Malaysian Christians Online: Faith, Experience, and Social Engagement on the Internet

Many facets of social life are now intrinsically linked to the Internet through increasing dependence of user-centric platforms like blogs, social-networking websites, online forums, and open source websites. The Malaysian Church is not exempt from having to negotiate with an increasingly tech-savvy and networked community of believers. Based primarily on Internet ethnography and interviews with Christian bloggers and church pastors, this book looks at how the Internet is a component of “everyday religion” in the lives of Malaysian Christians at individual, institutional, and national levels. It examines the ways in which online Christian expressions are increasingly integrated into the everyday religious routines of Christians for the development of their personal identities and inter-religious interactions. This book also shows how the spiritual authority of church pastors can be both challenged and reinforced through the creative use of online tools. It addresses some of the creative ways in which Christians utilise the Internet to engage with national socio-political issues within the context of restrictive and controlled mainstream media, as well as the ongoing discourse with Islam in the country. Through a selection of case studies, this book shows that while the Internet may be “free”, the users of the Internet are not necessarily so. While the Internet has provided Malaysian Christians with new tools to experience their faith in new ways, several aspects of “old” offline socio-cultural habits persist online. These, in turn, lead to a robust and growing environment of Internet Christianity in Malaysia. This timely book will be of interest to scholars in religious studies, media and communications, and cultural studies in Southeast Asia.