Diaspora on the Electronic Frontier: Developing Virtual Connections with Sacred Homelands

Diaspora on the Electronic Frontier:Developing Virtual Connections with SacredHomelands

Christopher Helland

Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology

Dalhousie University

This study demonstrates how diaspora religious traditions utilized the Internet to develop

significant network connections among each other and also to their place of origins. By

examining the early Usenet system, I argue that the religious beliefs and practices of dias-

pora religious traditions were a motivating factor for developing Usenet groups where geo-

graphically dispersed individuals could connect with each other in safe, supportive, and

religiously tolerant environments. This article explores the new forms of religious practices

that began to occur on these sites, focusing on the manner in which Internet technology

and the World Wide Web were utilized for activities such as long-distance ritual practice,

cyber pilgrimage, and other religiously-motivated undertakings. Through these new online

religious activities, diaspora groups have been able to develop significant connections not

only among people, but also between people and the sacred homeland itself.

doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00358.x

Introduction

Religion on the Internet is a unique phenomenon. Due to its massive online pres-

ence, it challenges traditional academic theories that link the secularization processwith developments in modernity and technology. At the same time, it provides

scholars with a new environment that can be observed, providing insight into themanner in which religious beliefs and practices adapt to changes in society. When

Howard Rheingold wrote The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the ElectronicFrontier (1993), he recognized that when people were homesteaders, they brought

many things with them to establish their new communities, including their religion.The original homesteaders often left behind the official religion of their places of

origin and developed and adapted their religious beliefs to suit the new surround-ings. This same trend seemed to occur in the new environment of cyberspace, wherehell and brimstone preachers vied for religious zealots for adherents. It was the wired

Wild West, and anything seemed to go.

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956 Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 12 (2007) 956–976 ª 2007 International Communication Association

However, within a relatively short period of time, the virtual world has gone fromfeeling like a wide-open frontier to a crowded city. Cyberspace has become a heavily

populated and well-traveled megalopolis, filled with every official church imaginable,live stream religious sermons, and never-ending free GodCasts. Although ‘‘home-

steading’’ on the electronic frontier might be a thing of the past, a unique type ofreligious activity is being developed to accommodate people in diaspora. These arepeople on the global frontier looking for a connection with their places of origin

rather than with the community in which they now live. In many ways, this activity isa reversal of traditional homesteading and reflects a global community filled with

transnational beings located throughout the planet who are using cyberspace as a toolto develop networks not only among each other but also with the homeland they

have left behind. This article explores the manner in which diaspora groups use theInternet to make these connections. Although people may be in diaspora for a num-

ber of economic, social, and political reasons, this article focuses on the religiousaspect of this online activity.

When it became apparent that religion was becoming a significant component of

the virtual world, a number of research projects were undertaken to evaluate thepresence of religion on the Internet. The earliest studies provided some interesting

results. For instance, the Time Warner Company estimated in 1996 that there werethree times as many sites concerning God and spirituality than there were concerning

sex (http://www.time.com/time/godcom/home.html). In the year 2000, more peoplewere using the Internet for religion and spiritual purposes than were using the

medium for online banking or online dating services. At that time, it was estimatedthat 21% of the Internet users in the United States of America went online to

undertake some form of religious activity. Within a year, that number had increasedto 25%, from two million people a day using the Internet for religious or spiritualpurposes in 2000 to over three million a day in 2001. Despite the continued increase

in total overall Internet users, a detailed study conducted on Internet use in the U.S.found that the number of people seeking religious information online had nearly

doubled by November of 2002 (see Larsen, 2000, 2001; Madden, 2003). The mostrecent study, conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, found that

‘‘64% of wired Americans have used the Internet for spiritual or religious purposes’’(Hoover, Clark, & Rainie, 2004).

This demonstrates that religion on the Internet is a common aspect of the newcommunication medium. People are going online to get information about, discuss,and argue about religious beliefs and practices, as well as to share their religious

feelings and concerns, post prayer requests, chat, and even conduct and participate inonline religious rituals. This medium has been embraced by most of the world’s

religious traditions, to the point that not having Internet representation is a rarity fora religious organization, even if it is Luddite in its beliefs and practices.

Religious representation on the World Wide Web is so predominant that withinthe core categories used by search engines to arrange websites, the second largest sub-

section category on the entire World Wide Web is the ‘‘Religion and Spirituality’’

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section within the Society group. The Religion and Spirituality section, at 109,760 listedwebsites, contains slightly more sites than the entire Science group combined. The

science group contains websites on topics ranging from agriculture and astronomy tobiology, genetics, and even computer technology and software. As of May 1, 2006, the

Science group had a total of 106,749 sites listed on the Google DMOZ Open DirectoryProject, about 3,000 less than religion and spirituality. (For the most up-to-date num-bers on websites in the religion and spirituality section, see http://dmoz.org/Society/.)

