Modeling Religion Project (MRP) Docuseries

The Modeling Religion Project (MRP) launches at the Virginia Modeling, Analysis, & Simulation Center, bringing together computer experts and religion scholars to create computer models of religious beliefs and behaviors. By applying social simulation, the project tests academic theories against real-world data, aiming to develop a user-friendly platform for scholars to explore religious social processes without programming expertise.

Recognizing the complexities of modeling religion—shaped by psychology, cognition, institutions, and culture—the team seeks a balance between detail and insight. They hope their models will offer new perspectives on religious interactions and advance the scientific study of religion.

After nine months, the MRP team reconvenes in Virginia to refine their agent-based models, incorporating feedback from consultants. Despite initial skepticism about modeling religion, they push forward, acknowledging that not all aspects of religion can be simulated. One of Boston University’s most powerful computers, “The Beast,” will assist in building complex models as the team fine-tunes their integration of programming and the scientific study of religion.

Filmmaker Jenn Lindsay highlights the challenge of learning simulation platforms and introduces the Complex Learner Agent Simulation Platform (CLASP), which aims to make simulations accessible to non-programmers. The team clarifies that modeling religion involves translating academic theories into computational simulations.

Their work synthesizes religious theories with computer modeling, resulting in agent-based models and system dynamics simulations. At the core is LuCy (Lucid Cybernetic Mind), incorporating smaller models such as NAHUM, Agent_Xeno, MERV, ERICA, CRED, and MORT. With growing confidence, the team moves forward, ready to expand and refine their models.

The MRP team gathers at the University of Agder in Kristiansand, Norway, to advance the Modeling Religion in Norway (MODRN) project, which explores secularization and migration through modeling and links simulation with public policy. Using Norway’s extensive social data, they develop models such as the Norwegian Religiosity Model (NORM) and a Proof of Concept model to assess policy effects.

MODRN also examines non-religion, exploring why some people practice religion without belief. The team works on Policy CLASP, a simulation platform enabling policymakers to test policy scenarios without programming expertise. Their models also provide insights into religious violence and radicalization under specific social conditions.

As they reflect on the project’s challenges, the team remains committed to influencing policymaking. To conclude their time in Norway, they present their findings to colleagues at the University of Agder and policymakers from Oslo.

The MRP team reconvenes at the Virginia Modeling, Analysis & Simulation Center (VMASC), working with political scientist Monica Duffy Toft to integrate social conflict into their simulations. Toft analyzes Mohammed Atta’s 9/11 letter, highlighting religious justifications for violence. The Global Terrorism Index data underscores the rise in terrorism-related deaths and refugee displacement, making the study of religious violence urgent for the MRP team.

Applying Toft’s expertise, they refine their Mutually Escalating Religious Violence (MERV) model to better understand religious conflict and its causes. Toft also discusses translating research into public policy. The team consults with three experts to incorporate key religious aspects into their models, while the VMASC director outlines the center’s multidisciplinary work.

They then travel to San Antonio, Texas, for the 2016 American Academy of Religion Conference, presenting a panel on “Computer Modeling as a Tool for Religious Studies” to showcase the significance of modeling and simulation in religious scholarship.

The MRP team explores Çatalhöyük, a Neolithic excavation site, and its role in pioneering 3D archaeology, which digitizes artifacts, rooms, and entire sites for future research.

At the 3D Çatalhöyük Conference held at VMASC, researchers present 3D graphics and visualizations that reconstruct archaeological sites and preserve data. The MRP team experiments with 3D technologies, gaining insights into their applications.

They also enter “The Cave,” a wraparound simulation space projecting a digitized Çatalhöyük, collaborating with archaeologists to understand how modeling enhances archaeological research. The experience highlights how simulation expands archaeological methods and improves access to historical sites.

The MRP team gathers at Boston’s Center for Mind and Culture (CMAC) to collaborate with four humanities scholars on human simulation, using computer models to test academic theories.

A historian compares theoretical and actual religious group growth, refining predictions. A cross-cultural psychologist models language acquisition in immigration, exploring policy impacts. A New Testament scholar examines emotional responses to sacred texts and their effects on interpretation. A philosopher models empathy’s role in human evolution and social development, while a comparative religion scholar studies the rise of Confucianism and Kabbalistic Judaism, analyzing how societies respond to political upheaval.

The scholars reflect on the power of modeling in their fields, and MRP team member Wesley notes growing interest in their work.

The MRP team reconvenes in 2017 on Lesvos, Greece, an island heavily affected by the immigration crisis. Meeting with NGOs, refugees, and local stakeholders, they explore the challenges of immigrant integration into new societies.

At the University of Agder Metochi Study Center, they develop computer models to analyze migration phases, stereotype formation in children, and refugee integration, aiming to inform policymaking.

Three months later, they continue this work in Kristiansand, Norway, refining models on radicalization, refugee integration, and immigration. They present a colloquium at the University of Agder, demonstrating how modeling contributes to religious and policy research. LeRon also shares his simulation research with university students as the team expands their work.

The MRP team meets in 2018 at the Virginia Modeling, Analysis, & Simulation Center to field-test a new simulation platform that enables non-programmers to build simulations. Using agent-based models and AI, the platform simplifies simulation development for those without coding experience.

To test its effectiveness, a religious studies scholar with no programming background creates the Radicalization and Violent Extremism Model, successfully building a complex simulation.

The team then travels to Boston, MA, for the International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion annual meeting, presenting insights from their three-year project. They discuss expanding their models, refining their narratives, and fulfilling their goal of making modeling accessible for religious studies and the general public.