How technology is reshaping religion
科技如何重塑宗教
Smartphone apps, social media, and artificial intelligence are all making religion more accessible. Is it enough to slow recent declines in religious beliefs?
智慧型手機應用程式、社交媒體和人工智慧都讓宗教變得更加容易接近。這是否足以減緩近年來宗教信仰的下降趨勢？
攝影：李鎮民，美聯社照片
Looking at demographic data, a simple story about religion in the United States appears: it’s on the decline.
從人口統計數據來看，美國宗教的一個簡單故事顯現：它正在衰退。
According to Gallup, 98 percent of Americans believed in God in 1952, and only 81 percent did in 2022. Twenty two percent of Americans in a 2023 study by the Pew Research Center identified as spiritual but not religious; 28 percent in 2024 described themselves as atheists, agnostics, or nothing in particular, often called the “nones.” Across North America and Europe, similar numbers track the decline in people affiliated with an organized religion. (The numbers are quite different in the Middle East, South Asia, and Latin America, where religion is growing.)
根據蓋洛普的調查，1952 年有 98%的美國人相信上帝，而到了 2022 年只有 81%。皮尤研究中心在 2023 年的研究中，22%的美國人認為自己是靈性但不宗教；2024 年有 28%的人自稱為無神論者、不可知論者或無特定信仰，通常被稱為“無宗教者”。在北美和歐洲，類似的數據顯示與有組織宗教有關聯的人數在下降。（在中東、南亞和拉丁美洲，宗教信仰正在增長，數字相當不同。）
The Future of World Religions
世界宗教的未來
Most religions will have more followers in 2050, but not all will keep pace with global population growth. Demographic trends where religions are concentrated will drive most changes in their relative size, with some small shifts from switching.
大多數宗教在 2050 年將擁有更多的信徒，但並非所有宗教都能跟上全球人口增長的步伐。宗教集中的人口趨勢將推動其相對規模的大多數變化，轉換信仰也會帶來一些小的轉變。
Global population 全球人口
2010
2050
2010 – 2050 (% projected)
2010 – 2050（預計%）
31.4%
CHRISTIANS 基督徒
31.4%
29.7%
If current trends continue, Muslims will slightly outnumber Christians after 2070. Muslims are younger overall and generally have more children, hence the rapid projected growth. Hindus and Christians will match the global growth rate, with Christians maintaining the largest share of the global population for decades. Buddhists and the unaffiliated will see the biggest declines.
如果目前的趨勢持續下去，穆斯林將在 2070 年後略微超過基督徒。穆斯林整體上較年輕，且通常有更多的孩子，因此預計增長迅速。印度教徒和基督徒將與全球增長率相匹配，基督徒將在未來幾十年保持全球人口最大份額。佛教徒和無宗教信仰者將面臨最大的下降。
MUSLIMS 穆斯林
23.2
UNAFFILIATED 無宗教信仰者
16.4
14.9
HINDUS 印度教徒
15.0
13.2
BUDDHISTS 佛教徒
7.1
FOLK REL. 民間宗教
5.2
5.9
4.8
OTHER REL. 其他宗教
0.8
0.7
JEWS 猶太人
0.2
0.2
Villanova theology professor Sister Ilia Delio has closely observed the shifts of faith, belief, and perception. And while she has watched the trends she doesn’t believe that faith in God is vanishing. “It hasn’t gone away, but it’s showing up in a new way,” she says. “That really changes how we think about these questions of God or faith.”
維拉諾瓦大學神學教授伊利亞·德利奧修女仔細觀察了信仰、信念和感知的變化。雖然她觀察到了這些趨勢，但她並不認為對上帝的信仰正在消失。「它並沒有消失，但它以新的方式出現，」她說。「這真的改變了我們如何思考這些關於上帝或信仰的問題。」
Technology—smartphones, social media, and even artificial intelligence—is fueling a lot of this change, altering the way people find religious teachings, how they find like-minded individuals, and how they pray. Robot priests are guiding people in search of answers to the Big Questions and one church in Switzerland recently unveiled an AI Jesus in one of its confessionals. Might these new technologically assisted ways to reach the masses lead to a religious revival? The future of religion could be a lot stranger than what the demographic data implies.
