Books by Heidi A Campbell

This article explores the interrelationship between religion and politics as presented through me... more This article explores the interrelationship between religion and politics as presented through memetic discourse surrounding the 2016 presidential election. Based on a study of 150 internet memes of political candidates and core issues framed by religious discourse, and a case study of memes focused on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, we investigated the distinct understanding of what constitutes religion that arises. Overwhelmingly, these memes evoke what is known as " Civil Religion, " where religion becomes a tool to interpret politics, with roots in nationalist ideologies. This challenges previous research suggesting religious memetic discourse primarily promotes a view of " lived religion, " or personalized interpretations of traditional religious beliefs and practices. Drawing on previous research of the dominant genres of religious memes and ways they frame religion, we find religious-political memes enact distinct strategies of political " God Talk " where religious discourse is read through a political lens, and vice versa. This is highly problematic as it presents religion in broad brushstrokes that fail to acknowledge the diversity of religious communities and their responses to politics within American cultural discourse. Overall, we argue religious-political memes showcase the dissonance created by mixing religion and politics in public discourse online especially when meme messages representing conservative Christianity suggest they speaks for all of American religious culture. ABSTRACT This article explores the interrelationship between religion and politics as presented through
Playing with Religion in Digital Games explores the increasingly complex relationship between gam... more Playing with Religion in Digital Games explores the increasingly complex relationship between gaming and global religious practices. For example, how does religion help organize the communities in MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft? What role has censorship played in localizing games like Actraiser in the western world? How do evangelical Christians react to violence, gore, and sexuality in some of the most popular games such as Mass Effect or Grand Theft Auto? With contributions by scholars and gamers from all over the world, this collection offers a unique perspective to the intersections of religion and the virtual world.
Digital Religion offers a critical and systematic survey of the study of religion and new media... more Digital Religion offers a critical and systematic survey of the study of religion and new media. It covers religious engagement with a wide range of new media forms and highlights examples of new media engagement in all five of the major world religions. From cell phones and video games to blogs and Second Life, the book:
•provides a detailed review of major topics
•includes a series of case studies to illustrate and elucidate the thematic explorations
•considers the theoretical, ethical and theological issues raised.
Drawing together the work of experts from key disciplinary perspectives, Digital Religion is invaluable for students wanting to develop a deeper understanding of the field.
This book focuses on how different Jewish, Muslim, and Christian communities engage with new medi... more This book focuses on how different Jewish, Muslim, and Christian communities engage with new media. Rather than simply reject or accept new media, religious communities negotiate complex relationships with these technologies in light of their history and beliefs. I suggest a method for studying these processes called the "religious-social shaping of technology" and students are asked to consider four key areas: religious tradition and history; contemporary community values and priorities; negotiation and innovating technology in light of the community; communal discourses applied to justify use. A variety of examples such as the Christian e-vangelism movement, Modern Islamic discourses about computers and the rise of the Jewish kosher cell phone, demonstrate the dominant strategies which emerge for religious media users, as well as the unique motivations that guide specific groups.
Science and Religion Primer
The Science and Religion Primer is to the relationship between science and religion. This landmar... more The Science and Religion Primer is to the relationship between science and religion. This landmark work is simultaneously an encyclopedia, an annotated bibliography, and a survey to the emerging interdisciplinary dialogue between science and religion.
Exploring Religious Community Online is a first comprehensive study of the development and implic... more Exploring Religious Community Online is a first comprehensive study of the development and implications of online communities for religious groups. This book investigates religious community online by examining how Christian communities have adopted internet technologies, and looks at how these online practices pose new challenges to offline religious community and culture.
Papers by Heidi A Campbell
Doing Theology in Digital Society
Advances in social science, education and humanities research, Dec 31, 2022
Digital Religion: The Basics
Approaching Religious Authority Through the Rise of New Leadership Roles Online
Oxford University Press eBooks, Jul 18, 2023
How the iPhone Became Divine: Bloggers, Religion, and Intertextuality
... Key Words: intertextuality, religion, technology, iPhone, Jesus Phone Presenter Information: ... more ... Key Words: intertextuality, religion, technology, iPhone, Jesus Phone Presenter Information: Heidi Campbell Department of Communication Texas A&M University 4234 TAMU College Station, TX 77843 heidic@tamu.edu 1 Page 2. ...
When the Church Embraced a Posthuman Future: How Pastoral Negotiations with Technology During the Covid-19 Pandemic Resulted in an Implicit Acceptance of Posthumanism
Springer eBooks, 2022

It might be assumed churches coming from diverse cultural backgrounds would also express notable ... more It might be assumed churches coming from diverse cultural backgrounds would also express notable differences in how they conceptualize, operate, and envision the role of church, especially during times of crisis. However, despite having differing access to resources and levels of technological preparedness, this study found that congregations from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds in Indiana responded surprisingly similar to the digital shift that was required of their congregations during the Covid-19 pandemic. In our study of Indiana churches use of technology during the pandemic, we found White, African American and Multicultural congregations all approached digital technology as an essential "tool" to be used to solve the problem of sustaining weekly gatherings. The only notable difference was a slight shift between 2020 to 2021 in African American congregations manifested in their perceptions of technology. These congregations began the pandemic conceptualizing technology as a simple tool to help them replicate in-person gatherings, but a year later they primarily saw technology as an innovative way to build new community connections. Interestingly, a similar shift in perspective was not noted amongst White congregations. A variety of congregations across Indiana applied for the Connect Through Tech (CTT) grant offered by the Indianapolis-based Center for Congregations. Of the 2200 churches looked at in this report, an overwhelming majority (68%), described themselves as White and Englishspeaking churches. Of the 32% that represented other racial and ethnic minorities, there were 337 (23%) churches that identified themselves as Multicultural, and 134 (9%) that identified as Black/African American, with only .8% identifying as Hispanic and .3% as Asian congregations.
The Distanced Church: Reflections on Doing Church Online-mobile version
Mobile version. This eBook experiment creates an accessible international dialogue between church... more Mobile version. This eBook experiment creates an accessible international dialogue between church leaders, theologians, and media scholars. The Distanced Church is a collection of 30 essays exploring the challenges and opportunities created by the current global COVID-19 pandemic for religious groups, and churches having to move from offline to online gatherings. This collection was put together in just 3 week to enable it to be distributed to religious organizations and researchers seeking to navigate and understand the current season of social distancing.

