This is an excerpt from my Master’s Degree thesis. I just wanted to share a portion with you guys.
The role of computer media mediated communication (CMC) or communication through the use of blogs, social networking sites, video sharing websites, podcasts, groups, chats and forums have enabled Filipino atheists to have a more convenient way of learning more about atheism, and test their stand and beliefs relative to one group or another.
According to Holt (2004), through CMC, primarily with the use of web pages/sites, people can express their ideology and have various people read them. These circumstances reveal the traces of civic life that reflect the ideology of composers of web pages/sites, as well as how designers see visitors who read these pages/sites (p.129).
Since the creation of web pages/sites is becoming easier, owing to the increasing availability of resources through the increasing technological, sophistication, availability and capability of computers, the creation of web pages or blogs has already become like a common commodity (Holt, 2004, p.130). The internet has been useful not only in propagating ideological messages, but also through embedding more than simply texts but also such permit users to attach graphic material and sound files, change size or color of font and the like. The skillful designer of sites is able to lead visitors through numerous presentations of information via a unique conceptual path (Horton, 2000; Siegel, 1997 as cited from Holt, 2004, p.132), which is impossible within the confines of other forms of media.
Considering such qualities, the web page/site seems ideal for civic discourse. It is a mass medium, but unlike other mass media (such as television or film), it does not need expensive equipment (other than the computer) or exhaustive technical training to compose effective utterances, it is with this respect that the internet and the huge role that it plays in terms of computer mediated media communication (CMC) has led Filipino atheists to adopt it as a primary means to express their ideas and make their paradigm known, hence attracting other people to their belief.
The use of blogs has also enabled atheists to express their own ideas and contribute to the creation of a cyber reality unique to Filipino atheists. In addition to this, Filipino atheists’ on-line journals also contribute to the answer for the lack of formal studies and researches about atheism. Video sharing and podcasting have become the alternative forms of media for the atheists wherein they can find the videos or commentaries that they wanted to listen to. Instead of watching television, a Filipino atheist can just go to You Tube and search for a whole lot of videos catering to Western atheism, and Filipino atheism as well. Podcasts also serve as an alternative media where people they can hear commentaries from various atheists who are well-known and respected. The famous scientist, Richard Dawkins, has his own podcasts embedded in his personal site, and the most famous western atheist organization, the Rational Response Squad, also have their own podcasts as well. Finally, the groups and forums enable atheists to talk to one another and allow them to have exchange of ideas, plan together, and organize certain meetings and events. As a major alternative for face-to-face communication, group forums and chat has further made the paradigm of atheism stronger and, in some cases, theist skeptics and freethinkers alike who have a couple of unanswered questions can always go and visit their networking site and “socialize” with them.
According to Lea and Spears (1992) studies of social psychological processes in group CMC have reported social influence effects under certain conditions. For instance, when CMC takes place under conditions where group norms have been previously made salient, individuals tend to behave in accordance with those norms. For example, the attitudes of group members may tend to move in the direction of the norm, and group decisions favor the norm. Moreover, the “de-individuated” conditions under which CMC normally takes place (i.e., between physically isolated and visually anonymous individuals) can serve to reinforce group identity and the prevailing norms ( Hiltz et al., 1989; Lea & Spears, 1991; Matheson & Zanna, 1989 as cited from Lea and Spears, 1992, p.323). Likewise when a particular skeptic comes across an atheist website, group or forum, it is more likely that his or her perception and attitude will be shaped into something that is exactly similar to the norm of that particular group or website.
Another possibility is that significant social information can be communicated in CMC even though it lacks visual and auditory channels. Several observations suggest that, under some conditions, relatively simple cues can contribute in powerful and sophisticated ways to convey social information and expressive meanings, to help regulate the interaction, and to influence attitudes and decision making. Also, different politeness strategies can function to maintain or reduce the psychological distance between communicators and can therefore, be used to control the interaction ( Hiemstra, 1982 as cited from Lean and Spears, 1992, p.323). Changes in the identities of users through the provision of pseudonymity or anonymity can crucially affect the conduct and outcome of group discussions in CMC ( Hiltz et al., 1989; Lea & Spears, 1991; Spears et al., 1990, as cited from Lea and Spears, 1992, p.323). This is the reason why the Filipino atheist community in the web has been significantly growing. The reduction of psychological distances and the role of pseudonymity or anonymity have allowed atheists most specially those who are inside the closet to express their beliefs and collaborate with people having the same paradigm without risking his or her image for the sake of his or her family, peers, work or education; or from being persecuted.