科技——智慧型手機、社交媒體，甚至人工智慧——正在推動許多這類變化，改變人們尋找宗教教義的方式、尋找志同道合者的方式，以及他們祈禱的方式。機器人牧師正在引導尋求大問題答案的人們，瑞士的一間教堂最近在一個告解室中展示了一個 AI 耶穌。這些新的技術輔助方式是否能夠帶來宗教復興？宗教的未來可能比人口統計數據所暗示的更加奇異。
On Tiktok, religion finds you
在 Tiktok 上，宗教會找到你
But the demographic data hides a more nuanced story about the future of religion.
但人口統計數據隱藏了一個關於宗教未來的更細緻的故事。
God and religion appear to be everywhere in cyberspace. On a computer or phone, you can find a denomination or religion that aligns with your values, or simply a set of ideas that feels like a better match. Fifty years ago, if you had a question about your faith, you might ask your religious leader or a prominent person in your community. “It used to be that a person always went to the local rabbi to ask a question. Today, you don’t go to the local rabbi, you ask a question on Google,” says Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis.
在網絡空間中，上帝和宗教似乎無處不在。使用電腦或手機，你可以找到與你的價值觀相符的教派或宗教，或者只是一套感覺更合適的理念。五十年前，如果你對信仰有疑問，你可能會詢問你的宗教領袖或社區中的知名人士。「過去，人們總是去問當地的拉比問題。現在，你不會去問當地的拉比，你會在 Google 上提問，」歐洲拉比會議主席 Pinchas Goldschmidt 說。
Of course, the intermingling of technology and religion is nothing new. The introduction of the printing press in 15th-century Europe made possible the mass production of books. Newly formed Protestant groups used it to spread their revolutionary ideas about Christianity, while the Catholic Church sought to prohibit works considered heresy. In today’s internet-driven information age Sister Ilia notes, “We have everything here at our disposal. So it’s like cherry picking. If I don’t like it, I’m not going to take it. If I like it, I take it.”
當然，科技與宗教的交織並非新鮮事。15 世紀歐洲引進印刷機使得書籍的大量生產成為可能。新成立的新教團體利用它來傳播他們關於基督教的革命性理念，而天主教會則試圖禁止被視為異端的作品。在今天的網際網路驅動的信息時代，伊利亞修女指出：「我們這裡應有盡有。所以這就像挑選櫻桃。如果我不喜歡，我就不會接受。如果我喜歡，我就會接受。」
This democratization of knowledge is on full display on the internet with social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Douyin jammed with short-form videos and such hashtags as #diwali and #easter. Although some content is created by individuals with religious training, much is produced by others with a fervent calling to post or find like-minded people. Thousands of smartphone apps offer to help you worship the right way and more. There are apps that let Muslims locate prayer spaces as well as halal restaurants. There is an app that shows Buddhist monks demonstrating gravity-defying twirls, leaps, and backflips. “You now have access to religious ideas and practices from around the world that you didn’t really have access to before,” says Robert Geraci, Knight Distinguished Chair for the Study of Religion and Culture at Knox College. “That gives you a new perspective on whatever it is that you in particular perceive.”
這種知識的民主化在互聯網上展現得淋漓盡致，社交媒體平台如 Instagram、TikTok 和抖音充斥著短片和諸如#diwali 和#easter 等標籤。雖然有些內容是由受過宗教訓練的人創作，但更多是由那些有熱情呼籲發布或尋找志同道合的人所製作。數千款智能手機應用程式提供幫助你正確崇拜的方式及更多功能。有讓穆斯林定位禱告空間和清真餐廳的應用程式。還有一款應用程式展示佛教僧侶展示違反重力的旋轉、跳躍和後空翻。“你現在可以接觸到來自世界各地的宗教思想和實踐，這是你以前沒有真正接觸過的，”諾克斯學院宗教與文化研究的騎士傑出教授羅伯特·格拉西說。“這讓你對你特別感知的事物有了新的視角。”
ShanDien Sonwai LaRance (Hopi, Tewa, Navajo,and Assiniboine) grew up in the western United States in the Hoop Dance tradition. Hopi hoop dancing is a form of prayer and a way to connect with the spirits, and LaRance has made it her mission to share and explain the tradition on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook.
ShanDien Sonwai LaRance（霍皮族、特瓦族、納瓦霍族和阿西尼博因族）在美國西部成長，接受了圈舞傳統的薰陶。霍皮族的圈舞是一種祈禱形式，也是與靈魂連接的方式，LaRance 致力於在 Instagram、TikTok、YouTube 和 Facebook 上分享並解釋這一傳統。
Melinda Strauss started as a kosher food blogger and discovered that people were intrigued that she was a modern Orthodox Jew. “I realized that people really don’t know anything about Jews, or about our customs and our laws. So I started answering questions with videos, and it really took off.” She now has 1.3 million TikTok followers and 156,000 followers on Instagram.
