Cybersectarianism
Encyclopedia
Cybersectarianism refers to the phenomenon of new religious movements that rely primarily on the internet for text distribution, recruitment and information-sharing among adherents.
(气功） groups that emerged in the People's Republic of China
(PRC) during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and were subjected to extreme repression following the crackdown against banned religious and spiritual organizations in 1999.
Properly speaking, cybersectarianism as an organizational form involves: "highly dispersed small groups of practitioners that may remain largely anonymous within the larger social context and operate in relative secrecy, while still linked remotely to a larger network of believers who share a set of practices and texts, and often a common devotion to a particular leader. Overseas supporters provide funding and support; domestic practitioners distribute tracts, participate in acts of resistance, and share information on the internal situation with outsiders. Collectively, members and practitioners of such sects construct viable virtual communities of faith, exchanging personal testimonies and engaging in collective study via email, on-line chat rooms and web-based message boards."
(法轮功), Zhong Gong
(中华养生益智功), and the Taiwan-based group founded by Suma Ching Hai, commonly referred to in the PRC as Guanyin Famen (观音法门), but rendered in English by the Ching Hai World Society as Quan Yin. Some new transnational Protestant groups also subjected to persecution in the PRC, like Eastern Lightning
, have likewise taken to the internet to ensure group survival, and taken on some of the characteristics of cybersects elsewhere. Like the New Cyberreligious Movements (NCRMs) described Karaflogka, cybersect participants rely upon computer mediated communication (CMC) in their personal religious or spiritual practice, performing cyberpilgrimages, participating in cybermeditation sessions online, and/or cyberevangelism in third-party chatrooms. Some cybersect members of groups like Aum Shinrikyo
, and even al Qaeda, engage in “repertoires of electronic contention,” using websites and e-mail to mobilize participants for protest and contention, as well as hactivism (acts of electronic disruption) and even cyberterrorism (acts of physical harm caused by the disruption of power grids, traffic control, and other systems of resource delivery and public safety).
Similarly, Dru C. Gladney describes how Muslim netizens in the Chinese province of Xinjiang
have turned to the internet to explore and express their desires for independence with the broader, transnational Uyghur
communities, culminating in what Gladney describes as a groundswell of "cyber-separatism."
In a similar vein, the term is also commonly used to describe the internecine internet-based partisan splintering among various factions of the American Socialist Party, and among members of the Communist League.
There is some evidence to suggest that the heavy reliance of such groups on the internet, a medium that not only facilitates but also encourages user interactivity and peer-to-peer
information sharing, may present serious challenges to the maintenance of internal coherence and policing of orthodoxy by a central core of leaders.
Cultural theorist Paul Virilio
likewise described the San Diego-based UFO religious group, Heaven's Gate
as a cybersect, due to the group's heavy reliance on CMC as a mode of communication prior to the group's 1997 collective suicide.
As an organizational type
The rarely used term describes "a unique hybrid form of politico-religious mobilization" adopted by a handful of syncretic qigongQigong
Qigong or chi kung is a practice of aligning breath, movement, and awareness for exercise, healing, and meditation...
(气功） groups that emerged in the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
(PRC) during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and were subjected to extreme repression following the crackdown against banned religious and spiritual organizations in 1999.
Properly speaking, cybersectarianism as an organizational form involves: "highly dispersed small groups of practitioners that may remain largely anonymous within the larger social context and operate in relative secrecy, while still linked remotely to a larger network of believers who share a set of practices and texts, and often a common devotion to a particular leader. Overseas supporters provide funding and support; domestic practitioners distribute tracts, participate in acts of resistance, and share information on the internal situation with outsiders. Collectively, members and practitioners of such sects construct viable virtual communities of faith, exchanging personal testimonies and engaging in collective study via email, on-line chat rooms and web-based message boards."
