Many facets of social life are now intrinsically linked to the Internet through increasing dependence of user-centric platforms like blogs, social-networking websites, online forums, and open source websites. The Malaysian Church is not exempt from having to negotiate with an increasingly tech-savvy and networked community of believers. Based primarily on Internet ethnography and interviews with Christian bloggers and church pastors, this book looks at how the Internet is a component of everyday religion in the lives of Malaysian Christians at individual, institutional, and national levels. It examines the ways in which online Christian expressions are increasingly integrated into the everyday religious routines of Christians for the development of their personal identities and inter-religious interactions. This book also shows how the spiritual authority of church pastors can be both challenged and reinforced through the creative use of online tools. It addresses some of the creative ways in which Christians utilise the Internet to engage with national socio-political issues within the context of restrictive and controlled mainstream media, as well as the ongoing discourse with Islam in the country. Through a selection of case studies, this book shows that while the Internet may be free, the users of the Internet are not necessarily so. While the Internet has provided Malaysian Christians with new tools to experience their faith in new ways, several aspects of old offline socio-cultural habits persist online. These, in turn, lead to a robust and growing environment of Internet Christianity in Malaysia. This timely book will be of interest to scholars in religious studies, media and communications, and cultural studies in Southeast Asia.

First book to describe the intersection of religion and the Internet in a Malaysian context, considering how major socio-political and religious issues are negotiated within online religious communities Explores the impact of social-media in religious engagement experienced by a tech-savvy and multi-cultural and multi-religious Malaysian society Presents multi-disciplinary perspectives in the areas of religious studies, cultural studies and media and communications

Inhalt

1.Introduction: Online Religion and the Malaysian Context.- 3.Locating the Everyday and the Offline in Online Christianity.- 4.The Personal Experience: Blogging as Development of Spiritual Identity.- 5.The Institution's Perspective: Malaysian Pastors as Online Authors and Citizens.- 6.Lessons from a New Online Christian Community.- 7.Engaging Malaysia: A Grassroots Approach to Inter/Intra-Religious Communication.- 8.Re-producing Ideology: A Case Study on Facebook Christian Groups and the Bersih 4.0 Rally.- 8.Conclusion.