Divine Meets Digital reveals how tech workers navigate religious worldviews, embracing religion’s ethical and cultural dimensions while distancing themselves from controversial aspects. Based on nearly 100 interviews with tech workers in the U.S. and China, this book explores how meaning, morality, and belief take shape in today’s tech-driven world.
What role does religion play in the tech industry? Based on nearly one hundred interviews, Divine Meets Digital uncovers the ways tech workers engage with religion and make sense of their work through religious and spiritual worldviews. While most identify as nonreligious, they are far from anti-religious. Instead, they navigate competing religious and nonreligious views, often distinguishing between what they see as the controversial elements of religion—such as belief in the supernatural in China and its politicized and dogmatic aspects in the United States—and its more noncontroversial aspects. In doing so, they justify their religious engagement by embracing religion's noncontroversial elements while distancing themselves from its controversial features. This book offers a powerful new lens for understanding one of the most influential industries of our time, inviting readers to better understand the people who live and work at the intersection between science, religion, and technology.
