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My definition of Cyberreligion, simply put, is religion on the Internet. I have to admit that I'm not very religious so doing this project was very difficult for me. When I clicked onto the link "cyberreligion," located next to my name on the oral presentation schedule, it listed a bunch of links along with a short description of each one.
A lot of the links didn't work so this made my research on this topic even more frustrating. I expected just web pages on the traditional religions of the world such as, Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism, but that was not the case. Instead, all kinds of different, even outrageous, religious links showed up. These web pages were anything but traditional. There was even a link for "manaburger." I'm still deciphering whether this is a real religion, an advertisement for a fast food chain or fast food in general, or someone's idea of a joke.
Other cyberreligions on the list included:
This religion is based in Dublin, Ireland, and speaks of a "French-Utopian" by the name of Charles Fourier, who said that "if Civilization could be overthrown and replaced by the society of Harmony (in which all Passions and manias would be encouraged) the ocean would spontaneously turn to lemonade." Very strange.
In this website, one can find their "inner duck" and hear the "holy sound." I found a link called The Confessional that was located on the home page. In this site "you can confess your sins, your transgressions, and your Duckiest thoughts to the Popes, the Duck, and the entire world!" I found this area to be quite amusing.
This site was quite frightening and ominous. I was at first reluctant to access this page because I thought that I'd inadvertently download a virus from its site, but I decided to take my chances since it sounded a bit interesting. This "cult-like" religion claims to be the rational solution to irrational religions such as, Christianity, and so on. It bases its theories on systems, as well as on philosophy, science, technology, politics, and religion. Whether this religion is legitimate or not, its assertions are convincing and truly philosophical in one way or another.
Conclusion
The sites located on the cyberreligion page seemed to be mostly comprised of very odd and sometimes amusing religious organizations. After exploring through some of these sites, I have come to the conclusion that there are a bunch of strange people out there and that there is even a stranger crowd that will follow them. How might one benefit from these websites? I don't know. I don't see how these websites can be beneficial to anyone out there with any type of common sense. The only gain I see is that these deranged sites will deter people even more so with their amazing theories and untraditional thoughts. This project has only reinforced my lack of support for religious congregations and cults.
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