Robert M. Geraci

Virtually sacred : myth and meaning in world of warcraft and second life

Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Real Stories in Virtual Worlds 1) A Cultural Adventure 2) Polite Society 3) A World with Meaning 4) The Flow of Faith Online 5) Another Life for Religion 6) Sacred Second Lives 7) Reassembling Religion Appendix: On Method in the Study of Virtual Worlds References Notes Index

Laboratory Ritual: Experimentation and the Advancement of Science

Technical achievement in laboratories requires millen- nia-old ritual formulations; the methodological expectations and pre- suppositions of scientists stem not only from investigations of the last three centuries but also from the ritual knowledge making that has governed human religion. Laboratory research is a form of hu- man ritual open to interpretation in the manner of religious ritual. The experiments of the laboratory are fact-gathering ventures, but the integration of that knowledge into our general understanding of a universe of information networks is the process of knowledge mak- ing, and it is the highest achievement of all rituals, be they religious or scientific. Ritual theory offers insight into the nature of scientific experimentation.

Enlightening the Galaxy How Players Experience Political Philosophy in Star Wars: The Old Republic

The role of political persuasion in Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) affirms the serious nature and even educational value possible in video games designed with entertainment as their primary motivation. Within SWTOR, players wrestle with political conflicts first posited centuries ago by Enlightenment thinkers and have an opportunity to use the game as a springboard for political reflection in the contemporary world. Based upon surveys and interviews, this study reveals that politics can inform the cultural experience of entertainment games; SWTOR offers valuable lessons in civics by providing opportunities to explore and engage with the political philosophies of our Enlightenment heritage.

A tale of two futures: Techno-eschatology in the US and India

Different religions have strikingly different views of history; but the emergence of modern technology offers promises of salvation that can draw equally on Christian views of time in the US and Hindu views of time in India. For centuries, Christian theologians incorporated technological progress into their linear vision of history, which will end with an eschatological conflict and the rise of the New Jerusalem. In the US today, techno-enthusiasts have adopted the claim that we are fast approaching the end of the world as we know it, though the salvation they expect no longer references Christianity. A ‘Singularity’ will occur, they say, leading to the transformation of biological life into an eternal new world of machine intelligence. In India, however, history is cyclical and the end of the world has long been expected to be a return to the first age. Although presently mired in the misery of the kali yuga, we should anticipate an end to this period and a return to the glorious satya yuga. Based upon popular Indian understandings of science and technology, we should expect that both will be crucial to this process. Interviews and observations made in the US and in India reveal how technological progress is now the critical component in cultural expectations about the end of the world and the emergence of a new world to come.

A Novel Society: Science Fiction Novels as Religious Actors

Science fiction—as a literature of the fantastic—has become a part of the religious landscape of modernity. In a secular world, not all of religious activity is explicitly so; indeed, much contemporary religious thought and practice happens implicitly, in ostensibly secular arenas. Yet the human need for meaning and enchantment has gone undiminished in the age of secularism, and science fiction is a powerful route for such desires. In China Mieville’s Perdido Street Station, we see how traditionally religious themes are woven into a science fiction story, but also how the book itself illustrates a religious goal of divine creation. Using actor-network theory, this essay contributes to the building of a sociology of religion that acknowledges the powerful ways in which science fiction texts like Perdido Street Station offer transformative experiences for readers and for culture.