Although this demonstrates that there is a significant number of websites con-cerning religion and spirituality, it does not reveal what is actually occurring on these

websites or how different religious groups and traditions are using this technologyfor religious activity. In many ways, the search engines are only providing descriptive

information. To address the issue of diaspora groups using the Internet for religiousand spiritual activity, this article examines the early development of religion on the

Internet and explores how the new communication medium was modified andadapted by religious groups to meet their specific religious needs.

Early Forms of Online Religion

After the development of the Modem program in the 1970s, religious discoursequickly began to permeate the Internet environment. Beginning with ORIGINS,

one of the earliest public bulletin board systems developed, religious discussionand activity became a common occurrence (Rheingold, 1985, 1993). Although there

was wide diversity and variations in religious beliefs, commitment, and practices,many of the early BBS that followed allowed for, and in many cases encouraged,

religious and spiritual discussions.Online religious activity passed from one BBS to another and eventually became

a significant component of the new USENET network. Discussions on the network

were divided by topic and placed into sections called newsgroups. By 1983, somemembers of USENET began to complain about the large amount of religious-based

dialogue that was occurring in the miscellaneous discussion group. As one userstated, ‘‘I have to sit through god-knows-how-many-but doesn’t care articles on

religion every single day.’’ To move religion into its own discussion group, USENETuser eagle!karn made the request on January 30, 1983 that a separate section for

religion be created—not because he wanted to participate, but rather because he wasgetting tired of reading posts about the Bible.

Please, Please, PLEASE!If you want to discuss about the Bible, please create net.religion and move your

discussion there.Thanks in advance (net.followup, January 30, 1983)

This high level of religious discussion and activity actually forced the peopleparticipating on USENET into a debate concerning how specialized newsgroups

should be. The ‘‘MAD Programmer’’ developed a survey and began taking votes to


see if a separate discussion area should be established for religion. Despite there beingpeople strongly opposed to the creation of the new group, the matter was taken

seriously. The ‘‘MAD Programmer’’ even stated:

An Additional note: any mail I get Knocking one of the new groups

[net.religion and net.philosophy] in a manner even approaching the intoleranceof this one: Re: Net.Religion ‘shouldn’t discussion of this subject fall under the

existing newsgroup net.jokes?’ will be sent to /dev/null at top speed.(net.misc, February 6, 1983)

After some debate, on February 6, 1983 the USENET group net.religion wasestablished, and people began posting specifically to this online religious forum.

Although a number of the first posts were placed by people who were opposed tothe creation of the separate group, the environment quickly became active and by the

end of February of 1983 had around 100 posts.Within net.religion, discussions ranged across a number of topics and often

generated heated debates over religious beliefs and the truth claims made by religious

organizations. As with all groups on the USENET network at that time, there were no

Figure 1 First postings from net.religion


moderators to limit or censor discussions; participants could post whatever theywanted. Many of the participants were there to argue against other religions tradi-

tions or religious beliefs in general. A great deal of debate took place concerning theinterpretation of scriptures, creation myths, and the nature of miracles. Although the

environment was created specifically for discussing religion, it was not really a reli-gious environment. Rather, it might best be considered an open forum where peoplewould present their personal beliefs and then defend them against an onslaught of

criticisms.A good example of the arguments that occurred in the new group can be seen in

a discussion that started on February 11, 1983, only five days after net.religion hadbeen created. The original discussion began as ‘‘Christians Should Quote More Often

from the Old Testament’’ and was started by USENET user Floyd!dyl. He defendedsome of the religious arguments that were beginning to surface in net.religion but

refused to call them ‘‘Holy Wars.’’ However, he and several other people went on tocriticize the Jewish tradition. The case was put forth by several Christians in thegroup that if Christians accept the ‘‘Old Testament’’ or Hebrew Scriptures as being

true and include them in their Bible, then why won’t people of the Jewish faithrecognize the Christian scriptures as true? The discussion contained a significant

amount of religious intolerance and quickly demonstrated the volatile nature of thenew USENET group. The final posting came from inuxd!arlan, who stated:

While we are civilly considering why Jews do not accept the (so-called) NewTestament, why don’t we also consider why (so-called) Christians don’t accept

the later Revelations–The Book of Mormon, for example? Surely, everyone isalways interested in the latest update on the Holy Word? Or don’t you all have

a loose-leaf Bible? (net.religion, February 20, 1983)

One of the key aspects in many functional definitions of religion is the recogni-

tion of the importance of a community of believers. In his classic definition ofreligion, Durkheim argues that religion is a unified set of beliefs and practices relative

to sacred things, which unite into one single moral community all those who adhereto them (Durkheim, 1915/1965). In a more contemporary, functional definition of

religion, Meredith McGuire (1997) recognizes several aspects or components ofreligion, which become united and manifest within a community setting:

The religious group—formal or informal—is essential for supporting theindividual’s beliefs and norms. Coming together with fellow believers reminds

members of what they collectively believe and value. It can also impart a senseof empowerment to accomplish their religious and everyday goals. And the

nature of the community illustrates the social context of religious meaning andexperience. (p. 20)

Since this early USENET religion group was so diverse, there was really nounified set of beliefs and practices available to provide the foundation for the estab-

lishment any form of online religious community. Suffice it to say that there was


considerable disagreement among the membership concerning everything fromethics and morals to representations of God, gods, or no gods.