The study of Vanlear et al., (2005) expressed the importance of CMC in terms of providing social support (p.5). According to the Vanlear et al., people who have supportive interpersonal relationships experience better emotional and physical health than those who do not. CMC is another context of interpersonal communication, more specifically it being ‘hyperpersonal’ (Walther, 1996 as cited from Vanlear et.al, 2005, p.5). Walther suggests several reasons why CMC can become hyperpersonal:
“(a) The receiver may ‘idealize’ the sender; (b) Given the intentional nature of CMC and lack of spontaneous cues, strategic self presentation may be optimized; (c) The availability of asynchronous channels may support information management; and finally, (d) The feedback offered by CMC may magnify personal communication in a minimal cue environment. CMC support groups, especially asynchronous groups, may be characterized by highly personal communication, which may make them particularly conducive to the provision of emotional support (Turner, Grube, & Meyers, 2001)”. Vanlear et al. (2005, p.5)
In effect of this, since CMC has the capability to hyperpersonalize the communication process, such has been a very effective tool in terms of penetrating a particular individual, most specially the skeptic in terms of convincing the latter in terms of ideas, philosophies, arguments, experiences and other forms of knowledges that can lead to the adoption of an atheistic thought. Walther and Boyd (2001 as cited from Vanlear et al, 2005), discussing online support groups, observed that:
“A great degree of … intimacy seems to develop through electronic social support, as individuals engage in self-disclosure to discuss these conventionally personal issues. Validation by others often follows the disclosure of personal issues, manifesting highly rewarding outcomes from … a ‘vulnerability pattern, online” (p.165, as cited from Vanlear et al, 2005, p.5)
Finally, Lavooy and Newlin (2003, p.157) said that CMC also allow people to adopt a synchronous communication approach that allows real-time interactions. Typically, this means that individuals meet, simultaneously, at a particular location in cyberspace. They may do this, however, from any location that has Internet access. This form of CMC is very convenient and useful for people who are relatively far from each other. Usually, synchronous CMC occurs in a chat room (i.e., virtual meeting place) where people meet and interact through typed statements or questions. It is with this respect that through real time communication, Filipino atheists in the web can interact as if they were in a face-to-face- communication, hence, allowing for an effective sharing of various forms of knowledges and experiences.
Also, the web shows “prospective atheists” how silly the other side can be. When we tell them that religion is irrational, we can link to Ray Comfort. When we say religion is intolerant, we show them a muslim site or James Dobson. More information (via web) leads to enlightenment.
Great blog. Long time no see, you interviewed me for your thesis a while back.
By: missingpoints on July 9, 2008
at 3:15 pm
Hi Patrick, its been a long time. Thank you by the way for letting me interview you for my thesis. Your insights and your biography provides one of the best points for my arguments. I added your blog to my links by the way… its really very informative. Nice blog =)
By: Vera on July 10, 2008
at 7:56 am
I am elated over the fact that the owner of this atheist website is a woman, a rarity among Filipinas, most of whom I think have been subjected to more intensive religious indoctrination than their male peers due to the dominant church’s interest in grooming women for subordinate gender roles. Other women who renounce their religious upbringing often embrace personalized forms of spirituality such as “new age” thinking rather than secular humanism which disdains worship of imaginary supernatural beings.
The recent profusion of blogs, websites and books that advocate skeptical thought is a welcome development given the religious and ideological prejudices that keep our country in the economic and cultural backwoods. However, many of these authors tackle religion in a fashion that appeals mainly to fellow atheists and exclude from their scope of study, societal issues that would challenge people to reexamine their mindsets as well as fight for reforms in the direction of expanded democracy and secularization. The narrow orientation of many atheist bloggers thus places them at a disadvantage with respect to both traditional religious communicators and self-styled religious entrepreneurs who cater to a broader audience and tackle a vast range of issues from mystical doctrines to down-to-earth lessons on marital relations, parenting, household finance management and corporate leadership.
Allow me to comment in detail on the writing of some of these atheists.
Biologist RICHARD DAWKINS’ analysis of religion merits a detailed discussion. Dawkins traces the roots of generic religious belief to natural evolution which endows human beings with a genetic inclination towards credulity; hardwired into their cerebral and sensory organs, credulity enables children to interact with nurturing adults in the most economical fashion at a stage when they are most dependent and vulnerable. Though helpful to human beings during their infancy, this inborn trait has only a transient survival value, because further human development requires its conquest through the cultivation of higher order ratiocinative skills and ethical values. For Dawkins, religion is simply a by-product of uncorrected infantile credulity, promoted to the level of a worldview that purports to answer all factual and existential questions. As such, religion has no genuine insight into the real world and hence no redeeming evolutionary value for material and moral progress; it simply taps into the human need for consolation and perpetrates itself like a virus through its intrusion into political, economic, cultural and other social institutions. Such association with genuine human needs renders religion impervious to rational criticism despite its false view of reality. To drive home the perils of religion, Dawkins compares the dysfunctional behavior of believers with that of moths immolating themselves in lit lamps. Though evolution over the past million years had given moths cognitive organs that enable to them to use natural light as navigational guides, it had not prepared them for the recent innovation of lamps and other artificial light.
