Has helped religious communities

Has not been good for society on a global scale.

The Internet

*In an ideal world

*More informed public

*Free and open exchange of ideas

*Better democracy => better society

Confirmation Bias

“In psychology and cognitive science, confirmation bias (or confirmatory bias) is a

tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's

preconceptions” Sciencedaily.com

Intellectual Isolationism

• Agreement • Information bubble• Extremism easy to spread • Small groups can create

there own bubble

Not unique to Religion

*Politics

*Compromise = dirty word

*Everyone I listen to agrees with me

*They must be wrong

“The Filter Bubble”

• Search engines & News sites

• Custom tailored results

Be Honest with yourself.

Questions.

*Do you use technology to talk about your beliefs? Or research religions today?

*What is the “right” way to practice religion? Is there one?

*Is technology changing the old-fashioned way to practice religion?

*Is it changing long established beliefs? Should it?