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. 2006;4206:141–158. doi: 10.1007/11853565_9

No More SMS from Jesus: Ubicomp, Religion and Techno-spiritual Practices

Genevieve Bell 3
Editors: Paul Dourish16, Adrian Friday17
PMCID: PMC7120230

Abstract

Over the last decade, new information and communication technologies have lived a secret life. For individuals and institutions around the world, this constellation of mobile phones, personal computers, the internet, software, games, and other computing objects have supported a complex set of religious and spiritual needs. In this paper, I offer a survey of emerging and emergent techno-spiritual practices, and the anxieties surrounding their uptake. I am interested in particular in the ways in which religious uses of technology represent not only a critique of dominant visions of technology’s futures, but also suggest a very different path(s) for ubiquitous computing’s technology envisioning and development.

Keywords: Mobile Phone, Text Message, Religious Practice, Ubiquitous Computing, Religious Community

Contributor Information

Paul Dourish, Email: jpd@ics.uci.edu.

Adrian Friday, Email: Adrian@comp.lancs.ac.uk.

Genevieve Bell, Email: genevieve.bell@intel.com.

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