Residualism: Online Survival of Rejected Religions

Abstract

Using information obtained online, this chapter considers how some rather well-known religious traditions of the past have given birth to genres of secular culture, and how online communications can accelerate the decline of controversial religions. The title “residualism” refers to the fact that the disintegration of a religion does not necessary lead to the death of all its features, because some residue of its culture may persist, even become cherished within the wider culture. Brief consideration of Transcendental Meditation notes how this Hindu practice was able to migrate to the United States and survive, despite separation from Hinduism and the collapse of popularity of the organization that popularized it. A more extensive section documents the scandals that devastated the Children of God, in the modern context when journalists exploit religious conflict, and anyone may post disparaging information about a group online. We cannot be sure how much the CoG was responsible for its own decline, but insightful member Claire Borowik believes Internet renders religious experimentation even more risky than in earlier days. The next case considered is the Shakers, noting that beginning two centuries ago Mary Marshall Dyer had great difficulty battling this communal Christian group that she felt had stolen her family, and the remarkable fact that some elements of Shaker culture, like the hymn “Simple Gifts,” have become popular among people who today have not a clue what the Shakers really were, such as the performers and audience of Lord of the Dance. The most striking example of quasi-survival of religious residue is Richard Wagner’s Ring operas, which retold the ancient myths of Nordic polytheism, now constantly reinterpreted by performances that can be viewed in YouTube. The chapter concludes with the case of biorhythm pseudoscience, a secularized form of astrology that first spread through specialized calculating devices, and now offers automatic readings from websites with specialized computing programs.