Effect of Digital Development on Religion and Society: Southeast Asian Context

 After Thomas Edison invented electricity in 1879, some streets in New York City began to enjoy the fruits of this new technology in 1882 with the first large scale central station installed on Pearl Street to 85 customers. After this life changing invention and many other subsequent technological advances, the American people had to wait another 112 years before they were able to have access to the internet through the first commercialized web browser, Netscape Navigator released in 1994. Of course, internet technology had already been in development for decades, but it was not until 1994 that the technology was truly available to the general public. During that span of over 100 years, the United States went through many periods of development and managed to achieve 50 percent urbanization in 1920.[1] Compared to the United States, Southeast Asia has seen a much lower pace of technological development. In some parts of the region such as secluded highlands and islands, there is still no electricity for everyday use. People in many places are still using firewood for cooking and are still traveling on dirt roads. In fact, Southeast Asia was estimated to achieve 50 percent urbanization only in 2019, 99 years after the United States.[2] Despite the huge discrepancy between the United States and Southeast Asia in terms of history of technological advancement, the region is quickly getting on the train of digital development. 

With a total population of nearly 700 million as of August 2020,[3] Southeast Asia is the third most populous geographical region in the world, only behind South and East Asia. Technological development in the region is also as varied as all the other dimensions of Southeast Asian life. Despite the fact that urbanization in Southeast Asia is only about 50 percent, internet penetration has already reached nearly 66 percent at the beginning of 2020[4] with double-digit growth in most segments and most countries of the region.[5] Brunei leads the region in internet penetration at 95 percent.[6] Digital development in the region, however, is not even. While the regional internet penetration is higher than the global average (57 percent), several countries in the region fall quite far below the global average, with Timor Leste,[7] Myanmar[8] and Laos,[9] having internet penetration at only 39 percent, 41 percent, and 43 percent, respectively. Nonetheless, the growth rate across the region is high, and with so many Southeast Asians getting online, the region presents itself as the third-largest market globally. According to experts, the internet economy is expected to reach $300 billion by 2025.[10]

Chapter from the book: Religion and Society in the Digital Age (Moldova: Eliva Press, 2020).

For full article, email: leducsvd.arc@gmail.com

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[1] US Census, “Urban and Rural Areas,” https://www.census.gov/history/www/programs/geography/urban_and_rural_areas.html#:~:text=%22Urban%22%20was%20defined%20as%20including,population%20was%20defined%20as%20urban.

[2] “Southeast Asia and Sustainable Urbanization,” Global Asia, https://www.globalasia.org/v9no3/feature/southeast-asia-and-sustainable-urbanization_bharat-dahiya#:~:text=Estimates%20show%20that%20Southeast%20Asia,urban%20population%20to%20330%20million.&text=Between%201950%20and%202014%2C%20the,26%20million%20to%20294%20million.

[3] “Southeast Asian Population,” Worldometers, http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/south-eastern-asia-population/

[4] We Are Social, January 2020, https://wearesocial.com/blog/2020/01/digital-2020-3-8-billion-people-use-social-media

[5] Atzlan Othman, “Facebook most popular social mediate platform in the Sultanate,” Borneo Bulletin. https://borneobulletin.com.bn/facebook-most-popular-social-media-platform-in-the-sultanate/, (May 19, 2018).

[6] “Digital 2020: Brunei,” (18 February 2020), https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-brunei-darussalam#:~:text=There%20were%20413.0%20thousand%20internet,at%2095%25%20in%20January%202020.

[7] “Digital 2020: Timor Leste,” Datareportal (18 February 2020), https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-timor-leste

[8] “Digital 2020: Myanmar,” Datareportal (18 February 2020), https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-myanmar

[9] “Digital 2020: Laos,” Datareportal (18 February 2020), https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-laos

[10] “Southeast Asia’s internet economy to hit $300 billion by 2025: report,” Reuters (3 October 2019), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southeast-asia-internet/southeast-asias-internet-economy-to-hit-100-billion-this-year-report-idUSKBN1WI07X#:~:text=Southeast%20Asia's%20internet%20economy%20to%20hit%20%24300%20billion%20by%202025%3A%20report,-Aradhana%20Aravindan&text=SINGAPORE%20(Reuters)%20%2D%20Southeast%20Asia's,industry%20report%20said%20on%20Thursday.

Towards a Cybertheology: Theology in the Digital Milieu

 As digital technology come to permeate every aspect of human society, including people’s religious and spiritual lives, a number of terms have been mentioned in theological discussions that may not sound familiar or whose meaning may not be immediately evident to the listener. These terms include “digital theology,” “theology in the digital age,” “cybertheology,” “theology of the internet,” and others. While none of them have received acceptance as the official term for what they aim to convey, they all point to an important reality that has garnered considerable interest: the nexus between theology and digital information and communication technologies (ICT). This chapter is not concerned so much with making a case for any particular terminology because a consensus will eventually come about in due time. The primary aim, however, is to reflect on some theological matters that are provoked (inspired) by the new digital milieu in which terms such as digital age and cyberspace, which once sounded like descriptions of futuristic and otherworldly phenomena, now reflect a real and pervasive reality in human life. Thus, Christian theology which deals with the deepest spiritual issues and aspirations of humanity cannot fail to consider the effects of digital technology on the important dimensions of human lives, particularly one’s relationship with God and with fellow human beings.

