New Religious Movements
Many new religious movements frequently have web sites including, for example, the Church of Scientology, which allows users to take an online personality test. However to review the full results of this test, you have to make an appointment to meet someone. There has also been a series of legal battles, sometimes referred to as Scientology versus the Internet, concerning the publishing of concepts such as Xenu.
According to Stephen O'Leary of the University of Southern California, the Falun Gong's Internet awareness was an important factor in its ability to organize unauthorized demonstrations in the People's Republic of China. The group's leader, Li Hongzhi, was able to use the Internet to coordinate the movement, although he currently lives in New York.
There are various religious movements that have used the Internet extensively and this has been studied by academics, in the field of sociology of religion. Examples cited by Adam Possamai, of the University of Western Sydney, include Jediism and Matrixism. Possamai uses the term 'hyper-real religion' to describe these religions mixed with popular culture, arguing that they are part of the consumer logic of late capitalism and are enhanced by the growing use of the internet.
Read more about this topic: Religion And The Internet
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