Diaspora on the Electronic Frontier

Because the newsgroup was often filled with tension and aggression, there wasa significant push among the members of net.religion to begin a separate section

for Judaism, keeping the original USENET religion group open and non-denomi-national. It was initially the Jewish members who felt that they needed a separate

newsgroup, based on their tradition, if they were to be able to develop an onlineenvironment where they could discuss issues related to their beliefs and practices.

When arguing for the development of the separate Jewish group, they made clear thatthey not trying to develop an exclusive area; rather they were trying to develop an

area where ‘‘criticism of Jews for being Jews would not be welcome.’’Although there were active Jewish postings in the religion newsgroup, the people

wanting to develop net.religion.jewish felt that ‘‘the plethora of other topics in

net.religion creates a climate which is not conductive to discussion of practicalJewish religious matters’’ (Sherman, 1984). In many ways, by arguing for their

own online environment, they were arguing for their own online identity. Theywanted to develop a discussion area where it was safe to be Jewish—a place where

Jews could talk about their tradition, their rules and regulations, and any other issuesrelated to Judaism from a Jewish perspective. As a diaspora group, they viewed the

Internet as a place where they could come together from across the globe, to discussand identify with others from their tradition.

The desire to create the new group produced a heated debate within the USENETnetwork, with arguments revolving around two main points. The first was technical,since a number of members were fundamentally opposed to the propagation of mul-

tiple newsgroups and concerned with the overexpansion of the USENET network. Thisalso upset a number of members who were paying for their connection service, since

many did not want to be charged to receive posts from groups they would not beparticipating in or reading. The second issue involved the religious belief itself: A

number of active posters on net.religion did not support the view that Judaism neededits own separate forum, despite the Jewish members arguing clearly that they did.

In the end, 43 people voted in favor of the new group, and on February 27, 1984,permission was granted by the system administrators to begin net.religion.jewish.Although the new Jewish group contained some divisions among Orthodox, Con-

servative, and Reform members, it developed into an environment where peopleestablished significant online relationships based on their common religious heritage.

This Jewish environment became such a stable, active, and vibrant discussionarea that other religious groups attempted to copy the format and establish their own

USENET areas. However, due to the significant overexpansion of the network, it wasincreasingly difficult to establish a new online discussion group. A number of reli-

gions, including neo-paganism, Buddhism, and Wicca, attempted to do so, but they


did not garner enough support to justify having their own groups. However, enough

people were in favor of establishing a separate area for discussions related to Chris-tianity, and this new group was created on November 20, 1984. Over a one-yearperiod, between 1985 and 1986, 8,130 messages had been posted to net.religion,

2,970 messages had been posted to net.religion.jewish, and 1,830 messages had beenposted to net.religion.christian.

Despite a number of religious groups being declined the opportunity to starttheir own USENET discussion areas, through some creative maneuvering and deter-

mination from a number of active USENET members (who identified themselves asSouth Asians attending university in the United States), on January 30, 1985 a group

called net.nlang.India was established on USENET for discussions concerning allmatters relating to Indian culture, including the Hindu religion. The premise for

the creation of the original group was to discuss travel to and from India, providea forum for students coming from India to the U.S., provide information aboutvarious Indian restaurants in various parts of the country, supply the latest news

from India, and ‘‘anything else that is considered interesting to an audience that ispotentially Indian’’ (net.nlang.india, January 30, 1985).

This group became extremely active, and one of its first posts addressed a reli-gious concern. Within hours after starting the group, a non-Hindu in Baltimore

asked if people at a local Hindu temple would be offended if he participated in thePuja (worship service). Shortly after posting the question he received a reply from

India encouraging him to participate (net.nlang.india, January 30, 1985). In many

Figure 2 First postings from net.religion.jewish


ways, this posting set a tone that recognized that the new USENET group was anideal environment for talking about the Hindu religion. Many posts that followed

addressed religious issues, with an emphasis on Hindu religious beliefs and practicesin the diaspora. Within the first week of its creation, net.nlang.India became one of

the top 25 most active news groups on the USENET network, highlighting howimportant this network was to people from India living abroad.

