著者

榎本 香織

出版者

東京大学文学部宗教学研究室

雑誌

東京大学宗教学年報 (ISSN:02896400)

巻号頁・発行日

no.21, pp.67-83, 2003

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The development of the Internet has changed the way we communicate in daily life. Expectations and anxieties concerning Computer Mediated Communications (CMC) are now being studied in many fields, including religious studies. There is a difference between websites operated by traditional organized religions and those administered by representatives of "New Spiritual Culture" groups. The former have a tendency to only offer basic information, such as teachings, schedules and a basic FAQ, and rarely set up online bulletin boards. Contrary to this, New Spiritual Movements tend to establish relatively open forums where participants enjoy communicating with each other and consider CMC a meaningful way for them to reveal their "true selves." CMC can therefore operate as a venue for individual spiritual empowerment. In this article, an official website of an organized religion, the West Tokyo Parish of the United Church of Christ in Japan, and a private spiritualist website, the Shinreigaku Kenkyujo, are taken as examples of different online communities. Differences between these sites stem from the relative intensity of their interactions with "real" social world and the appearance of multiple perspectives (sometimes paradoxical) on the Internet, which at times also confuse the website administrators. These difficulties explain the reason why people who operate religious websites, especially websites administered by organized denominations, are reticent to establish communication spaces for the general public.