Religion and Popular Culture

Popular Religion

What is Religion? Religion, “a system of thought, feeling, and action that is shared by a group and that gives the members an object of devotion; a code of behavior by which individuals may judge the personal and social consequences of their actions; and a frame of reference by which individuals may relate to their group and their universe. Usually, religion concerns itself with that which transcends the known, the natural, or the expected; it is an acknowledgment of the extraordinary, the mysterious, and the supernatural. The religious consciousness generally recognizes a transcendent, sacred order and elaborates a technique to deal with the inexplicable or unpredictable elements of human experience in the world or beyond it.”

Belief, ritual, experience, doctrine, worldview, community, institution…

Popular Religion

Popular Religion: “non-official, non-elite, unorganized, eclectic and lived religion… It does not emphasize the importance of scriptures, literary tradition, institution, clergies or doctrinal purity. It is syncretistic and implicit in its nature.” The religion of pop culture is (almost) always pop religion – inspired by, but not bound by, orthodoxy, and drawing on multiple sources of inspiration.

Religion, TV & Belief

•  Explicitly “religious” dramas - Touched by an Angel, etc.

•  “Flattens” religious doctrine?

•  What are the Theological messages of this show?:

•  God exists •  God has a plan (but its

unknowable) •  God loves you •  Evil isn’t God’s fault •  Anything else?

Religion,TV, and Belief •  Talk shows, interviews,

special interest news media, seasonal stories (Christmas, Halloween, etc.) –  Attesting to the Supernatural

•  Demonic possession •  Angel visitations •  Near Death Experiences •  Hauntings

•  What meaning/messages are being communicated here?

Religion,TV, and Belief •  Dramas, Reality shows…

(Ghost Whisperer, Ghost Hunters, American Horror Story, etc.)

•  What do these shows tell us about Ghosts?

–  They exist –  They communicate –  They can be communicated with –  They have reasons for communicating

(unfinished business) –  They can manipulate physical objects –  Some people are born with the ability to

see them –  They can be scary –  Anything else?

•  Retellings of folkloric, pop culture beliefs, reinvigorating supernatural in modern world?

Religion & Film, TV: portrayals of Religious Affiliation

•  Legal dramas, cop shows, spy movies, etc. –  Religion as short-hand

for character traits (religious stereotyping)

–  Religion as moral reasoning (Justice vs Law…)

–  Religion as destructive force (fanatics, cultists, terrorists…)

Religion, Television, and Ritual

•  Television as surrogate religious ritual? –  Judge Judy and Dr.

Laura - modern day confessionals?

–  “substitutionary catharsis?”

–  Why else would this woman agree to be on the show, and why else would we watch it?

Religion, Ritual and Pop Culture

•  Pop Culture as Religious Ritual –  Pilgrimage to Graceland, Star Trek conventions, Grateful

Dead concerts? –  WWE as Morality Play? –  Hockey as Religion/Church in Canada?

Is Popular Religion really ‘pop’?

“Chevrolet Presents: Come Together and Worship - 16 concerts with top Christian rock bands across the Southeast and the preaching of Texas pastor, Rev. Max Lucado.” WWJD?

(What would Jesus Drive?)

Vs

Trickle down, Trickle up? •  Theories of popular religion - the trickle down

theory - religion starts with orthodoxy, trickles down to the masses, who reinterpret, appropriate for own uses, etc. - pop religion as “degraded” form of “orthodox” religion. –  Often leads to attempts to ‘weed out’ pop elements or

reject pop elements as “not real religion.” •  Trickle up - religion starts with folk belief,

practice, becomes codified over time, subject to continual renewal from popular level. –  Example: People-driven changes to Marian theology/

Marian devotion (Immaculate Conception 1854, bodily assumption into heaven 1950, etc.)

•  Lowest common denominator: “mass culture”? –  Those who hold this view rarely find anything religiously important or

meaningful in pop culture. •  Cultural mirror?- Maintaining the Status quo?

–  Those who hold this view think Pop culture ONLY reflects societal attitudes, and is in fact a conservative force

•  Subversive of orthodoxy? –  Those who hold this view think that Pop Culture has at least the

POTENTIAL to influence/change the way religion is understood, believed, practiced in people’s lives