|  Internet
and Religion Project
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Among the many activities users engage online, seeking religious
information has been identified as a popular and important online
activity in developed countries, such as the United States. The
Pew Internet and American Life Project study on "cyberfaith"
found that one-fifth of Americans have used the Internet for religious
purposes, consequently, "more people have gotten religious
or spiritual information online than have gambled online, used Web
Auction sites, traded stocks online, placed phone calls on the Internet,
done online banking, or used Internet-based dating services."
(Larsden, 2001).
Singapore has one of the highest Internet penetration rates in
the world, and 85% of Singaporeans affiliate themselves with one
of the main religious traditions of the country including Buddhism,
Taoism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or traditional Chinese religions.
This leaves Singapore in the ideal position to examine and better
understand how the Internet can be used for religious purposes.
Jointly funded by the Institute of Policy Studies and the Singapore
Internet Project, this project examines how Singaporeans use the
internet to gain information about religions; both their own and
others, and the ways in which Singapore based religious web sites
portray their faiths.
Poster
design and concept
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This poster designed and produced by Ms Chen Yanli, a research
assistant, and URECA student working with Executive Director Randy
Kluver on SIRC's Internet and Religion project received the bronze
medal for her poster featuring her research in the recent NTU-URECA
poster competition.
Below is her poster and her explanation for the design of the poster.
The tagline' God Goes Online' is rather tongue-in-cheek, so I decided
to keep that in mind while designing the poster. I parodied Michelangelo’s
Creation of Adam on Sistine Chapel to bring this across. One reason
for choosing an artwork associated so strongly with Christianity
is not to sideline other religions like Islam or Taoism, but to
show that from common observation, Christian web sites dominate
the internet compared to any other ‘God’ from other religions.
This is one research question that we may like to answer. I’ve
played down the Christian element by focusing on a close-up of the
hands. Another reason why I chose a close-up is to illustrate a
main theme that surfaced during our interviews with key religious
leaders: Most felt that internet lacks the personal touch needed
for religious experiences to take place. On the other hand (pardon
the pun), others saw the internet as a tool that is able to promote
religious experiences like any other medium. The fingers reaching
out to each other across a white space suggests this ambivalence.
I 'photoshoped' a lens flare at the tip of God’s finger to
emphasis this.
In the initial design there were some misconceptions that the research
study asserts that God is online, which is not exactly what our
research study is suggesting. So I added a question mark to the
tagline to clarify that this is something doubtful and is something
that we would like to explore in our research study. "An exploration
of religion & Internet use in Singapore” to the title as
a clarification of the title.
In the main image however, I’ve decided that God should dangle
the mouse from his hand instead of having Adam holding the mouse.
This is because there’s nothing special about a human using
a mouse, instead we want to know if there’s a relationship
between religiosity and internet use. I used a red mouse for the
picture because it stands out better. Secondly, God dangles the
mouse instead of using the mouse because really, God does not use
the internet. More likely, people perceive God online. This is one
assertion that we need to back up or refute with what our research
results suggest.
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