梅琳達·施特勞斯最初是一名猶太潔食博主，她發現人們對她作為一個現代正統猶太教徒感到好奇。"我意識到人們對猶太人、我們的習俗和法律一無所知。所以我開始用影片回答問題，這真的很受歡迎。" 她現在在 TikTok 上有 130 萬粉絲，在 Instagram 上有 15.6 萬粉絲。
Nuns jumping from a cupboard or indicating whether they prefer evening or morning prayer while “It’s Tricky” by the hip-hop group Run DMC is playing is not what you might expect to find among a deeply religious congregation. But the Daughters of St. Paul are a new generation of religious sisters. Their order was established to follow the lead of the Apostle, and they use media to spread the word about Christ. With 157,000 followers on TikTok, they have deservedly earned the nickname Media Nuns. Their mission is helped by their genuine warmth. Says Sister Orianne Pietra René, “Not only are we authentically sharing ourselves, because we like to have fun, but are bringing the whole of who Christ is to the whole of the person who is longing for that joy and that vitality, that fullness of life.”
修女從櫥櫃跳出來，或在播放嘻哈團體 Run DMC 的《It’s Tricky》時表示她們偏好晚禱或晨禱，這並不是你可能會在深度宗教團體中看到的。但聖保祿女兒會是一群新一代的修女。她們的修會成立是為了追隨使徒的領導，並利用媒體傳播基督的福音。在 TikTok 上有 157,000 名追隨者，她們當之無愧地獲得了“媒體修女”的綽號。她們的任務因她們真誠的溫暖而得到助力。修女奧里安妮·皮特拉·雷內說：“我們不僅真誠地分享自己，因為我們喜歡玩樂，而且還將基督的全部帶給渴望那份喜悅、活力和充滿生命的人。”
Back in 2019 Sabah Ahmedi, the imam at Baitul Futuh mosque in London, was in a tea shop with a friend. The two were discussing misconceptions about Islam. That talk inspired Ahmedi to build his Young Imam social media brand to “help people understand Islam better.” He posts almost every day. On his sites, he talks both seriously and with humor about everything from such rituals as ablution—“We have to wash before we offer our prayer, because it’s getting in the mindset of cleanliness”—to his favorite coffees.
回到 2019 年，倫敦 Baitul Futuh 清真寺的伊瑪目薩巴赫·阿赫梅迪（Sabah Ahmedi）與一位朋友在茶館裡討論關於伊斯蘭教的誤解。這次談話激勵阿赫梅迪建立了他的 Young Imam 社交媒體品牌，以“幫助人們更好地理解伊斯蘭教”。他幾乎每天都會發帖。在他的網站上，他既嚴肅又幽默地談論從如小淨等儀式——“我們在祈禱前必須洗淨，因為這是進入清潔心態的過程”——到他最喜愛的咖啡等各種話題。
Artificial Intelligence is helping religious leaders innovate
人工智慧正在幫助宗教領袖創新
But even more than people like LaRance, Strauss, and Imam Ahmedi taking to social media to spread the word, religion is being affected by the phenomenal growth of artificial intelligence.
但比起像 LaRance、Strauss 和 Imam Ahmedi 等人利用社交媒體傳播宗教信息，人工智慧的驚人成長對宗教的影響更大。
Among these complex technologies are large language models, systems trained on vast amounts of data that can analyze and process language and generate believable humanlike responses.
在這些複雜的技術中，有大型語言模型，這些系統在大量數據上進行訓練，能夠分析和處理語言，並生成可信的人類化回應。
Some religious leaders have embraced this development. Priest Caru Das Adhikary at Utah’s Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple loves performing, noting, “My interest is in telling stories and doing rap music and putting together songs. I use AI for practically every single composition I make.” He relies on Google Gemini to turn a verse of Sanskrit Hare Krishna text into rap. Caru Das admits that at times what it produces is trite, so he spends time correcting and polishing the words. “It jump-starts me. I work on it, claim it. I make it mine.”
