Ritual Online Reflection

The readings from this week, "Ritual" and "Hindu Worship Online and Offline", reflect on how each writer thinks online ritual will affect the lives and religious views of people of that religion. The ritual online is a set of actions formed for symbolic reasons in order the give out religious obligations or ideas. Helland stated that "ritual practice online is the extent to which a

ritual in its online manifestation has undergone an alteration from the corresponding ritual

carried out in its traditional context." I think what Helland meant by this was that regardless of how fast the Internet is advancing, it will not significantly affect the change in the religious experience. Helland's main focus was the idea of how the Hindu religion will be affected by the use of ritual online. Based on the readings Hindu tradition has embraced the Internet and used it as a valuable tool for their religion.
There are many benefits to the online ritual activities that the Christians use, but they don't have supernatural efficacy. The online rituals use by Christians contains words that can be heard by the use of tone and inotation of how the words are being pronounced. There can be no supernatural efficacy from online rituals because the individual cannot physically do things, they can only can sit and look at a screen and listen to words. In order for the spernatural efficacy to be visible an individual must be invovled. While in service the audience can sing songs, read aloud along with others the text that the preacher shares, and actually get up and be able to feel the Holy Spirit within them. New media as far as the growing of the Internet can affect the use of how Christians use online rituals and how thry begin to experience religious growth.