Bots and Biomes

Natalia Johnson

Mathew Lynch

Rel 161

3 December 2015

The Salon article refers to Algorithmacy as a reference to divination and philosophy that instead of determining the future by classic spiritual-philosophical in a manner that it is done with bots by algorithms. The author discusses how natural and artificial in how we most often think of it in terms of food can be shifted for certain purposes. I think that it is arbitrary to a certain extent but to think of anything as a place without lines and limits is dangerous because firstly it is easy to wander as Hawking has done into unrelated territory and lose focus. Secondly things can be re-purposed in a way that is far removed from its authentic reality. The reality is that some things originate more naturally than others or at least it is perceived to be that way. I think that these terms, natural and artificial can be redefined for better in a number of spheres but it is important that we do it in a manner that is credible. The author employs his agency on these points by tapping into the blurred lines and making the point that artificial intelligence does not fit into this conversation as it is currently defined. In order to understand what our real fears are we must first have a firm grasp on how the object(s) we fear operate and our current social/technological situation.

The microbotome that is mentioned discusses the system of bots that exist online that exist to extract capital but also assist humans in the various quests they carryout online. From online shopping, research our favorite tv shows, and even trying to get help from Bank of America bots exist in those spheres whether their existence is invisible or noticeable to the user. Depending on the user bots may be very invisible which makes the notion of Stephen Hawking alluding to robot takeover even more horrifying because we can’t see them or interact with them on levels we are used to with fellow humans it feels as though something is slipping past us rather than existing for us. This microbotome refers to microbiomes as stated in the article that work in our body to create consciousness as well as dictate how we see the world. Microbotome work by changing how we can use technology and how business, and companies gather data, much like the cells in our bodies. The vast difference is that these bots that exist in life and online are not sovereign. They need humans to operate, maintain and tweek them so that they remain relevant and useful. They don’t yet have the capacity to evolve semi-flawlessly on their own. I see this in my experience on twitter with corporate bots that display things completely irrelevant to me and my interests all the time. For a period of time I will see ads that catch my eye but something drives the algorithm askew and I get an ad for mens shaving creme or new tires. This may be because I tweeted about needing a car or the quality of mens vs womens hygiene products which demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding regarding some human forms of conversation. The bot isn’t quite able to figure me out as a feminist or a college student but it can pick up that I mentioned shaving creme. 

ISIS VS. Authenticity

Really powerful and important message. In my opinion there is nothing authentic about ISIS and what they stand for. is ISIS in any way a religion or religious? What do you think?

MUST WATCH!

Really interesting video we watched one day during our Religion in the New Media class, that I thought discussed an important topic worth sharing . This video is extremely relevant in terms of recent news and tensions with the Middle East. After watching the video on media's negative portrayal of Arab's, I think it is important for America to see Arab people in a new more authentic light, and stop stereotyping and labeling an entire group of people. We need to stop in both the media and every day life associating all Arab people with terrorism.

Mourning the Reality of Gun Violence

I woke up in a daze, frustrated and hurt by the amount of deaths caused by guns in our country. As families mourn the deaths of loved ones, we are forced to face the fact that yesterday's shooting in California was the worst massacre we have seen since the shooting in Sandy Hook that took place in 2012. Yesterday, Hillary Clinton said this via Twitter: "I refuse to accept this as normal. We just take action to stop gun violence now." At this point, whether you're religious or not or conservative or liberal, as a country we must come together and compromise on a solution because this problem is only increasing. When I think of this issue as it relates to religion, I have trouble wrapping my brain around it because some of the most intense Christians I know heavily support our Second Amendment right, and while it is our right as Americans, it is not our right to abuse it. I read an article on Religion Dispatches that addresses why the church cannot ultimately stop gun violence. Throughout the article the author brings up many points, including how after a traumatic event people are always quick to say "I'm praying for you," but in this case what is prayer actually doing? Praying won't stop this violence. In the article the author writes, "Not only are more liberal denominations split on gun control, they're distracted by any number of other issues: hunger, homelessness, anti-racism, advocating for LGBT rights, refugee resettlement, Israel-Palestine and on and on and on. Anybody who's spent time in a mainline Protestant church knows that it seems like a there's a new cause every damn day. It's difficult to coalesce around any one issue." The country is well aware that we have a number of issues to worry about, but gun violence and gun control is something that needs to be at the top of that list. This is not about separation between church and state, it is about coming together and doing what is best for our country.