一些宗教領袖已經接受了這一發展。猶他州斯里斯里拉達克里希納神廟的牧師卡魯·達斯·阿迪卡里喜歡表演，他提到：「我的興趣在於講故事、做饒舌音樂和創作歌曲。我幾乎每首作品都使用 AI。」他依賴 Google Gemini 將梵文的哈雷·克里希納經文轉化為饒舌。卡魯·達斯承認，有時 AI 產出的內容有些陳腐，因此他會花時間修正和潤色這些詞句。「它讓我有個起點。我會修改它，讓它成為我的。」
Ed Stetzer, the dean at Biola University’s Talbot School of Theology, recently prepared a sermon on a Reformation doctrine called Solus Christus, or in Christ alone. He asked ChatGPT for quotes from second- and third-century church fathers relating to the doctrine. AI offered some examples, but as Stetzer says, AI is not always right: “It gets me started on the trail. There’s some strength to that.”
Ed Stetzer，Biola University 的 Talbot School of Theology 的院長，最近準備了一篇關於宗教改革教義「唯獨基督」（Solus Christus）的講道。他向 ChatGPT 詢問第二和第三世紀教父與該教義相關的引言。AI 提供了一些例子，但正如 Stetzer 所說，AI 並不總是正確的：「它讓我開始追蹤。這有一定的優點。」
Others are more circumspect. Since AI technologies are being developed separate from established religious institutions and communities, people accessing them are not interacting with someone who knows them, their family, or why they are seeking something. For instance, those searching for answers from a Jewish perspective might not be interested in one that offers a Southern Baptist interpretation. “We’re losing the personal touch, and we’re losing also the emotion,” says Rabbi Goldschmidt, who has a master’s in computer science from Johns Hopkins University. “What is the social context? What is the spiritual as well as the material status of the human asking this question? There’s no absolute question. There’s no absolute answer.”
其他人則更加謹慎。由於人工智慧技術是在與既有宗教機構和社群分開的情況下開發的，使用這些技術的人並不會與認識他們、他們的家庭或了解他們尋求什麼的人互動。例如，從猶太教角度尋求答案的人可能對提供南方浸信會解釋的答案不感興趣。「我們正在失去個人化的接觸，也正在失去情感，」約翰霍普金斯大學電腦科學碩士的拉比戈德施密特說。「社會背景是什麼？提出這個問題的人的精神和物質狀態是什麼？沒有絕對的問題。也沒有絕對的答案。」
Robot priests guide the faithful
機器人牧師引導信徒
Some religions are even starting to incorporate technology into their worship in the form of robot priests. Gabriele Trovato grew up in the Italian port city of Livorno. As a youth he took for granted the religious iconography that suffuses that largely Catholic nation. “In my hometown we have a lot of sacred art. Statues are part of the landscape. Even in the middle of the streets you see niches with the Virgin Mary,” he says. Based on those statues Trovato, an associate professor at Tokyo’s Shibaura Institute of Technology, crafted SanTO (Sanctified Theomorphic Operator).
一些宗教甚至開始將科技融入其崇拜形式中，以機器人牧師的形式出現。Gabriele Trovato 在義大利港口城市利沃諾長大。年輕時，他認為這個主要是天主教國家的宗教象徵是理所當然的。「在我的家鄉，我們有很多神聖的藝術。雕像也是景觀的一部分。即使在街道的中間，你也能看到有聖母瑪利亞的小壁龕，」他說。根據這些雕像，Trovato，東京芝浦工業大學的副教授，創造了 SanTO（Sanctified Theomorphic Operator）。
The small robot has the appearance of a neoclassical saint. It is designed to be accessible for older people as well as those who are isolated or may have mobility issues. Individuals can use an electric candle to touch SanTO’s hands and ask it a question, accessing an extensive database that contains knowledge of the Bible, prayers, and the lives of the saints.
小型機器人外觀看起來像是一位新古典主義的聖徒。它被設計成適合老年人使用，也適合那些孤立無援或可能有行動不便的人。個人可以使用電子蠟燭觸摸 SanTO 的手並提出問題，進入一個包含聖經知識、祈禱文和聖徒生平的廣泛數據庫。
In Beijing’s Longquan Temple there is a robot named Xian’er. With his yellow robe and somewhat perplexed look, as he chants Buddhist mantras and explains the basic principles of faith. An actual size robotic elephant recently replaced a live and chained one, and it takes part in cruelty-free rituals at the Irinjadappilly Sree Krishna Temple in Thrissur, India.
