Digital Faith: Practice, Challenges, and Opportunities in Religion
📌 The event focuses on the theme of "Digital Faith," exploring the practical aspects, challenges, and opportunities of practicing religion in the digital world.
🤝 The session emphasized interfaith dialogue and multiculturalism, evidenced by the opening prayer segment conducted by students representing Islamic, Protestant Christian, Catholic, Hindu, and Buddhist faiths.
🏛️ Universitas Satya Tera Bineka (STBINEK) designs its mandatory religion course as an interfaith/religiosity course, focusing on social and cultural aspects where teachings converge, while acknowledging and celebrating theological differences.

Adaptation of Religious Practice in the Digital Age
🌐 Religious leaders acknowledged that the digital space is a new mission field (as stated by Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis for Catholicism), necessitating adaptation to modern technology.
💻 The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift, forcing churches and religious institutions to adopt online services (e.g., online celebration of the Eucharist/Mass, described as requiring "spiritual communion").
🔄 All speakers stressed that religious figures must follow and adapt to changes in context, echoing the Islamic legal principle: *alhukmu yaduru ma'aittihi wujudan wa 'adaman* (a ruling changes depending on its context).

Challenges and Ethical Considerations in Digital Religious Expression
⚠️ A major challenge highlighted is the potential for conflict and narrative contestation in digital spaces, requiring maturity and wisdom to respond to dynamics where religious narratives are sometimes pitted against each other.
🎭 Humor and lighthearted interaction among religious leaders (e.g., joking about baptism) were shown as tools to build fraternity and rapport, countering the increased rigidity and fear of offending others post-reformation incidents.
🤳 A key negative impact is the erosion of local cultural and ethnic identity, where users feel free to abandon cultural norms because they are anonymous in the global virtual space.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ Adaptability is crucial: Religious doctrines must be strong in their roots (like an anchor), but their technological engagement must reach high (like a spire), balancing "preserving the old soundly and adopting the new excellently" (*almuhafazah 'ala al qadim al shalih wal akhdh bil jadidil aslah*).
➡️ Technology as a Tool, Not a Master: Digital platforms should be used as a means to enhance faith and foster good, not as an end in themselves; the focus should be on the spiritual fruit derived from their use.
➡️ Self-Reflection Precedes World Change: Quoting *The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People*, the session concluded that the path to changing the world starts with changing oneself; if one focuses only on self-improvement, broader positive change might follow.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Jan 05, 2026, 17:28 UTC