Please read the article "Why the Church Can't Stop Gun Violence" on Religion Dispatches:
http://religiondispatches.org/why-the-church-cant-stop-gun-violence/

What is Pastafarianism?

When I think of issues I may encounter while going to any Motor Vehicles, they consist of not looking good in my photo, having to wait in a ridiculously long line, or not having the proper paperwork with me. Being denied the right to get my license renewed because of my religion was not a problem I even knew people had at Motor Vehicles until I read a shocking article in the Huffington Post. In August, Lindsay Miller of Lowell, Massachusetts, was denied a renewed license by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles for wearing a spaghetti strainer on her head. According to the RMV, head coverings and hats are not allowed in license photos, but exceptions are made for religious reasons. However, Miller was not just wearing a colander on her head as a fashion statement, she was expressing her religion.The people of the RMV did not only deny Miller the right to wear the colander, they laughed at her. Miller believed it was unfair that just because they hadn't heard of this belief system that anyone had the right to deny her a license, she said that wearing the colander on her head allows her to express her devotion to the Spaghetti Monster, the Pastafarian deity. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Pastafarianism, is a social movement that promotes a light hearted view of religion and opposes the teaching of intelligent design and creationism in public schools. It was founded in 2005, the church says is neither anti-religion nor an atheist club, but rather anti-crazy nonsense done in the name of religion, and is accepting of everyone. In the eyes of Miller and many others, by not allowing her to wear the colander in her license photo, the RMV was violating Miller's first Amendment rights which apply to every person and every religion, and before a hearing could take place the RMV changed their mind and allowed her to wear the colander. With all this in mind, do you think Pastafarianism is an authentic religion? What makes a religion authentic or fake? If exceptions are made for religious reasons why was Lindsay Miller denied the right to wear the colander in the first place? Did the RMV have the right to deny Pastafarianism as an authentic religion due to lack of knowledge or lack of shared beliefs?  #Pastafarianism #Religioninthenewmedia #Authenticity #Authenticreligion #ChurchoftheFlyingSpaghettiMonster 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pastafarian-colander-license-photo_56498e42e4b08cda34897b27

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

Agency in the role of #Concerned Student 1950

Recently at the university of Missouri black students have managed to convince their community of the need for a new president. Their now former president Tim Wolfe managed to remain silent and in some cases in opposition to their efforts to bring attention and find reform for the racist threats and practices on campus. Not so recently however has been the beginning of the students wait for these things to be addressed with any lasting results. In early November Tim Wolfe finally resigned from the position of president at Missouri. Yet we have good reason to believe that it was not because he saw the light shine on the error of his ways but the fact that someone at Missouri (Probably Wolfe) would have to pay the football team they were soon to play, 1 million dollars if their football team continued to refuse to play while he was in office. Agency played a role in how these students where able to get things done by wielding the power of capital. It is not a new strategy and I am not entirely convinced the student organizers at Missouri were unaware of the fine that would have to be paid if their football team refused to play, I do know that by working their way into more difficult territory they made it just as difficult to be ignored. If no one is messing with the money, they could have protested all day because they wouldn't be a threat.

