«Virtual orthodoxy»: preservation and transformation of religious and cultural tradition

Abstract

Digitalization is actively used by religious organizations. They use it both to coordinate their activities and to spread their beliefs, and even to construct sacred spaces in a virtual environment in which they can perform any ritual actions (pray, light a candle, etc.). Thanks to the Internet, it has become possible for representatives of various religious subcultures to promote their ideas about "tradition". These are not only numerous sites where you can keep track of the calendar of religious holidays, but also about what should be done on this day according to tradition, what should be eaten. There are a lot of sites dedicated to the traditions of religious piety. Their authors are engaged not only in preserving the tradition of piety known to them (there are many traditions of piety, these are local traditions), but also in constructing a new one. In many ways, the focus of such sites is related to the market of religious services. This is a profane level of preservation and construction of tradition. There are also a number of projects whose task is to preserve cultural monuments. These are primarily sites where digitized books and documents that can be attributed to church Tradition (works of theologians, manuscripts of religious content, documents) are posted. There are also sites dedicated to disappeared and preserved church buildings. And of course, websites, telegram channels, contact groups dedicated to icons. These resources are part of the "big tent of the humanities", and play not only an informational, but also a missionary role.