By the mid 1980s, the USENET religion areas had become very active, with tens

of thousands of postings each year. By 1990, after the USENET network had beenrestructured to allow for significantly more groups (an event sometimes called ‘‘The

Great Renaming’’), religious representation on the network surged. In all, almostthree hundred active religious-based discussion groups attracted hundreds of thou-

sands of messages before the Internet had become a popular communications tool.During ‘‘The Great Renaming,’’ a number of groups were moved or placed in

new categories. Net.nlang.india became a culture group for discussion of any issuesrelated to India. Although the group still attracted a number of posts concerningreligion, they were not necessarily specifically based on Hinduism, but rather also

involved people from India who were Christian, Buddhist, Jain, and atheists. In anattempt to establish an online area specifically to discuss Hinduism, expressly with

the word Hindu or Hinduism in the title, the Hindu Student Council (http://hscnet.org/index.php) sponsored two discussion groups that were created and maintained

by Ajay Shah, a young man who had come from India to the U.S. to pursue a Ph.D. inChemistry. The purpose of these new groups (alt.hindu and soc.religion.hindu) was

to allow for the creation of online communities and discussion networks basedspecifically on the Hindu religious tradition. This created a moderated environment

specifically to ‘‘bring the Hindu community from around the world together on oneplatform’’ (Zaleski, 1997, p. 222).

These two newsgroups also became an environment where diaspora Hindu

workers could discuss and read sacred scriptures, such as the Bhagavad Gita. Manypeople from India were (and are) working as diaspora labor in Muslim countries,

such as Saudi Arabia, where it is illegal to perform any form of Hindu worship orbring the Hindu sacred texts into the country. To bypass this obstacle, the moder-

ators of these newsgroups began to post any religious text that was requested byparticipants of the group. In this way, people could read the scriptures on USENET

and also talk about their religious beliefs without fear of being arrested and deportedfor their religious activity.

Networking with People, Connecting with Places

In these situations, the members of the Jewish and Hindu newsgroups shaped thetechnology to meet their specific religious needs. They wanted an environment where

they could communicate with other people about their traditions without having todefend their religious beliefs and practices constantly from people who did not

respect them. The Jewish and Hindu newsgroups are an example of the social


shaping of technology (Mackenzie & Wajcman, 1985). Instead of letting technologylimit the way they were using the USENET system, users developed the system to

meet their own needs.Heidi Campbell argues in her recent article, ‘‘Spiritualizing the Internet,’’ that

through certain discourses, the Internet can be viewed by members of a religioustradition as ‘‘a spiritual medium facilitating religious experience, a sacramental spacesuitable for religious use, a tool promoting religion or religious practice and a tech-

nology for affirming religious life’’ (Campbell, 2005, pp. 9-10). In these two cases, theJewish and Hindu USENET groups became venues for specific diaspora traditions,

and were developed into effective tools for promoting, discussing, and affirming theJewish and Hindu ways of life. Members of these traditions who were geographically

dispersed utilized the Internet medium so that they could come together and engagein discussions and debates about their faith, creating a sense of community and

identity via computer-mediated communication.With the development of the World Wide Web, religious representation on the

Internet expanded even further. The Web was developed based on the principle of

universal readership. The creator of the Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, reasoned that ifpeople have mailboxes where they can access their email, why not also give them

a website where they can leave public messages for anyone who visits to pick up(Jonscher, 1999). Due to the way the Web was structured, along with leaving text

messages at a host computer, websites could also contain images, video clips, andeven music. Hypertext protocols were then developed to allow websites to include

links that took web surfers quickly to other websites. With the development of theNetscape and Internet Explorer browsers, the World Wide Web became easy to

access and user friendly. Individuals and organizations went online and began tobuild websites at a rapid rate, and within a relatively short period of time, theelectronic frontier of cyberspace began to be heavily populated and well traveled.

Due to the significant amount of religious activity occurring on the USENETnetwork, it is not surprising that religious websites proliferated and flourished in the

new environment of the Web. However, different types of religious organizationsutilized this new technology in different ways. Many of the most impressive reli-

giously-based websites, such as that of the Vatican (http://www.vatican.va/), har-nessed the medium to communicate in much the same manner in which they had

earlier used the radio, television, and even the printing press (Helland, 2000, 2004).The Vatican website, designed in 1995 by a group of Benedictine Monks fromNorthern New Mexico, has millions of internal web pages hosted on three super

computers named Raphael, Michael, and Gabriel. It is a stunningly impressive site.Available in six languages, it contains a massive archive, information on doctrine and

beliefs, the church’s history, and just about everything one might want to knowregarding the Catholic tradition. However, there are no interactive areas like chat

rooms, no bulletin boards where one can post information and ask questions, andno way to communicate through the website. The site also lacked external links

(Helland, 2002).