In China
Transnational Chinese cybersects include the group commonly known in the West as Falun GongFalun Gong
Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline first introduced in China in 1992 by its founder, Li Hongzhi, through public lectures. It combines the practice of meditation and slow-moving qigong exercises with the moral philosophy...
(法轮功), Zhong Gong
Zhong Gong
Zhong Gong is a spiritual movement based on qigong founded in 1987 by Zhang Hongbao. The full name translates to "China Health Care and Wisdom Enhancement Practice." The system distinguished itself from other forms of qigong by its strong emphasis on commercialisation, and targeted strategy that...
(中华养生益智功), and the Taiwan-based group founded by Suma Ching Hai, commonly referred to in the PRC as Guanyin Famen (观音法门), but rendered in English by the Ching Hai World Society as Quan Yin. Some new transnational Protestant groups also subjected to persecution in the PRC, like Eastern Lightning
Eastern Lightning
Eastern Lightning or Dongfang Shandian is a cult offshoot of Christianity in China. It is also known as Seven Spirits Sect , Second Saviour Sect , New Power Lord's Church , True Light Sect and True Way Sect . The official name for the group is the Church of Almighty God...
, have likewise taken to the internet to ensure group survival, and taken on some of the characteristics of cybersects elsewhere. Like the New Cyberreligious Movements (NCRMs) described Karaflogka, cybersect participants rely upon computer mediated communication (CMC) in their personal religious or spiritual practice, performing cyberpilgrimages, participating in cybermeditation sessions online, and/or cyberevangelism in third-party chatrooms. Some cybersect members of groups like Aum Shinrikyo
Aum Shinrikyo
Aum Shinrikyo was a Japanese new religious movement. The group was founded by Shoko Asahara in 1984. The group gained international notoriety in 1995, when it carried out the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway....
, and even al Qaeda, engage in “repertoires of electronic contention,” using websites and e-mail to mobilize participants for protest and contention, as well as hactivism (acts of electronic disruption) and even cyberterrorism (acts of physical harm caused by the disruption of power grids, traffic control, and other systems of resource delivery and public safety).
Among Muslims
More recently, Sunni- and Shia- affiliated hackers have attacked and counter-attacked hundreds of websites in a vast struggle over cyberspace that has been characterized as an outbreak of cybersectarianism. Alaeldin Maghaireh describes two principal types of cyber-sectarian conflict in Muslim cyberspace: "Cyber-Islamist Advocacy," which consists of "religious publications, debates, emails awareness, lectures and videos;" and "Islamist Hactivism," which involves "cyber attacks against other religious or non-religious websites."Similarly, Dru C. Gladney describes how Muslim netizens in the Chinese province of Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
have turned to the internet to explore and express their desires for independence with the broader, transnational Uyghur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
communities, culminating in what Gladney describes as a groundswell of "cyber-separatism."
Other groups
When taken to the airwaves and posted on the internet, divisive sectarian language among Catholic and Protestant residents of post-agreement Northern Ireland has also been described as an outbreak of cybersectarianism by Ballymena-born BBC reporter, Declan Lawn, and others.In a similar vein, the term is also commonly used to describe the internecine internet-based partisan splintering among various factions of the American Socialist Party, and among members of the Communist League.
There is some evidence to suggest that the heavy reliance of such groups on the internet, a medium that not only facilitates but also encourages user interactivity and peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
information sharing, may present serious challenges to the maintenance of internal coherence and policing of orthodoxy by a central core of leaders.
Cultural theorist Paul Virilio
Paul Virilio
Paul Virilio is a cultural theorist and urbanist. He is best known for his writings about technology as it has developed in relation to speed and power, with diverse references to architecture, the arts, the city and the military....
likewise described the San Diego-based UFO religious group, Heaven's Gate
Heaven's Gate (religious group)
Heaven's Gate was an American UFO religion based in San Diego, California, founded and led by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles...
as a cybersect, due to the group's heavy reliance on CMC as a mode of communication prior to the group's 1997 collective suicide.