Religion on the Internet: Research Prospects and Promises

Abstract

Introduction. The promised land or electronic chaos? Toward understanding religion on the internet (J.K. Hadden, D.E. Cowan). Internet Research: Studying Religion on the Web. Researching religion in cyberspace: issues and strategies from the sociology of the internet (L.L. Dawson). Religious ethnography on the world wide web (W.S. Bainbridge). Doing research and teaching with the American religion data archive: initial efforts to democratize access to data (R. Finke et al.). Religion, rhetoric and scholarship: managing vested interest in e-space (D.E. Cowan). Internet Faith: Religions in Cyberspace. Surfing Islam: ayatollahs, shayks and hajjs on the superhighway (G.R. Bunt). Toward understanding how religious organizations use the internet (S. Horsfall). Dispatches from the electronic frontier: explorations of mainline Protestant use of the internet (K. Bedell). Online-religion/religion-online: virtual communities (C. Helland). On-line ethnography of dipensationalist discourse: revealed versus negotiated truth (R.G. Howard). Webs of Deceit: Religious Propaganda on the Net. New religious movements and the internet: the new frontier of cult controversies (J.-F. Mayer). So many evil things: anticult terrorism via the internet (M. Introvigne). Internet Teaching: Pedagogy and the World Wide Web. Evolution of a religious web site devoted to tolerance (B.A. Robinson). Mapping a cyberlimen: a test case for the use of electronic discussion boards in religious studies classes (J.M. Robinson). A history of the religious movements homepage project at the University of Virginia (J.K. Hadden). List of contributors and contact information. Biographical information on the authors.