The Vatican and many other official religious websites began to use the Web forone-to-many communication. Much like preaching from a mountaintop to the

world below, most religious organizations began by developing closed websites thatcommunicated their message but did not allow for interaction (classified as religion-

online, see Helland, 2000). In many ways they broke the two cardinal rules of theInternet. First, they rarely provided external links to other websites; and second, theydid not allow for many-to-many communication or the open exchange of informa-

tion (Zalanski, 1997).On websites structured in this way, the Web traveler is given information about

religion; this includes everything from doctrine and polity to information aboutpractices and beliefs, ethics and morals, religious books and articles, as well as other

paraphernalia related to religious pursuit. However, when people go online forreligious and spiritual purposes, they often want to do more than just get informa-

tion about religion. As the Pew Internet and American Life Project found in 2003,‘‘higher percentages of the online faithful report online activities related to personalspirituality and religiosity than activities more related to involvement in traditional

religious functions or organizations’’ (Hoover, Clark, & Rainie, 2004).In cases where the Internet was being used to its full potential, in that it allowed

for many-to-many, non-hierarchical communication and interaction among partici-pants, a new form of computer-supported religious participation appeared to arise

(classified as online-religion, see Helland, 2000). Individuals interacted with thereligious belief systems presented on the Internet; they contributed their personal

beliefs and received personal feedback. In this new use of the online environment,participants were not simply passive recipients of information; rather, they became

actively involved in a dialectic process.In the early stages of the Web, the most active and dynamic online religious

environments were those that provide information about the religion, such as his-

tory, ethics, myths, etc., and also allowed people to come together from across theglobe to discuss the religion being presented. These types of sites provided both

religion-online and online-religion, creating a unique religious environment (Helland,2005). A primary example of this activity can be seen at the website called ‘‘The

Global Hindu Electronic Network’’ (http://www.hindunet.org). This website wasstarted in November 1996 and provided massive amounts of information about

Hinduism and other religions in India. The site also catered specifically to Hindusin the diaspora by providing information about temples in different countries andtheir locations, information about Indian food and lifestyle, news concerning human

rights issues, and up-to-date news from India. Along with providing this informa-tion, the website hosted a vibrant discussion area where people could talk about their

religious beliefs and practices.The Global Hindu Electronic Network site was not unique, in that many diaspora

religious groups also developed websites providing information about their beliefsand practices along with discussion areas where people in diaspora could go online

to talk with other members of their tradition. For example, very early in the


development of the Web, a number of Tibetan Buddhist groups used the technologyto create online areas where people could meet, discuss their tradition, their situation

in diaspora, and also be kept informed about events in their homeland without beingcensured by the Chinese Government.

The Web thus provided several benefits to religious communities living in dias-pora. First, it allowed them to present information about their religious beliefs,

practices, and ethics to the communities in which they were located and also tothe world at large. For a religious movement in a minority position, this represented

a unique opportunity to present their religion to the public. Although in the past thishad been done through a number of different media, the Web was an inexpensiveand effective way to communicate religious information on a scale that could not

have previously been imagined. Another benefit of the early Web was that it easilyallowed people to come together from across the globe to network based on their

diaspora religious tradition. This resulted in the creation of a number of ‘‘cyberneticsafe places’’ that could be accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection

(Mitra, 2007). The USENET system certainly provided this opportunity; however,it was made more accessible on the Web.

However, if individuals within a religious community wanted to go online toengage in activities related to personal spirituality and religious practice, there werelimitations. In particular, the environment was (and remains) biased toward textual

representations of religious beliefs. While many religious traditions are focused onScripture, others also assign a central role to devotion and ritual. To overcome this

limitation, new technologies were again shaped by particular religious groups tomeet specific religious needs.

Figure 3 The Global Hindu Electronic Network (November 1996)


Diaspora communities, in particular, tend to place an emphasis on maintainingclose ties with a homeland and often a place of religion origins (Berns McGowan,

1999; Vertovec, 2000, 2003). While many definitions of diaspora exist, a key char-acteristic is the relationship between globally dispersed yet collectively self-identified

ethnic groups and their countries of origin and settlement (Vertovec, 1999). As theJewish and Hindu newsgroups demonstrated, the Internet can provide diasporacommunities with an environment where they can develop relationships and connect

with each other despite being located in different nations (Cohen, 1997; Ignacio,2005; Mallapragada, 2006; Wilbur, 1997). However, the Web was developed as a tool

that would potentially connect anything to anything, providing the ability to developnetworks on a scale that had never before been imagined. Within many diaspora

religious traditions, people began to use the technology not only to stay in touch witheach other but also to get in touch with their homeland or perceived place of origins.

In effect, the Web became a medium that allowed for new relationships to developbetween people and places.

An early example of this form of activity occurred in 1998, when theWeb was still

relatively new. At that time, 20,000 people were going online daily from outside Indiato witness Durga Puja in Calcutta (Bannerjee, 1998). In advertising for the event, the

company that provided the online service stated, ‘‘no matter what part of the worlda Bengali might be in, a strong tug at the heart strings around Durga Puja time is

inevitable.’’ In 1999, Hinduism Today stated:

Come September, every expatriate Bengali falls homesick, longing to make the

rounds of the puja mandals, the giant temporary temples erected in Calcutta’sstreets and byways for the five-day celebration of Durga Puja. It’s not quite like

being there, but www.westbengal.com/puja/puya98/ is close. This elegant website takes you on a visual journey through the days of hectic preparation, the

Figure 4 Durga Puja website (1998)


markets overflowing with eager shoppers, the busy designers, the lights, theglitter, even the sound of drums. (Hinduism Today, April 1999)

Online broadcasting of religious festivals became so popular that in January2001, the Kumbha Mela festival was broadcast online on an even larger scale, not

especially for people in India but rather for people in the UK and North America(Beckerlegge, 2001). The live broadcasting of the event was sponsored by the Hima-

layan Institute (a Hindu ashram and religious center located in the Pocono Moun-tains of northeastern Pennsylvania) and used to promote their own religious website.

