Malaysian Christians Online

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Meng Yoe Tan

   Pages 1-19

3. Locating the “Everyday” and the “Offline” in Online Christianity

   • Meng Yoe Tan

   Pages 21-49

4. The Personal Experience: Blogging as Development of Spiritual Identity

   • Meng Yoe Tan

   Pages 51-81

5. Church in Cyberspace: Authority, Transparency, and Pastors as Online Authors and Citizens

   • Meng Yoe Tan

   Pages 83-122

6. Digital “Surtsey”: Lessons from a New Online Christian Community

   • Meng Yoe Tan

   Pages 123-136

7. Engaging Malaysia: A Grassroots Approach to Inter/Intra-Religious Communication

   • Meng Yoe Tan

   Pages 137-159

8. Reproducing Ideology: Christians, Facebook Groups, and the Bersih 4 Protests in Malaysia

   • Meng Yoe Tan

   Pages 161-172

9. Conclusion: Locating the Offline in the Online and Vice-Versa in Malaysian Christianity

   • Meng Yoe Tan

   Pages 173-179

10. Back Matter

    Pages 181-189

    PDF

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.

• Malaysian Christians Online
• Malaysian Christian community
• Online religious community
• Inter-religious dialogue in Malaysia
• Social Engagement on the Internet
• Blogging as Development of Spiritual Identity
• Religion and Spirituality
• Online Religion and the Malaysian Context
• Malaysian Pastors as Online Authors and Citizens
• Inter/Intra-Religious Communication
• Facebook Christian Groups and the Bersih 4.0 Rally
• Malaysian/Southeast Asian studies
• Communication and media studies
• Christian groups
• Religious ideology
• religion and society

• Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia

  Meng Yoe Tan

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