Magazine

Call for Articles

Spirituality and the Net

The March 1997 issue of CMC Magazine will explore the meaning of man's technological quest, to map the relationships between technology and spirituality, the implications of cyberspace for humankind's spiritual quest, the eventual spiritual nature of the medium, and the expressions of spiritual movements that can be found online.

The guest editor will be Michel Bauwens (mbauwens@iocom.be).

Articles are invited on the following subjects and should be send no later than January 25 to the guest editor:

• what is the meaning of humankind's technological quest in terms of long term views on history; positive or negative assessments of the emergence of cyberspace (i.e. the Electric Gaia vs. Deus Ex Machina themes); points of view of spiritual and philosophical thinkers a la Teilhard de Chardin, Ken Wilber, Hegel.

• what is the spiritual nature of the medium, do 'soul' or 'spirit' dwell in the medium? (i.e. the 'does prana travel the wires' theme).

• what are the psychological implications of the medium; can cyberspace function as a 'soul-to-soul' medium, or does it fundamentally inhibit such communication?

• can cyberspace be a tool for broader awareness and spiritual growth? Can there be such a thing as 'TechGnosis'? Or are the new internetworking technologies impediments to spiritual growth.

• new technologically-oriented cyberspace religions; secular technological religions; extroprianism and the Technological Unconscious of the West; Techno-Paganism

• activities of old and new religious movements on the internet: what do spiritual movements think about cyberspace and what are they doing there

• the sacred and the profane in cyberspace; efforts to sacralise and 'consecrate' cyberspace; religious rituals in cyberspace and their value; sacred technology.

• cyberspace as an immaterial medium: how does it compare to the immaterial realms that have always been the domain of religious and spiritual traditions; the magical nature of the medium; can we use magical interfaces as navigation tools; articles on the multiples convergences between technology and spirituality

• the relationship between cyberspace and 'real life'; the possible obsoleteness of body and mind; transhumanism, post-biological evolution; technological immortality