By the late 1990s this type of activity, sometimes referred to as virtual pilgrimage,began to become quite popular and could be undertaken to a number of destinations.People could travel through cyberspace, becoming virtual tourists at some of the

most sacred events occurring on the planet. Virtual pilgrimages were even developedto provide people with an opportunity to see a sacred place that they could never visit

in real life. For instance, a non-Muslim can travel through virtual reality to experi-ence the Hajj, people can walk deep inside the Vatican to view a sacred chapel, and

through virtual reality it is possible to travel to sacred sites that no longer exist, suchas the Second Temple at Jerusalem, or that exist only in mythical narratives.

Viewing a festival online certainly has its advantages; one saves on airfare andthere are no crowds to compete with for hotel rooms. However, it also has its

limitations, and there is a disconnect that occurs between an individual and theevent when it is being watched through the screen of a computer. Mark McWilliams(2004) examined this new form of religious activity in his study of virtual pilgrim-

ages. By focusing on the example of the virtual pilgrimage at the ‘‘Reek’’ of CroaghPatrick, McWilliams argues that through a panoply of images, which include photo-

graphs, video-clips, and in some case real-time streaming video, and also throughrecordings and messages, people can have a unique experience that connects them to

the sacred site.At the sams time, despite the significant appeal and popularity of online

pilgrimages, McWilliams recognizes that they differ from traditional pilgrimagesin a number of respects:

[V]irtual pilgrimage is not the same as ‘the real thing.’ First, it is almostinstantaneous—travel to the site is a click of the button away. Second, it takes

place figuratively, not literally. The arduous journey to the distant place, theascetic practices that are so important in penitential pilgrimages, do not existvirtually. (2004, p. 234)

In many ways, this form of online activity lacks a tangible connection between

the avatar, or the virtual traveler, and the real-world site. People could certainlywatch the event, and experience it through the computer, but they are disembodied.

Online pilgrimage is typically a solitary practice, undertaken alone, and witnessed byno one but the online participant. People at the site are not aware of the virtualpresence of the online pilgrims. They are invisible to the community that has


gathered at the sacred site to conduct the pilgrimage, and because of this invisibility,they are not part of the activities that occur.

In a traditional pilgrimage, often something is left behind and something is takenaway. In the case of the ‘‘Reek’’ of Croagh Patrick, one would leave behind one’s

blood (and sins) as one climbed the mountain barefoot, and one would take awaya clean slate and a new start on life. Often, a pilgrimage involves some form ofpersonal sacrifice. Pilgrimage is a complex ritual process; it may be a rite of passage,

it could be a social rite of intensification or a revitalization ritual, or it may bea therapy ritual undertaken for healing. In the spiritual world of give and take,

nothing is free. The sacrifice could be the costs and time incurred in undertakingthe trip (to be a pilgrim literally means to be ‘‘far a field’’), or it could be something as

small as lighting a candle and making a donation to the organization that maintainsthe pilgrimage site. At the end of the pilgrimage, the traveler also usually takes

a memento; they collect a sign to show that they completed the journey. This couldbe a pilgrimage badge or an ampulla, a certificate detailing the activity or a trinketfrom the gift shop. It could be dirt from a sacred site or water from a sacred spring or

sacred river. Pilgrims do not leave empty handed; they leave with a symbol thatconnects them with the sacred site.

Although it would at first appear that this limitation could not be overcomethrough the use of the Internet and virtual reality experiences, the social shaping of

technology, or as Heidi Campbell calls it, ‘‘the spiritualizing of the Internet’’ (2005),should not be underestimated. People in different religious traditions have begun to

develop the medium so that a stronger connection can occur between the virtualtraveler and the sacred place. An example of this is the virtual tour offered at the

Lourdes official website. A person can log on and experience all the aspects of a virtualreality pilgrimage, including images, recordings, 3D representations, and real time24/7 live video feed from thirteen webcams. The virtual pilgrim can also connect with

the real place by submitting a prayer petition that will be placed within the grotto andread during a special service (http://www.lourdes-france.org/multimedia/images/

intentions.jpg). By doing this, the pilgrim has traveled through the Internet toundertake a significant religious activity. They have connected with the site and left

tangible proof of their visit. In the case of Lourdes, they will also receive an emailresponse certifying that the event took place. The participant is not just watching

a computer screen to view the activity; they are manipulating the actual environmentby leaving tangible proof of their connection.

