The Religious Fundamentalism and the Role of the Internet.pdf (original) (raw)

ROLE OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN PROVOKING RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM

The present research is a qualitative analysis of the role of prevalent communication technologies in provoking and propagating religious extremism. ICT is a dynamic and extremely powerful source of information on public communication system. The emergence and widespread adoption of ICT has significantly influenced the lifestyles of religious people as well. It is affecting the religious practices and ethics in the form of hate speech, spread of misconceptions regarding religious notions, extremist views and brain washing through media. The study was conducted in Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, and a sample of 60 respondents was drawn. The data was collected through a semi-structured questionnaire and interviews. The results showed that ICT is used as a tool for provoking religious extremism and conflicting views are channelized through it as it is used as a major channel for learning religious knowledge and information.

The Internet as a New Place for Sects

CULTIC STUDIES REVIEW, 2008

The spread of new information and communication technologies has given a new dimension to the sectarian phenomenon. After reviewing how the Internet has become important in the religious field, this paper shows how sects use the Internet, how they present themselves on the Internet, and how they act in cyberspace. The paper also addresses other topics: groups that stand out for their activism or publicity campaigns on the Internet, virtual conversions, and how different groups attack or praise the Web A professor in applied economics made a comment regarding "computer overload," stating that "we are analogical beings trapped in a digital world we have created ourselves." ii That's true. Every aspect of our lives has been invaded by new technology, specifically the Internet, as a new means of communication, training, working, and even developing relationships. The huge volume of data and hyperlinks is simply overwhelming and makes a thorough study on any topic concerning the influence of advancing technology a daunting task. Thus, I offer an overview of one such topic that pertains to the reality of the sectarian phenomenon on the Internet. iii

Extremist Thought in The New Media and Its Impact on Society (Case Study: Defense Network of The Companions and Mothers of The Believers

International Multi. J. of PURE LIFE, , 2024

Extremist thought in the new media and its impact on society, showing the role of this media, in how they employ the contents of the Islamic values and concepts, within the framework of forming a specific intellectual trend, that aims to influence the vision and convictions of individuals. This analysis also uncovers the most famous electronic communication networks, influencing the extremism and deviation of thought among Arab youth, by analyzing the path of their emergence and formation. Revealing the distortion and misinformation in the media discourse, directed through the network for the defense of the companions and mothers of the believers. METHOD & FINDING: The study relied on precise research tools, such as the technique of quantitative content analysis, the use of the framing method, and the questionnaire also are adopted. The treatment required several research approaches, such as historical, descriptive, and analytical ones. Additionally, using statistics, opinion polls, and numbers fall within the inductive approach. The comparative approach was also used when comparing theory and practice in a case study. The study showed the failure of these extremist sites to distort the image of religious thought and to deviate human societies from their nature, faith, and morality. CONCLUSION: The concepts and values broadcast by these media outlets do not bear the characteristics of thought that make them fall within Islamic thought. Those are thoughts that deviate from the values of Islam.

Cultured Technology: The Internet and Religious Fundamentalism

In this article we identify four principal dimensions of religious fundamentalism as they interact with the Internet: hierarchy, patriarchy, discipline, and seclusion. We also develop the concept of cultured technology, and analyze the ways communities reshape a technology and make it a part of their culture, while at the same time changing their customary ways of life and unwritten laws to adapt to it. Later, we give examples for our theoretical framework through an empirical examination of ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in Israel. Our empirical study is based on a data set of 686,192 users and 60,346 virtual communities. The results show the complexity of interactions between religious fundamentalism and the Internet, and invite further discussions of cultured technology as a means to understand how the Internet has been culturally constructed, modified, and adapted to the needs of fundamentalist communities and how they in turn have been affected by it.