The Legacy of Black Social Gospel

This article focuses on the history of black social gospel and how the history of black religious leaders and the social movements they espoused influenced generations. This article tackles the authenticity of history and how the lens through which we view things becomes warped when we omit or diminish facts that are deemed unworthy of recording or mentioning. It makes me think how will the things happening in the world right now be diminish in favor of someone else's perspective.
 #authenticsocialgospel #warpedlens #wheredidKingcomefrom
http://religiondispatches.org/what-we-dont-know-about-black-social-gospel-a-long-neglected-tradition-is-reclaimed/

Dehumanizing The Other

The history of "whiteness" in america is a long one, many children of color who grew up in the united states believe it to be cut and dry. I don't even remember being aware of the existence of other races outside of my own and the other (white people) until sometime during kindergarten. I learned in high school however that eugenics, language and cultural customs labeled many people we define as white today as other. Immigrants coming from eastern Europe were often ostracized and made to live in abominable housing situations in the city before eventually being treated as white people under the law. This allowance gave them opportunities to do things that other races simply couldn't because of how they looked. I feel that these types of rules concerning otherness have transferred onto religion when it comes to identifying the other.
We simply use different markers now. We see a headscarf, hear someones accent when they speak, we hear them talk about themselves, many times in attempts to humanize and/or assimilate themselves and these markers are all that we see. We become less trusting, less rational, less empathetic because we have been sent messages about people that we haven't taken the time to understand ourselves. We often believe in our own complexities with a fervor, we make excuses for ourselves, for people we know. We never want to believe that what we know could be bad. We dehumanize people by refusing to be realistic about the situations they are in and believing that if it were us, we would be different.
When it comes to refugees and taking in people we know little about as the general public, I don't think that is a burden they should have to carry. I don't believe the religion of any said refugee makes them any more prone to terrorism, because I don't think any said refugee's priorities would be on terrorism. I think it would be hard enough to be in america as a Muslim but being a refugee, who may have an accent or limited english, I'd imagine that would be terrifying in itself so I can only imagine what they would be facing to want to come here. I feel that in order to humanize the other we have to take responsibility for the damage we have done to how we and everyone around us sees them as people. We other people, separate their differences from our definitions of humanity without being as ambitions to correct ourselves when we are wrong.

The Point of Biblical video games

Natalia Johnson
REL161
21 November 2015

In class we were playing arcade games that were supposed to be related to the different stories relayed  or different people from the bible. I think its safe to say that if anyone was hoping for something on Assassin's Creed level or even something that works with the smoothness of Pacman of Galaga they would have been a bit disappointed. As far as quality goes, these games were made ten years ago so i was actually shocked that the internet let some of them live without interference. My personal favorite was a game where three of Jesus' disciples have to be kept awake by a buzzing fly and every time right before Jesus' return they all fell asleep before i could wake then up.

Most of the things trying to relate to a more internet based crowd who exist within the atmosphere of the internet throughout their daily lives, whether that be through texting, constant emails, video games, or just consuming things that can be found in person through that medium, like art, literature, music, or science, these trendy things with a religious twist often come poorly maintained, marketed, and have a hard time integrating our culture of technology into their initiatives. Unless you are someone like my mother who only learn to text because she wanted to take notes in her bible app rather than writing them, and you have a religious leaning already, these games may not stick. I believe that many religious professionals know this, so why do people bother? I think it may be the try that counts or the fact that they can say this did exist, even though it sucked really bad. Or perhaps like the televangelists there is a portion of the public heavily dedicated to immersing themselves in their religion so much that they do the laborious and unrewarding work of creating those outlets within technology.
I feel however that in many cases of bringing religion into the new millennium it sacrifices its massage and authenticity, relinquishing its past forms and coming into something more interpretable and new. I think it can be argued that this transformation of religion is more authentic than it was in the past because it is more of a personal experience as most major religions claim to be. Leaders have less of a direct hand in the lives of their followers and in some cases may not even know them at all. I personally enjoy the fact that at anytime, I can conduct thoughtful research and find answers to questions about almost any known religion. I feel like it allows people to actually find what they are after rather than aligning themselves with the religion of their parents, peers, or region.

