Fifteenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

Religious groups have been active on the Internet since its inception. However, since the early 2000s, websites, message boards and blogs related to religion began to appear that created hubs for spiritually minded communities existing primarily or entirely within cyberspace. Online spaces lack many of the benefits of face-to-face communities, though, and the challenges community leaders have faced are reflected in the platforms they inhabit. Since 2003, Linden Lab’s avatar-based virtual world Second Life has provided unprecedented freedom and flexibility for its residents, providing religious communities with the permissions and design tools to produce immersive rituals and centers of worship. However, it is unclear what impact the use of avatars as often anonymous - sometimes entirely fictitious -intermediaries may have on virtual world spirituality; it appears that one’s relationship with one’s avatar and one’s role-play ethos may influence or overlap religious practice within some Second Life communities. This paper introduces the Shambhala Sanctuary in Second Life, a group that integrates role-play into its weekly Hindu, Wiccan and neo-pagan rituals. It compares Shambhala’s dynamic, multi-modal practice and enthusiastic community participation with other religious and role-play groups within Second Life. Implications are drawn related to best practices for religious communities within virtual worlds, as well as compatibility and de facto similarities between suspension of disbelief in role-play and belief in spiritual practice.