Technology and religion

Two data-points on the intersection of religion and communications technology. First, from the Washington Post:

'Kosher' Phone Merges Technology, Faith

It sounds like the setup for a punch line: What do you get when you cross an ultra-Orthodox rabbi with a mobile phone? But the "kosher phone" is real and its developers are serious about looking beyond the religious enclaves of Israel. Some Arab companies even have inquired about the phone's main feature: keeping out sex lines and other worldly temptations.

"There's interest out there in a conservative phone," said Abrasha Burstyn, the chief executive officer at Mirs Communications Ltd., an Israeli subsidiary of Motorola Inc. and pioneer of the kosher mobile that debuted last year.

The phones -- carrying the seal of approval from Israel's rabbinical authorities -- have been one of the most successful mergers of technology and centuries-old tradition in the ultra-Orthodox community, which is most widely recognized by the men's black garb based on the dress of 19th century European Jews.

The kosher phone is stripped down to its original function: making and receiving calls. There's no text messaging, no Internet access, no video options, no camera. More than 10,000 numbers for phone sex, dating services and other offerings are blocked. A team of rabbinical overseers makes sure the list is up to date.

Second, Infocult notes the debut of a "Christian-themed alternative to MySpace:"

America's culture wars hit social networking. Or the market offers another YASN niche. Or multiculturalism in YASN iterates again: there's a Christian-themed alternative to MySpace. Xianz ("It's not MySpace - it's HIS space!") positions itself as a safe space, clearly playing off of the growing cultural meme of fearsome MySpace.

The news release on Xianz (think Xmas, but this time the "war on Christmas" thrown into linguistic reverse as the "X" is appropriated by believers; as a piece of semiotic guerilla warfare, it's nothing short of genius) fleshes it out a bit:

With MySpace becoming one of the most popular sites on the Internet, it seems that the social networking phenomenon is here to stay. However, along with it's popularity comes the myriad of concerns about private information being posted online. It could be a parent's worst nightmare....

Xianz offers a safe environment for teens and people of all ages to interact with others of the same or similar interests. Among other safeguards, settings can be specified that allow only people of the same age range to communicate.

Features include: Customized profiles with photos, video and music, private and instant messaging, online Blogs, personal message boards, birthday reminders & invites, shared interests, friends lists & shout outs, groups, events and listings. A large music module will be integrated in the next few weeks.

These also reflect something my colleague Paul Saffo has recently written about. Last fall, in his essay "The Ghost Dances," Saffo argued that both religious fundamentalism and extropian enthusiasms were expressions of a desire to deal with the uncertainties created by technology-driven change. "The global rise of religious fundamentalism is pure Ghost Dance," he writes, "be it Islamic fundamentalists pining for a return to the Caliphate, Jewish fundamentalists battling moderate secularism, or Christian fundamentalists preaching an imminent Second Coming."

But this isn't just a straightforward anti-technological movement:

Iranian fundamentalists see no conflict in nurturing an aggressive nuclear program even as they rail against the corrosive effects of western ideas and technologies.... [At the same time], Techno--theoretic “extropians’’—believers in an unbounded technological future—argue that technology is not moving fast enough. While some ghost dancers desperately want to put on the brakes, these technological believers are convinced that redemption can be achieved only by stepping on the gas and fleeing into the future.

Xianz and the kosher phone are likewise expressions of the tension between the desire to embrace the new, while reaffirming the traditional. What both of these examples share is a desire to use these technologies, but at the same time to protect believers from the negative effects-- porn and predators. Finally, they remind me of the Chinese government's attempts to make the Internet "safe" for its citizens (and itself): to harness what's powerful about technology, while minimizing exposure to the bad stuff.

Indeed, all three raise the question of whether the "future of the Internet" isn't a "future of Internets:" whether one of the big stories with the future of the Internet might be the creation of distinct arenas closed off not for commercial purposes (like the walled gardens of cell phone networks), but for the purpose of cultural and religious defense.

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