Islamic Radicalism Online

The Internet has become an important instrument for the information politics of radical Muslim groups. This paper will focus on one of the Islamist groups that have emerged in Indonesia recently—the Communication Forum of the Followers of the Sunnah and the Community of the Prophet (FKAWJ). The FKAWJ sent its fighters, the so-called Laskar Jihad or Jihad troop/fighters, to Ambon in April 2000 to help their Muslim brothers against the ‘Christian attackers’ in the Moluccan conflict—a conflict that was also extended into cyberspace by several actors. Describing the Internet presence of the Laskar Jihad, I give an example of how Islamism is being transferred into cyberspace. The position of the FKAWJ concerning the situation in the Moluccas is outlined as well as other (online) strategies used. Through these strategies the cyberactors create an image and construct an identity that is congruent with their offline philosophy but extends its reach. It is evident that the online level is highly interconnected with the offline level. When analysing contemporary Islamism it is essential to take both levels into account.

Religious Conflicts in Cyberage

The rise of the Internet has a profound impact on the way conflicts are carried out and the faithful practice their religions. This article explores new dimensions of religious conflicts by theoretically reflecting on new developments in cyberage and by substantiating this with an empirical case study—the Moluccan conflict (Eastern Indonesia). Due to the exponential growth of Internet access worldwide, religions and their followers are increasingly expanding into the online world as a new “marketplace” for religious symbols and identities that fosters religious transnationalism. At the same time conflict actors worldwide have been making increasing use of the Internet to expand their networks, plan actions and fight their enemies. While scholars have so far primarily focused on more globalized online terrorism, this paper analyses a conflict that has mainly been fought out between Christians and Muslims in a remote part of this world, but then expanded into cyberspace. Local conflict actors have used the Internet as a global stage for their cause, to connect to and seek support from their transnational religious communities, but also to manipulate the outside world’s perception of the Moluccan conflict. Researching the online projects and identity politics of these actors and their offline contexts, it becomes clear that the Internet has helped to essentialize (religious) identities and to influence the conflict at the local level through the networking and mobilization of people worldwide.

Online jihadist magazines and the “religious terrorism” thesis

Critical Studies on Terrorism

This article presents findings from an empirical study of 39 issues of five online terrorist magazines in order to problematise the concept of religious terrorism. The presentation of the study's findings focuses on the magazines' textual content, examining the types of textual item each magazine contains, how the producers of the magazines perceive the publications, the justifications the magazines offer for the groups' activities, and the motivations that underlie these activities. This analysis shows that there are important differences between the messages each group expounds. These differences, the article argues, are obscured by the homogeneous label religious terrorism. Moreover, an examination of these groups' messages shows that the purported distinction between religion and politics is unsustainable and has detrimental political-normative repercussions.

So Many Evil Things: Anti-Cult Terrorism via the Internet

f,lier the Heaven's Gate suit'icle in 1997 the meelia worried ahout culîs recruitigg via the Intenteí bur opponents of new relig,ious movements appeer to have been more aggressívelv actíve in cvberspace than the movemenîs themselves. This chapîer di.rcrsses some theoretical models of c'vherspace, and 1tf violence and îerrorism via the Internet. It'then applies the milels, aÍter a methodologícal discussion, to the extreme fringe af ctntí-cultism (not to he confttsed w,ith the more moderate cult awareness commttnifr-) +,'hose hate propaganda is carríed out primarill, via the Internet. The uctitities of this Iunatic'.fringe. whose impact is discu.ssed in the t'onclttsions, .fbc'us on tlemonizing and dehumanizing the 'cnlts' and theír alleged supporters: ín promoting increasínglr-wild conspirac-,-theories: and in targetíng scholars of new religiotts movenîents singled ottt as 'cult apolqgi.rf.r' cmd turgeted with personal attacks.

Online Religious Radicalism: A Global Proxy Warfare Model in Indonesia

2020

The rapid development of information and communication technology, proxy war methods have become easier to apply because proxyforming narratives can be published widely at low cost only through the internet. This has been proven to be run by IS (Islamic State) terror groups that carry out proxy wars throughout the world simply by spreading propaganda narratives of religious radicalism through the internet. Based on such threats, the following article will discuss online religious radicalism as a proxy war model in Indonesia. This study aims to explain how the content of religious radicalism can become a form of global proxy war that threatens Indonesia. The results of this study are expected to contribute ideas in the discourse on radicalism and counter radicalism in a security perspective. The method used in the study is a literature research method both offline and online. From the research conducted, it was concluded that religious radicalism content published online aims to esta...