It must be stated at the outset that the forthcoming reflections are but a modest effort to contribute to more systematic studies in this area, which continues to be a relatively new topic for investigations. However, in recent years, after the publication of Antonio Spadaro’s book Cybertheology: Thinking Christianity in the Era of the Internet (2014),[1] there has been more interests in examining the intersection between theology and the digital milieu. This is an improvement over the time when Spadaro first set out to consider the topic. In his book, Spadaro himself lamented about the lack of resources and having to stare “at a blank computer screen with no idea about where to begin or what to write”[2] when he was asked to give a theological speech about religiosity and the internet. The Jesuit priest and writer found a wealth of information regarding the pastoral dimension of the internet—its benefits and risks, its utilization as an instrument of evangelization and so on—but systematic theological reflections were few.[3] Although there is admittedly more discussions about digital theology in scholarly conversations and in academic journals in recent years, Heidi Campbell observes that until now, there are still no books solely focused on the topic of digital theology.[4]

It is also important to state the reasons why there needs to be a so called cybertheology and what this term fundamentally refers to. Although there is still no official definition of what cybertheology or digital theology is, the reflections here can contribute to the process of development of its final definition in the future. One of the aims of this inquiry is also to discuss cybertheology with some references to the Asian context. By situating the reflections in the Asian environment and making the relevant connections, we will see that cybertheology takes on various shapes depending on the particular context. Therefore, our task here is threefold: (1) To discuss the necessity of developing a cybertheology and exploring the possible nature of such a theology; (2) to reflect on human relationships with God and neighbor from a cybertheological perspective; and (3) to briefly situate this reflection in the Asian socio-religio-cultural context.

Chapter from the book: Religion and Society in the Digital Age (Moldova: Eliva Press, 2020).
For full article, email: leducsvd.arc@gmail.com

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[1] Antonio Spadaro, Cybertheology: Thinking Christianity in the Era of the Internet (New York: Fordham University Press, 2014).

[2] Spadaro, Cybertheology, viii.

[3] Spadaro, Cybertheology, ix.

[4] Heidi A. Campbell, “An Introduction to Digital Ecclesiology: What Does a Conversation on Digital Ecclesiology Look Like?” in Digital Ecclesiology: A Global Conversation, ed. Heidi A. Campbell (Digital Religion Publications, 2020), 6.

Religious Environmentalism in the Digital Age: Interreligious Approach

A question of particular concern is whether this ecological crisis will be exacerbated as human society becomes increasingly defined by digital technology, with cyberspace ever encroaching upon physical space in terms of our awareness and preoccupation of the former over the latter. The ushering in of the digital era some three decades ago with the introduction and eventual prolific use of the internet and its numerous applications has led to the creation of a new entity called cyberspace. This notional environment or metaphorical space is increasingly becoming an important place where people exchange information and experience a sense of social interaction and interconnectivity. People’s lives, especially the younger generation, also referred to as the “digital natives,” have become greatly attached to this non-physical environment as the place where they go for engaging in online activities, relationships, and finding news, information and entertainment. According to We Are Social, which tracks the global digital landscape, as of July 2020, the world population total was 7.79 billion with an urbanization rate of 56 percent. At the same time, the global internet penetration was 59 percent (4.57 billion) while social media penetration reached 51 percent (3.96 billion).[1] The organization noted that “growth trends indicate that an average of more than 1 million people started using social media for the first time every single day over the past 12 months, equating to almost 12 new users every second.”[2] On average, people used the internet nearly 7 hours each day, a significant portion of which was by way of the mobile phone. During the Covid-19 pandemic, as many countries went into lockdown, people also significantly increased their online time.

The few general data presented here is adequate to remind us that human life is increasingly preoccupied with digital technology reflected in the multiple gadgets that we own—mobile phones, tablets, notebooks, smart TVs, game consoles, fitness trackers, smart watches, and so on. Statistics also show that a significant portion of our waking hours is spent in cyberspace, oftentimes multi-tasking using our gadgets. At the same time that we are experiencing the degradation of physical nature, there is a growing trend of incorporating technological nature into human life. Instead of hiking in a mountain, we can take a walk or exercise in a simulated natural setting using immersive virtual environments (IVE) technology.[3] There is also a trend toward owning robot animals instead of the traditional dogs and cats as “pets.” According to Wired, “Robotics startups are rolling out more and more companion bots, designed for the sole purpose of friendship.”[4] Another popular trend in modern society is live streaming webcams of natural places and animals. There are live webcams streaming activities of bears in Alaskan national parks as well pandas in the zoos in the US and China. 

Chapter from the book: Religion and Society in the Digital Age (Moldova: Eliva Press, 2020).

For full article, email: leducsvd.arc@gmail.com

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[1] We Are Social, “Digital use around the world in July 2020,” https://wearesocial.com/blog/2020/07/digital-use-around-the-world-in-july-2020.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Giovanna Calogiuri et al., “Experiencing Nature Through Immersive Virtual Environments: Environmental Perceptions, Physican Engagement, and Affective Responses During a Simulated Nature Walk,” Frontiers in Psychology (23 January 2018), https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02321

[4] “The second coming of the robot pet,” Wired (1 July 2019), https://www.wired.com/story/the-second-coming-of-the-robot-pet/.