While Dawkins’ dissection of religion deserves praise for its clarity and candor, it suffers from a myopic focus on refutation of religious claims and a reductionist inclination towards attributing virulence of religious beliefs to the convergence of congenital credulity with values imbibed during childhood and authoritarian politics. Dawkins is much more convincing in treatises on natural science subjects such as “Unweaving the Rainbow” and “The Ancestor’s Tale” than in essays that address politics-laden issues. Due to his condescending attitude toward believers and political naivete, Dawkins advocates universal education in science to the neglect of other important reforms and occasionally veers towards positions dangerously close to those of San Harris who unjustly blames religion for all of the world’s problems.
Sam Harris is the sort of atheist who gives atheists a bad name. In his book “The End of Faith”, Harris singles out Islam as the principal culprit behind the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center and the jihad being waged by Muslim extremists throughout the world. Though religious extremism indeed accounts for some of the world’s violent conflicts, Harris inexcusably turns a blind eye on the role of US (and Euro) corporate and state interests in fuelling such extremism through their sponsorship of unpopular client-states, unprovoked armed attacks on states that resist US control and support for Israel’s occupation of Palestine and its open defiance of international laws. Harris harps on the affluent background and high educational attainment of some Muslim terrorists as though these were evidence against theories that explain some instances of Muslim extremism as a popular reaction to Western imperialism. However, he is unmindful of his own obligation to account for the pernicious influence of the Christian Right on US politics and culture as well as official US support for Muslim terrorists wherever and whenever their interests converge as in pre-Taliban Afghanistan. Worse, Harris even endorses torture as a means of extracting information from presumed terrorists in chapter 5 of his book “The End of Faith”. In light of the continuing war against Iraq launched on the false pretext of averting a joint Saddam-Al Qaida WMD attack on Americans, the torture of Iraqi POWs by US soldiers in Abu Ghraib, as well as the Bush administration’s efforts to legalize current torture practices along with warrantless arrests, criminalization of radical dissent as well as routine surveillance and profiling of citizens, Harris’ proposal should be denounced as an incitement to further US atrocities against its presumed enemies.
Ironically, Harris’ animosity toward Islam contrasts with his uncritical admiration for eastern spirituality which he celebrates as free from violence. MEERA NANDA, the Indian biologist and philosopher, reproaches Harris for overlooking the authoritarianism inherent in the tenets of eastern religions and their role in perpetrating elite rule based on caste, sex, race and other forms of hereditary privilege. A Southern Asian woman deeply familiar with Buddhism and Hinduism, Nanda exposes Sam Harris’ ignorance of the ideological affinity of these mystical religions with despotic regimes, sexism, ethnocentrism and violent movements. Zen Buddhists enthusiastically supported Japanese militarism and its conquest of Korea, China and other countries in Asia-Pacific region before and during the Second World War. Despite their much vaunted pacifism, rival Buddhist factions ceaselessly vied for theocratic power in Tibet over the centuries, often soliciting the armed intervention and patronage of the regional power China, long before the Chinese Communists took over Tibet in 1959. In Sri Lanka, spirituality never discouraged the dominant Buddhist majority from practicing ethnic and religious discrimination against the Tamil; nor did Hinduism encourage the Tamil Tigers to rely on tactics other than terrorism to achieve their political goals. In India, the caste system persists in spite of legal prohibitions owing to widespread belief in a morally mindful universe that bestows on every person his current station and due share of joy and misery in accordance with the cumulative moral record he had achieved in imagined past lives. Recycled and given a new age makeover, these Hindu ideas make up the core of all victim-blaming modern ideologies that justify authoritarian government, ethnic privilege and elite monopoly over assets, labor, resources and public office.
Though less engaging and drier in tone than Dawkins and Harris, physicist VICTOR STENGER and philosopher DANIEL DENNETT present a stronger case for atheism. Stenger argues in his “God: The Failed Hypothesis” that the non-existence of God could be proven from the incoherent traits that characterize God and their incompatibility with the known and knowable laws of the physical universe. A god defined in terms of a bundle of incompatible superlatives simply cannot exist; and an impersonal albeit coherent god defined as “the sum total of the basic laws of physics” simply cannot inspire adulation. Stenger debunks the moral arguments for belief in God by demonstrating the independence of moral issues from alleged Divine edicts and tracing the roots of the human capacity for moral discernment to the human biological make-up and challenges to human survival that favor not only a more adept and innovative intelligence but also a growing capacity for empathy, fairness and cooperation. As for Dennett, his research project is the scientific study of religion as a natural phenomenon. He does not so much subject religious claims to rigorous empirical and logical tests (others have already done that), but seeks out the material factors behind the persistence of religion despite its iterative failure to prove its claims. Dennett does not attempt an exhaustive investigation of the causes of religion, but he does provide an introductory survey of a significant body of existing literature on the subject and proposes a number of potential avenues of development and inquiry. While cognizant of the taboo against scientific inquiries into faith, Dennett insists that such a study is all the more necessary in light of the immense political influence still wielded by religion in modern life.
By: GEORGE EVANGELISTA on July 30, 2008
at 1:57 pm
i doing information studies/science and i would like to know my jobs opportunnities in media arena beside achievist and information system.
By: thomas on August 5, 2008
at 6:32 pm