在北京的龍泉寺有一個名為賢二的機器人。他身穿黃袍，面帶困惑的表情，吟唱著佛教咒語並解釋信仰的基本原則。最近，一頭真實大小的機器象取代了一頭活生生的被鎖鏈的象，並參與了在印度特里蘇爾的伊林賈達普利斯里克里希納神廟的無殘忍儀式。
照片由 SIPA USA、AP PHOTO 提供
Meanwhile, in the quiet serenity of Kyoto’s 17th-century Kodaiji Temple stands Mindar, a more than six-foot-tall robot with porcelain-colored skin, a head, hands, arms that can move, and an exposed aluminum skeleton. A mechatronic android with a contemplative gaze that represents Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion, and can discuss. Zen Buddhism was the aim of Tensho Goto, Kodaiji’s former chief steward. He wanted something with a face that projected an affectionate sense of relatability, so people would feel comfortable with it.
與此同時，在京都 17 世紀的古大寺中，站立著一個名為 Mindar 的機器人，它身高超過六英尺，擁有瓷器般的皮膚、一個頭部、可以移動的手臂和手，以及裸露的鋁製骨架。這是一個機電一體的機器人，具有沉思的目光，代表著觀音菩薩，慈悲的化身，並能討論禪宗佛教。古大寺的前任主管天秀後藤希望創造一個具有親切感的面孔，讓人們感到舒適自在。
“This was the original hope for Mindar, something that could use machine learning that’s drawing on ancient Buddhist texts,” says Daniel White, a research associate at Cambridge University who studies machines programmed with emotional intelligence. “Could they create an artificial intelligence and artificial life-form that could answer our questions about the nature of reality, about the Buddha in a way that would perhaps be more accu- rate to what the Buddha would actually teach?” To White’s surprise, many believers who approached Mindar seemed open to what it said.
“這是對 Mindar 最初的期望，它可以利用機器學習來汲取古代佛教文本，”劍橋大學的研究助理丹尼爾·懷特說，他研究的是具有情感智能的機器程序。“他們能否創造出一個能夠回答我們關於現實本質問題的人工智能和人工生命形式，關於佛陀的方式或許會更接近佛陀實際會教導的內容？”令懷特驚訝的是，許多接近 Mindar 的信徒似乎對它所說的話持開放態度。
Believers by religion 信徒
Percentage of regional population who follow each religion 2010-2050
2010-2050 年各宗教在區域人口中的追隨者百分比
Percentage change in share 2010-2050
2010-2050 年股份百分比變化
2050
2010
Decrease 減少
Increase 增加
100%
100%
projected share in 2050
預計 2050 年的份額
%
0%
0%
-8%
-4
-2
-0.5
0
0
0.5
2
4
8%
Sub- 子-
Saharan Africa 撒哈拉非洲
Middle East-North Africa
中東-北非
Latin 拉丁文
America- 美國-
Caribbean 加勒比海
Asia- 亞洲-
Pacific 太平洋
North America 北美洲
Europe 歐洲
CHRISTIANS 基督徒
65.8%
88.9%
65.2%
58.5%
Christianity dominates this mostly stable region
基督教在這個大多數穩定的地區佔主導地位
7.7%
3.1%
MUSLIMS 穆斯林
Natural increase boosted by immigration
自然增長因移民而增強
93.7%
35.2%
29.5%
10.2%
2.4%
0.1%
UNAFFILIATED 無宗教信仰者
Decline offsets growth in other
衰退抵消其他增長
regions 地區
25.6%
23.3%
17.0%
8.7%
2.7%
0.6%
HINDUS 印度教徒
Almost half of growth due to
幾乎一半的增長是因為
immigration 移民
27.7%
1.3%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
0.6%
BUDDHISTS 佛教徒
Decline driven 衰退驅動
by aging 由於老化
populations 人口
9.6%
1.4%
0.4%
less than 0.1% 不到 0.1%
less than 0.1% 不到 0.1%
0.2%
FOLK RELIGIONS 民間宗教
Growth but not as fast as region’s population growth
增長，但速度不如該地區人口增長快
7.4%
3.2%
1.9%
0.2%
0.6%
0.4%
OTHER RELIGIONS 其他宗教
Converts raise 轉換提升
numbers 數字
1.5%
less than 0.1% 不到 0.1%
0.2%
0.2%
0.2%
1.0%
JEWS 猶太人
Largest share of population over age 60 of any religion
任何宗教中，60 歲以上人口的最大份額
1.4%
1.4%
0.2%
less than 0.1% 不到 0.1%
less than 0.1% 不到 0.1%
less than 0.1% 不到 0.1%
Alberto Lucas López, Brad Scriber, NGM Staff.
