Religious and Cultural Implications of Technology-Mediated Relationships in a Post-Pandemic World

Ilia Delio is a Franciscan Sister of Washington, D.C. and holds the Josephine C. Connelly Chair in Christian Theology at Villanova Universe.Noreen Herzfeld is the Nicholas and Bernice Reuter Professor of Science and Religion at St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict and a research associate with ZRS Koper.Robert Nicastro is a PhD candidate in the Theology and Religious Studies program at Villanova University.

• PrefaceSteven Barrie-AnthonyIntroductionNoreen HerzfeldPart I: Technology, Religious Practices and the COVID PandemicChapter One: Technology and Ancestor OfferingsNatasha Heller Chapter Two: The Meanings of Presence in Judaism: How Expressions of Social Community Evolved Over Centuries and Adapted Under Stress To COVIDAmy Sue BixPart II: Remaining Human in a Digital AgeChapter Three: Social Technology and the Paradoxes of Spirituality and AttachmentSteven Barrie-AnthonyChapter Four: Re-visioning Friendship and Spirituality in an Age of Social MediaJennifer Constantine JacksonChapter Five: Paying Attention to Where We Pay Attention: Rethinking the Attention Economy through the Lens of Simone WeilLisa M. DollingPart III: Digital Media and Contemplative ImaginationChapter Six: Technology and Contemplative PedagogyBeverly McGuireChapter Seven: Technology and the ArtsKevin HealyPart IV. Technology, Materiality and EmbodimentChapter Eight: Crypto-Ethic? Presence, Relationality, and Care Among Digital CurrenciesDevin SinghChapter Nine: “‘Grow Old with Me’: Humanoid Robots and the Aging Process”Noreen HerzfeldPart V. Looking Beyond the Pandemic Chapter Ten: Why Technology Is Our FutureIlia DelioAbout the Contributors

When COVID isolated us from each other, technology kept us connected. Well, sort of. What actually happens when we human beings, who are innately social, put our social connections online? Are we still fully present to each other? Chatbots and robotic companions have already moved in to live with us, rechanneling if not replacing human connections altogether. Religious communities are discovering how quickly technology is altering religious practices. Will technology make us less human or more human? This book offers thoughtful analyses, multiple vantage points, and diverse perspectives all driving at one question: How is technology modifying the human social fabric and, in so doing, remaking humanity?