ABSTRACT
In an age of rapid change and proliferation of digital and mobile technologies, religious communities are constantly forced to examine the influence of new forms of communication on their tradition and ways of life. The presence of new technology may alter or threaten established practices for a community, by forcing them to decide if the technology is appropriate for members, or the implications of its use for religious purposes. The rise of the cell phone, as seen in the quote above, is one example of a technology which religious groups are forced to respond to even if they are not being considered for integration into religious practices. New media means new challenges for religious communities to negotiate with. Once traditional structures, practices, and teaching of a religious commu-
nity have been identified in the religious-social shaping approach, a platform for a distinctive communal approach to media begins to emerge. Coupling this with an exploration of how core social values guide the interpretation and application of those traditions in the contemporary life of the community provides a basis for understanding religious decision-making regarding media. This leads to another vital area of investigation: the process of negotiation. It has been argued throughout this book that religious communities do not simply reject or accept new forms of media into their community life practice; instead they undergo a complex process of negotiating with those technologies based on their traditions and core values. Communal history and shared beliefs form a platform for evaluating media and decision-making about how a given technology should be appropriated by the group. However, this is not often a simple or straightforward choice, but rather full-scale evaluation of the affordances offered by the technology to the community. In this chapter the process of negotiation which religious communities undergo when faced with a new media technology is explored in detail. These discussions
can happen at both individual and corporate levels, and often result in comprehensive evaluation of specific technological features and the social conditions they encourage. The community must decide which aspects to use, accept, and/or reject. This process may even lead the community to actually reconfigure how the technology is used or call for innovation of the technology itself in order to make it more in line with the values and beliefs of the community. The process of technological negotiation within religious communities can
involve different factors. It begins with an evaluation of the technology in light of the community’s tradition and beliefs, to decide what aspects of the technology are acceptable or complementary to its values and way of life. If the technology is deemed as supporting community practices or structures it can be accepted and appropriated for set uses. However, if some features of the technology are deemed unacceptable or as causing a problematic effect to the community, those aspects of the technology will likely be rejected. Yet this does not always mean a full-scale rejection of the technology itself, but rather the rejection of specific aspects or outcomes of its use. If the primary function or specific affordances of the technology are deemed valuable by the community then the community must consider how it will negotiate this conflict. In other words, which features or uses of the technology must be rejected or resisted so that the technology comes into line with the life of the community. It is at this point that negotiations may lead to the need to reconfigure the technology in some way. This may involve the community highlighting some features and downplaying others, or encouraging a specific pattern of use of the technology to the community. In some cases it might even require innovation of the technology to occur, so that it is altered to prevent unacceptable uses. In some cases, a specially crafted form of the technology is produced to meet the needs of the community. Innovation can be both technical and ideological, as the community decides to change the actual structure of the technology itself so that it better suits its needs and values. In the last three decades a variety of computer software, hardware, and
networking platforms have emerged offering religious communities new options for facilitating key religious and social practices. This has meant that religious groups desiring to use the tools of modernity must make critical decisions about how their use of computer technology may support, while also challenge, the ethos and goals of their community. Here three different negotiation strategies are explored. Religious communities’ interaction with computer technology often leads to one of three choices, to either: (a) accept the technology and appropriate it for certain uses, (b) reject certain aspects of the technology, thus requiring them to resist or reject certain uses or create measures that put boundaries on its appropriation, or (c) see the technology as valuable but, in order for it to be more in line with the values of the community, as needing to be reconfigured in some way or to undergo technological innovation. Each of these strategies, along with the basis for
each unique response and the outcomes they generate for the community is outlined. Unlike the previous two chapters which have been religion specific, this chapter draws on examples from each of the three religions under study in order to show the diversity and complexity of issues that can arise in the negotiation process.