"Digital Arabs: Representation in Video Games"

"Unlike narrative, simulations are a kaleidoscopic form of representation that can provide us with multiple and alternative points of view. By accepting tis paradigm, players can realize that there are many possible ways to deal with their personal and social reality. Hopefully, this might lead to the development of a tolerant attitude that accepts multiplicity as the rule and not the exception," (Vit Sisler). The main point I got from this article is, with any race or culture we are not familiar or comfortable with, we stereotype. It's not a good thing, but it's human and we all do it. The author seems to believe that if people play video games where Muslim and Arab people are present, it would begin to close the divide between America and the Middle East because people would become more familiar and more tolerant. Today, and especially with recent events, Muslims are stereotyped as being terrorists which leads to fear and hatred. However, would people continue to buy and play these video games if they looked or portrayed anything different? Who do we blame for these stereotypes that are only growing by the second, the American video game industry or the attacks we hear about on the news coming from the Middle East?

Read "Digital Arabs: Representation in Video Games" below:
http://www.digitalislam.eu/article.do?articleId=1704

Authentic Christians?

If you call yourself a Christian, why so? Is it because you believe and follow exactly what the Bible says? I recently read an article that discussed Christianity and gay marriage, that the two cannot peacefully coexist, as some super conservative Christians believe. I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around this because I am in fact a Christian that accepts homosexuality. So, my question is, what makes a Christian authentic? Do you have to follow the Bible exactly to call yourself a Christian?

Check out the article here:
http://religiondispatches.org/out-of-options-christians-losing-battle-over-equality/

A Bible Game Zone Review

http://www.biblegamezone.com

It is crazy to think that even juniors in college can take a day off from typical work in the classroom and have an activity day in class and play religious video games. If you are looking for a cool website to play fun, simple, yet super challenging video games that each relate to religion and the Bible in one way or another www.biblegamezone.com is the site for you. Thanks to my Religion in the New Media, professor I was able to play and try out each of the 15 games offered on the site. However, if I had to recommend my top 2 favorite games, it is between Hearts and Two of Each Kind. Hearts was actually extremely challenging but had me addicted, and once I tried I couldn't stop playing and kept trying to get a better score. In the game Hearts, a bunch of words in both red and blue appear on the screen, and your goal is to only let good words (blue words) go into the hearts and close the hearts for the bad words (red), when Jesus comes across the screen you also let him in for extra points. You can open and close the hearts by clicking on them, and you collect points for every good word you let in. The more good words you let pass or bad words you let in, the more hurt the hearts get and eventually they stop beating and you lose the game. The game Hearts clearly relates to religion with the concepts of good and bad, Jesus, and the act of opening ones heart. My other favorite game is called Two of a Kind, your classic matching game. In this game, all animals in the Ark come in pairs, and your goal is to find as many matches as you can. However, the more you match the harder it gets, and you have very few attempts to get all the matches. The connection to religion for the game Two of a Kind was a bit more obvious in reference to Noah's Ark. Like the other game, I was not particularly good at this game, but I played at least 15 times in a row,  losing was that addicting! I definitely recommend this website for all those religious computer game lovers out there, or anyone really who likes playing games and having fun! #authenticreligion #religion #religioninthenewmedia #biblegamezone #funfunfun

Advantages of Biblical Video Games

When someone says video games, I don't know about you, but I immediately think of sports or violence. I would say those art two of the most popular genres of video games. However, on Friday in class I was able to experience the world of biblical video games, and it wasn't so bad. There were fifteen different video games to choose from, all relating back to the Bible in some way. I skipped around and played about all of the games for a few minutes, but by the end I found myself spending more time on one game in particular, "David and Goliath." I knew the story of David and Goliath from growing up in a Christian home, my parents had told me the story as a kid. However, it had been a few years and I guess I had forgotten some of the details that are vital to the story. When you start the game you are immediately asked questions about David and his family and you cannot move on to the next question until you answer it correctly. Once you answer a variety of different questions you finally get to see David defeat Goliath at the end of the game. This game would be great for children because it allows them to learn about the Bible and certain stories in the Bible in a fun, unique way. Video games are no doubt a part of our generation and this site allows children to participate in online games while parents know they are on a clean and safe site. 