In a similar manner, within the Jewish tradition, people can log on to websites

such as http://www.aish.com/wallcam/Place_a_Note_in_the_Wall.asp and havetheir prayer placed in the Western Wall of the Second Temple. Along with a live

video feed that can be set as one’s desktop screen saver, http://www.aish.com/wall-cam/default.asp, people can use the Internet and Web to connect with the sacred

sight in a manner that was not available in the past. From any Internet connection,anywhere on the planet, individuals can now have a close connection with sacred

sites that may be thousands of miles from their real world location.


Real Temples, Virtual Connections

Within a number of diaspora traditions, the Internet and Web are being used by

people not just to travel in virtual reality to sacred sites, but also to connect tangiblywith their sacred homeland. One group from whom this activity is becoming par-

ticularly significant is Hindus. Several years before Lourdes developed its website toallow for a more complex and connected form of online pilgrimage, the website

http://saranam.com was created to ‘‘do whatever it takes to help Hindus around theworld meet their own needs in the realm of religion, spirituality, morality and the

Hindu value system’’ (emphasis added). This included allowing for ‘‘puja to beperformed in your favorite Indian temple.’’

One of the primary ways in which this is accomplished is by enabling people to

connect, through the Internet, with hundreds of the most sacred temples in India.This provides people with the opportunity to request specific rituals, which are then

conducted especially for the virtual traveler. Although saranam.com offers a numberof other services and items, including gifts, music, and books, their primary goal is to

allow Hindus to have access to temples within India from any place on Earth. Thissite has become extremely popular, and thousands of people use the service on

a regular basis.To help with this service, Saranam.com also provides scholars who answer ritual

and religious questions and also a ‘‘Puja wizard’’ program, which helps determine the

Figure 5 Original Saranam.com website (1999)


proper ritual and sacrifice for a particular situation or event. Due to the overwhelm-ing numbers of people using the site, Saranam.com now has enough ‘‘customers’’

that it can request very sacred and specific rituals to be conducted specifically for itsclients. A new feature called ‘‘exclusive temple events’’ also provides Saranam.com

clients with the opportunity to partake in rituals that they would have been excludedfrom in the past, unless they could have traveled to particular temples in India onrare and auspicious days. In many ways, the temples are now catering to the religious

and spiritual needs of Hindus in the diaspora through their online activity.One concern of Saranam.com is to ensure that people receive the rituals they are

paying for and that they get an authentic ritual event, even though they are onlypresent at the temple as an avatar. Addressing this issue, the website states:

You can be assured of the authenticity of the offering and the puja. Customersatisfaction is paramount at Saranam.com. If for any reason you feel you are not

satisfied with the puja offerings that you received, Saranam.com will refund theentire amount you spent – no questions asked. (http://www.saranam.com/

company/authenticity.htm)

To confirm that the ritual has been conducted, the puja receipt given from the

temple is mailed to the customer. In the case of certain rituals such as homams, it iseasier to verify because Saranam.com is allowed to videograph the ritual and the

video CD is sent along with the offerings. Although this is done by the company toinsure authenticity, it also provides a tangible connection between the online parti-

cipant and the sacred temple and ritual activity.Through this service, Web surfers can connect through the Internet to almost any

temple in India. They can chose a specific ritual and have it conducted specifically forthem. It is a unique online experience, because after the ritual has taken place, theprasad (vibuthi, kumkum, chandan, or turmeric), flowers used in the ritual, puja

certificate, or sacred ash, or even a video recording of the event is sent to thecustomer. For an extra fee, the material can be shipped special delivery and be

received within days. Thus the Internet acts as a powerful tool to connect individualswith the sacred temple and also with the ritual. Although they are not there in

person, their Web presence is felt, and they are conducting an authentic religiousactivity and receiving the benefits of that activity. Thousands of people would not use

this service on a regular basis if they did not feel that it was genuinely meeting theirreligious or spiritual needs.

In the Hindu diaspora, the temple itself becomes a manifestation and a represen-

tation of the sacred homeland (Waghorne, 2004). The Hindu temple within thecommunity goes to great lengths to insure its authenticity and to present that

authentic religious environment to practitioners. The Hindu temple in diaspora isa unique space that is often made with material brought from India; in some cases

the entire building may be taken from India and shipped to a location in NorthAmerica or Europe. The statues of the deities are from India, the priests are

from India, and because of this, the environment becomes a manifestation of the


sacredness of the homeland within the diaspora. Even if someone has never been toIndia, the temple brings India to them.

One concern is that when people use the Internet to connect with some of themost sacred temples in India, they may decide to have the rituals conducted for them

there rather than in diaspora. By having a puja wizard and scholars available toanswer questions, sites such as http://www.saranam.com are intruding upon theactivities normally conducted by the temple in the diaspora community. At this

point it is too early to determine if temple participation in the diaspora is decreasingdue to online ritual activities. Hinduism has a rich tradition of home-based worship,

and the home computer may be turning into a new form of home altar. MaheshMohan, the co-founder of http://www.saranam.com, stated in an interview that

‘‘many people who order with us want to know when exactly a homam or a pujais being performed so that they can pray or meditate at the same time wherever they

are.’’ If this is the case, then this type of online religious activity may develop intoa significant supplement to Hindu religious life in the diaspora as a form of virtualworship. As long as the person has a computer with an Internet connection, they can

undertake an authentic and significant religious activity.