Alberto Lucas López、Brad Scriber、NGM 工作人員。
Source: Pew Research Center
來源：皮尤研究中心
A temple in Japan has also offered funeral services for robots. Back in the late 1990s Sony introduced a mechanical dog called aibo. The Japanese public embraced their robot rovers. Sadly, the machines eventually broke down. The faithful in this largely Buddhist nation believe that all creatures as well as inanimate objects have souls and deserve proper funerals. As White notes, instead of tossing them out, they brought them to Kofukuji Temple in Isumi, where prayers were offered to disambiguate the aibos’ souls and send them to the Pure Land. Head priest Ōi Bungen saw the ceremony as a way to also teach participants the deeper aspects of Buddhist philosophy.
日本的一座寺廟也為機器人提供了葬禮服務。早在 1990 年代末，索尼推出了一款名為 aibo 的機械狗。日本公眾熱烈接受了他們的機器人寵物。然而，機器最終還是壞了。在這個主要是佛教的國家，信徒們相信所有生物以及無生命的物體都有靈魂，應該得到適當的葬禮。正如 White 所指出的，他們不是將其丟棄，而是將它們帶到 Isumi 的興福寺，在那裡為 aibo 的靈魂祈禱，讓它們前往淨土。住持大井文元將這一儀式視為教導參與者佛教哲學更深層面的方式。
Will social media, smartphone apps, and AI-powered robots transform how people experience faith?
社交媒體、智慧手機應用程式和人工智慧機器人會改變人們體驗信仰的方式嗎？
Despite Xian’er’s mantras and Mindar’s calm gaze, robots are impersonal machines programmed to mimic. How much faith can the faithful put in AI algorithms? How much can one trust a smartphone app or a robot reciting prayers and delivering sermons?
儘管仙兒的咒語和明達的平靜凝視，機器人仍是編程模仿的非人機器。信徒能對 AI 演算法有多少信心？人們能多信任一個智能手機應用程式或一個機器人來誦經和講道？
As a sign that religious leaders from around the world are taking seriously such questions, for several years they have been discussing the issues, and in July 2024 representatives from many of the world’s major faiths gathered in Hiroshima to promote the ethical development of AI. In a city destroyed by the unleashing of a devastating new technology—the atomic bomb—16 new signatories added their names to the Rome Call for AI Ethics. Working with tech companies and university think tanks, the agreement calls for the responsible use of AI.
作為全球宗教領袖認真對待這些問題的跡象，多年來他們一直在討論這些議題，並在 2024 年 7 月，來自世界各大宗教的代表聚集在廣島，推動人工智慧的倫理發展。在這個因新技術——原子彈的釋放而被摧毀的城市，16 位新簽署者在《羅馬人工智慧倫理呼籲》中加入了他們的名字。與科技公司和大學智庫合作，該協議呼籲負責任地使用人工智慧。
As the religious leaders who convened in Hiroshima know, technology can and should be harnessed to help humanity. The traditions of their religions and all others around the world, though, are personal and sacred. The challenge for the faithful is to be like Miranda, the daughter of the sorcerer Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, who is beguiled by signs of a world she never knew as she exclaims, “How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in’t.” We can approach these ideas with a curious mind while also viewing them with care. Yet Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, a 20th-century novel novel named for Miranda’s speech, is a cautionary tale, in which the characters’ lives are dictated by dystopian efficiency in a technologically advanced world devoid of magic and religion. “It’s how we use technology—not to displace religion, but to enhance it,” says Sister Ilia of faith in the digital age. “How can we become more conscious of belonging to one another? How can we become more conscious of a power of life that we name as God?”
正如在廣島集會的宗教領袖們所知，科技可以而且應該被利用來幫助人類。然而，他們宗教的傳統以及世界各地其他宗教的傳統，都是個人和神聖的。信徒們的挑戰是像莎士比亞《暴風雨》中魔法師普洛斯彼羅的女兒米蘭達一樣，對她從未見過的世界感到著迷，她驚呼道：「人類是多麼美麗啊！哦，勇敢的新世界，竟然有這樣的人在其中。」我們可以用好奇的心態來接近這些想法，同時也小心地看待它們。然而，奧爾多斯·赫胥黎的《美麗新世界》，這部以米蘭達的演講命名的 20 世紀小說，是一個警示故事，故事中的角色生活在一個沒有魔法和宗教的技術先進世界中，被反烏托邦的效率所支配。「我們如何使用科技——不是取代宗教，而是增強它，」數位時代的信仰修女伊利亞說。「我們如何能更意識到彼此的歸屬感？我們如何能更意識到我們稱之為上帝的生命力量？」