Check out the site and start gaming!

http://www.biblegamezone.com

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Televangelists (HBO)

"Why ISIS War Would Make Paris Attacks a Success"

This article discusses the recent attacks in Paris coming from ISIS and why ISIS needed these attacks to be a success. When thinking of authenticity, I can't help but think: is ISIS authentic or fake? They claim to be a Muslim group, but would the Quran encourage this violence?
#Authenticity #ISISAuthenticOrFake

Check out the article:
http://religiondispatches.org/why-isis-war-would-make-paris-attacks-a-success/

What is Authenticity?

Authenticity- “In the midst of these transatlantic exchanges, where the authenticity of religious, cultural, and social practices is at stake, we find a genuine fake, the Zulu shaman Credo Mutwa, described in his own country as a “fake, fraud, and a charlatan” but celebrated in the United States as an authentic spiritual leader who is doing real, authentic religious work, like Coco-Cola, McDonald’s, and Disney, by enabling people to reimagine what it is to be a human person in a rapidly globalizing human place,” (David Chidester,Authentic Fakes p. ix)

Burma, Authenticity, and New Media Blockage

Authenticity in Old and New Media censorship in Burma (Myanmar)

Authentic- adj., of undisputed origin; genuine

In my country of Burma, there have been recent strides in the early 2010's to make Burmese press and newspapers more authentic by removing censorship regulations, especially for newspapers. However such newspapers cannot be owned privately and many journalists are still wary of the consequences for publicizing certain information. Internet access and the lifting of bans on web content in Burma seems to be a different issue but also one that people are optimistic seeing as how many things that were once inaccessible are now available to them. Internet access is also becoming more free in that 30, 000 sites were unblocked in 2012.

We discussed in class several topics surrounding authenticity such as the mission statement activity where we talked about the purpose of these statements being that they are there to create branding and convince consumers they're genuine in purpose. We also discussed authenticity when we talked about virtual rituals and places online such as Second Life, Facebook, or an Ikea wedding where people recreate the rituals that are known as physical experiences and extend the to the part of their lives that exists online. We have also recently been talking about censorship of course and how many times it exists as an act of maintenance for a status quo or idealism about a group of people or a place and what they believe in and what it is like to be there.

The concept of authenticity relates to the censorship of the Burmese people because it illustrates the ways in which a government can suppress issues or opinions under the guise of safety and secrecy. Controlling what gets to be authentic or what can be said for an entire country can lead to social disconnect not only with other nations but within their own. People in Burma now have access to Facebook which has exposed issues surrounding hate speech against certain groups. By making people privy to the good (internet) and the bad (hate speech, harrassment) there is room to have discussions on how to unite or reform rather than silence. Authenticity is not simply what is good or interesting but it is also the by products of being honest and real. In Burma citizens are unable to be fully authentic in that most internet sites related to gambling, sex, drugs, democracy, dating, sex, and things LGBT related. The print press and other old media are less regulated allowing for preliminary authenticity but also the lack of internet media keeps citizens from forming any authentic opinions outside of the preexisting ones within the culture.

Sources

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-19315806

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/04/internet-freedom-myanmar-curse--201441095932371441.html

The Authentic Side of North Korea

In North Korea all social media is banned, therefore no one can be authentic. The dictator controls everything.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/23/north-korea-blocks-photosharing-app

Authentic Media Censorship in Turkey

In Turkey, their issue with blockage of social media is authentic because social media is not a constantly enforced law like in North Korea, or not a law at all as in America. Turkey is authentic, because they selectively enforce bans on social media based upon the current environment. This is authentic because if something controversial is going on in Turkey that the Turkish government doesn’t want the rest of the world to know about, they ban social media to restrict what the citizens can post and control how the world perceives Turkey.

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-six-countries-that-block-social-media-2015-4