Who’s Got the Power? Religious Authority and the Internet

Abstract

While many themes have been explored in relation to religion online-ritual, identity construction, community-what happens to religious authority and power relationships within online environments is an area in need of more detailed investigation. In order to move discussions of authority from the broad or vague to the specific, this article argues for a more refined identification of the attributes of authority at play in the online context. This involves distinguishing between different layers of authority in terms of hierarchy, structure, ideology, and text. The article also explores how different religious traditions approach questions of authority in relation to the Internet. Through a qualitative analysis of three sets of interviews with Christians, Jews, and Muslims about the Internet, we see how authority is discussed and contextualized differently in each religious tradition in terms of these four layers of authority.

Computer Mediated Communications and Religion: An Evolutionary Primer

“…In her study, Who's Got the Power? [13] Campbell (2007) seeks to discover what happens to religious authority and power relationships within the context of online environments. Seeking to offer a more concrete definition of authority by situating it within a concept of multiple layers of authority, she examines and compares interviews with three religious groups (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism) as a basis for making more informed claims regarding the impact of the internet on religious authority.…”

“…To make her approach to questions of authority more concrete, Campbell (2007) focuses on what she calls multiple layers of authority and attempts to connect the concept of authority to one of four layers: hierarchy, structure, ideology, or text. To do so she asks questions about authority such as:…”

“…Is it the corporate ideology of the community? Is it the role and interpretation of official religious rhetoric and teaching (p. 1044) [13]?…”

“…Finding previous research to be unsystematic as well as unspecific regarding use of the term "authority", Campbell (2007) resorts to the classic work of Max Webber to define authority. Quoting Weber to the effect that "it is useful to classify the types of authority according to the kind of claim to legitimacy typically made by each" she distills the following three kinds of legitimate authority: 1) Legal authority where "loyalty is given to a legally established impersonal order.…”

“…The practicing Jews and Muslims gave significant weight to pronouncements by their leaders regarding religious knowledge and practice whereas the non-practicing Jews and Christians were described as "more apt to reflect critically on the role and influence of religious authority figures on community belief or the practices they advocated, especially in relation to the internet [13] (Campbell, 2007(Campbell, , p. 1055."…”