Connecting "Love & Marriage" to Themes of Technology and Religion

I initially had some trouble connecting the ideas presented about Love & Marriage in chapter 4 of Habits of the Heart with the larger ideas of religion an technology this class focuses on. The default thought process I went through had me wondering how technology could possibly provide the satisfaction and confidence that a healthy relationship provides. Providing an online community of like-minded individuals is one thing, but attempting to supplement the most intimate relationship possible seems futile.

After a bit of reflection, however, I realized I was thinking about the connection backwards. Instead of supplementing the type of connection found in an intimate relationship, technology has worked to bring together the cyber-world and the "real" world. This can be seen, at a basic level, in websites such as eHarmony.com. In a broader sense, one can see examples of this on Facebook as well. In an ironic paradoxical twist, however, these forms of online communication have only served to create a generation of less socially-adept individuals, due to the ability to hide behind an online 'shield'. 

This is not to say our generation as a whole is less socially-adept, however. But the individuals who overcome hiding behind an online shield generally wouldn't need to utilize an online service to fulfill their romantic needs in the first place. The bottom line, in my opinion, is that technology's potential influence on an individuals intimate relationships is relatively limited, due to the purely human aspect of the subject.