Mission to Serve Tech: Churches "Lock Down" Technology During The Global Pandemic
This report analyzes data collected from 2700 churches of the Center for Congregations in Indiana... more This report analyzes data collected from 2700 churches of the Center for Congregations in Indianapolis through the Connect Through Tech grant program between 2020-2021. This report analyzes data gathered from applications to the CTT grant and final reports submitted by these churches, in order to learn how churches understand and perceive the role of churches, technology, and their relationship changed during the first two years of the pandemic as they incorporated digital media into their ministry work. The “Mission to Serve Tech” report explores three key themes: (1) how leaders understanding of the mission of the church may have changed during the pandemic, (2) the general understanding of how churches conceptualize the relationship between church and technology before and then later during the pandemic, and (3) the ways technology created both unique opportunities and new challenges that cause churches perceptions and actions to shift in new ways. Important findings of this repo...

Digitalisierung aus theologischer und ethischer Perspektive, 2021
In den vergangenen Jahrzehnten wurde vielfach über den transformativen Charakter des Internets sp... more In den vergangenen Jahrzehnten wurde vielfach über den transformativen Charakter des Internets spekuliert, mit vielen Vorhersagen darüber, wie es alle Lebensbereiche transformieren würde, eingeschlossen die Art und Weise wie wir Religion ausüben. Das Internet hat den Leuten in der Tat viele neue Möglichkeiten bereitgestellt, um sich innerhalb und außerhalb der Kirche miteinander in Verbindung zu setzen, das geistliche Amt auszuüben, zu missionieren und sogar Gottesdienste aufzubauen. Beispiele von Online-Gottesdiensten, Twitter-Predigten und Missionsaufrufen auf Facebook (Campbell 2020) sind im Überfluss vorhanden. Obwohl digitale Medien freilich einzigartige Methoden bieten, Kirche zu gestalten, bedeutet die Integration digitaler Medien in einen Gottesdienst oder den Religionsunterricht nicht notwendigerweise, dass christliche Praxis vollständig transformiert wird. Während das Internet mehr und mehr in unsere täglichen und geistlichen Routinen integriert wird, wächst das Bewusstsein dafür, dass Praktiken neuer Medien dabei immer mehr in den Alltag integriert werden. Dies bedeutet, dass religiöse Praktiken online und offline häufig aufs Engste miteinander verbunden sind, so wie beispielsweise Gebete, die via E-Mail versandt oder auf Facebook gepostet werden, als ein Teil vom gesamten Gebetsleben einer Person gesehen werden, anstatt als ein abgesonderter Akt oder Kontext. Tatsächlich haben viele Leute, die religiöse Praxis online untersuchenein Feld, das als "Digital Religion Studies" bekannt geworden ist (Campbell 2013, 1-22) -, festgestellt, dass genaue Beobachtungen der Art und Weise, wie Menschen das Internet zu religiösen Zwecken nutzen, umfangreichere Entwicklungen aufdecken können, wie religiöse Praxis gesehen wird und wie sie sich in weitläufigeren offline Kontexten zeigt. 1 Bei dem Beitrag handelt es sich um die Übersetzung des Kapitels 3 aus dem Buch von Heidi A. Campbell und Stephen Garner: Networked Theology (Campbell/ Garner 2016). Wir danken für die Übersetzung herzlich Sebastian Mense. Eine erste Version einer Übersetzung lag von einer uns unbekannten Person vor.

State Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide, 2020
The following text is a chapter from the book When Religion Meets New Media. The aim of the book ... more The following text is a chapter from the book When Religion Meets New Media. The aim of the book is to develop a systematic exploration of how religious communities engage with a variety of new media technologies. This chapter provides a background to the guiding methodology of the book -the "religious social shaping of technology" approach. It is argued that previous studies of religious communities' relationship to new forms of media have often seen media as a "conduit," as a neutral tool, or as a "mode of knowing", suggesting media is all powerful and laden with a specific worldview that works independently of the moral and spiritual life of the community. These approaches often do not recognize that religious user communities are active participants negotiating and shaping their technologies in light of their values and desired outcomes. The religious social shaping of technology approach is offered as an alternative, suggesting four distinctive areas that should be explored and questioned in order to fully understand a religious community's relationship towards new forms of media.
Convergent Practice
Routledge eBooks, Dec 14, 2022
Experiential Authenticity
Routledge eBooks, Dec 14, 2022
Shifting Authority
Routledge eBooks, Dec 14, 2022
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Books by Heidi A Campbell
•provides a detailed review of major topics
•includes a series of case studies to illustrate and elucidate the thematic explorations
•considers the theoretical, ethical and theological issues raised.
Drawing together the work of experts from key disciplinary perspectives, Digital Religion is invaluable for students wanting to develop a deeper understanding of the field.
Papers by Heidi A Campbell