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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Polit. Sci.
Sec. Politics of Technology
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpos.2025.1494894
This article is part of the Research Topic Digital religion meets politics: pushing boundaries and opening-up new perspectives View all 5 articles

Spiritual Tech and Democracy: Initial Ethical Reflections

Provisionally accepted
Max Tretter Max Tretter *
  • Philosophische Fakultät und Theologische Fakultät. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The relationship between religion and democracy is ambivalent, with religion either able to strengthen democracy or significantly threaten it. With the "digital turn" in religion and the growing prevalence of spiritual tech -such as digital religious platforms, apps specialized on spirituality, and religious chatbots powered by Artificial Intelligence -this relationship becomes even more intricate. In this Perspective, I will explore the fundamental relationship between religion and democracy and then outline the different ways in which spiritual tech can influence democratic processes. I will demonstrate that there are currently no legitimate national or international measures in place to limit the democracy-threatening potential of spiritual tech. To address this gap, I propose introducing a structured review process designed to actively promote spiritual tech that supports and strengthens democratic values.

    Keywords: Religion, religious tech, Theology, Ethics, artificial intelligence, Politics

    Received: 11 Sep 2024; Accepted: 09 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Tretter. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Max Tretter, Philosophische Fakultät und Theologische Fakultät. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.