Real Virtual Philanthropy

Another powerful way in which people in the Hindu diaspora are using the Internetto connect with their homeland is through diaspora religious philanthropy. Mem-

bers of diaspora communities are now using the Internet to create awareness, informdiaspora members of the needs in their homeland, raise money, distribute funds and

supplies, organize volunteer labor, assess the effectiveness of their philanthropicventures, and communicate the results of their efforts to other members of thediaspora. This activity has been engaged in by both individuals and organizations

to support a number of philanthropic ventures such as rebuilding temples and sacredsites, providing medical and educational assistance, supporting ashrams and rural

communities, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, income generation, and women’sempowerment.

Historically, much of the philanthropic activity in the diaspora was controlled bythe authorities of the local temple and utilized for projects in the diaspora commu-

nity. In some cases, these authorities used the money to support politically affiliatedreligious organizations in India. For the most part, people would donate to thetemple and the temple authorities would decide how to use the money. However,

the Web has provided the opportunity for alternative forms of philanthropy to occur(Anand, 2004; Sidel, 2005), and this appears to be having noticeable implications in

a number of situations.Although these philanthropic activities had all been carried out in the past, the

Internet is being used as a powerful tool that allows people to connect with theactivities in a way that was not possible before. Participation can be hands-on,

despite participants being thousands of miles from the site where the activity is


taking place. In this situation, the Internet is acting as a tool that shrinks space andcreates a sense of intimacy and connectedness with the country of origin. People can

feel active in the environment through their online diaspora philanthropy.Online philanthropic activity is also playing a significant role in disaster relief.

For example, shortly after the Asian tsunami of December 2004, a number of dias-pora religious groups and organizations in Canada utilized the Internet to raisemoney for disaster relief, to distribute funds and materials to devastated areas,

and to coordinate volunteer efforts on the ground to aid survivors. In the case ofdiaspora Hindu groups, a number of temples and organizations in North America

were able to use the Internet to bypass the bureaucracy of the government of India toprovide direct and timely disaster relief to the victims. By utilizing Internet networks

for philanthropy, diaspora groups are able to function as transnational institutionswith the ability to circumvent many national barriers that traditionally may have

prevented them from becoming active in their homeland (Guarnizo, 2003). Thisactivity is also representative of the complexity of the transnationalism issue(Waldinger & Fitzgerald, 2004), since much of the diaspora philanthropy taking

place was based on conflicting principles (both religious and secular) and not situatedaround one vision of Hinduism.

Figure 6 http:///www.hindu.org call for disaster aid (January 23, 2005)


As stated earlier, one of the limitations of early virtual pilgrimages was that theywere instantaneous; they were only a click of a mouse button away. However, in the

case of diaspora philanthropy, immediacy may be one reason for its success. It canbecome a crisis ritual—when the individual feels a deep desire or urge to become

involved with an activity, they can do so instantly. The Internet provides an imme-diate and intimate connection with the religious relief effort.

Conclusion

With the development of the Internet and the Web, members of diaspora religionshave adopted the medium to stay in touch each other and also with people in their

homelands. This form of mediated communication has developed network ties andstrengthened community relationships, despite the fact that the people involved aregeographically dispersed across the planet. With new developments in Internet tech-

nology, these same people are also increasingly utilizing the online medium to stay intouch with the homeland itself. Individuals are using the Web to take virtual tours of

sacred temples, undergo virtual pilgrimages, and even have rituals conducted in realtime in their most sacred temples and places. To accommodate this new activity,

temples are being wired with high-speed Internet connectivity and people are beingemployed to develop and maintain the new networks. This new form of religious

activity is having significant impact on members of the diaspora and also on thesacred areas that are being wired.

This article has argued that this form of online activity creates a sense of imme-

diacy, which shrinks distances and allows for a level of interactivity and accessibilitythat has not been available in the past. This is a new dimension to the growing and

developing context of religion on the Internet, one that is having significant impacton real-world religious activity. In the rapidly developing world of computer-

mediated communication, however, the full implications of this activity have yetto be determined.

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About the Author

Christopher Helland is Assistant Professor of Sociology of Religion at Dalhousie

University in Canada. His doctoral research examined and classified online religiousparticipation, establishing a distinction between ‘‘online religion’’ and ‘‘religion

online.’’ He has continued to research the manner in which people use the Internetand World Wide Web to ‘‘do’’ religion and has several publications on this phe-nomenon along with publications on other topics related to sociological study of

religion.Address: Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS Canada, B3H 4P9


Documents

Diaspora on the Electronic Frontier: Developing Virtual Connections with Sacred Homelands