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Religion and the media. Religion in the U.S. Religion plays a significant role in the lives of Americans High for industrialized nations but somewhat less than poor nations Gallup. Secularization.
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Religion in the U.S. • Religion plays a significant role in the lives of Americans • High for industrialized nations but somewhat less than poor nations • Gallup
Secularization • Sociologists have often argued that the role of religion is in long-term decline within advanced capitalist nations
Secularization • The argument is that the traditional community structures that maintained religious practice break down due to industrialization, urbanization, diversification and the new social structure leads away from traditional religious practice
Resurgence of religion in modern American society • During the 1970s and 1980s a number of changes occurred that seemed to invalidate the ‘secularization’ theory • Resurgence of evangelicalism • Rise of the electronic church • Political activism among ‘fundamentalist’ Protestant organizations
State by state comparison of religiosity • http://www.pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=504 • Proportion of population professing varied faiths • http://religions.pewforum.org/affiliations
Changes in the approach to religion • Religion is becoming more individualized, nondenominational, relativistic • “Seeking” • Construction of an individualized faith based on ideas from a variety of sources
Most churched people change from their original religion at least once
Charitable contributions by individuals, foundations and corporations reached $284.99 billion in 2008, a decrease of 5.6% from 2007 after adjusting for inflation.Of these charitable contributions: • Religious organizations received the largest share, with 34.7% of total estimated contributions. • Educational institutions received the second largest percentage, with 13.3% of total estimated contributions. • Human service organizations accounted for 8.4% of total estimated contributions in 2008, the fourth largest share. • (Source: Giving USA 2009) • Individuals gave $229.28 billion in 2008, an inflation-adjusted annual decrease of 6.3%.(Source: Giving USA 2009)
“Religious leaders are right in sensing that the centrality of the media is a direct challenge to authority. Because they furnish a more homogeneous cultural context within which most of us live and which most of us refer in terms of our social relationships, ideas and values, the media make boundaries between a sacred culture inside the faith and a profane culture outside increasingly irrelevant.” • Hoover
Postmodern society, with its fragmented and diverse influences, peoples, etc. creates a crisis of identity so that one of the main sources of individual motivation is the development of a meaningful self, with the religious self a significant and sometimes dominant concern.
People in an individualized society construct their identities from a myriad of sources, with faith following suit. Because people will pay for the resources to construct such a self, a marketing-driven media system will supply a vast amount of content for the project.
Significant issues relating religion and media • Use of media to service the faithful • Use of media to spread the faith • News coverage of religion and religious issues • Representation of religion and the religious in news and entertainment programming
Spreading the word • In the US, there is a long history of the use of media to service the faithful and/or convert non-Christians • Earliest uses of the printing press were to print Bibles and religious texts • Religious journals were the most common type of periodical distributed during the mid-1800s • Spirituals, religious music are a mainstay in the music industry
Televisual media and religion • Controversy over the use of radio, film, television and, recently, new media as religious media • Evangelicals have embraced use of new media through history • Great Commission
Development and nature of religious broadcasting • Radio and the beginnings of the religious broadcasting • Radio broadcasting mainly focused on live broadcast of religious service • Even early on, though, there were evangelists who used the airwaves to spread the word
Radio Billy Graham S. Parks Cadman
Public service broadcasting • FCC regulations in 1930s and 1940s required stations to provide free public access to public service organizations • Networks gave over responsibility to the Council of Churches, which was made up of ‘mainline’ denominations • NBC and CBS effectively denied access to evangelicals • MBS allowed, then later began to limit
Evangelical broadcasts • Because they were denied the free access to the airwaves afforded mainstream religious groups, evangelicals had to pay to gain access and learned the necessary lessons to be financially successful • Write-in requests (consumer analysis) • On-air donation (development of appeals for money) • Aesthetic techniques that reflected good marketing/promotional tactics
Legal and regulatory changes • Lobbying by representatives of evangelical broadcasters led to legal and regulatory changes that provided access to the airwaves • Development of networks, greater availability of time slots provided openings for religious broadcasting
Recent use of radio • Effectiveness in poorer nations • Rapid growth of evangelicalism in Africa, Asia
The game changes • During the 1970s several changes occurred at once that led to the dominance of the evangelical broadcasters • Removal of legal advantages mainstream denominations enjoyed • First Amendment issues, limitation of FCC power and oversight—Reduced demand for public service • Greater need for money/competition • Vast increase in competition and channel capacity as cable enters the cities, continues to today
Current state of televangelism • Televangelism once again is coming under fire for the large amount of money and limited accountability it receives • Congressional investigation • Many scholars argue that the evangelist message is less accepted in current times, especially by younger generations
Current state of televangelism • More diverse in theology • Rise of black televangelism • Non-denominational televangelism • Self-help theology • A new set of players • A larger number of televangelists on cable channels, etc.
Benny Hinn • Creflo Dollar • Joyce Meyers
Conflict with traditional community churches • Local community churches feared that they would lose people from their congregations and donations for their continued activities • Televangelists argued that they increased the fold and did not compete with traditional churches
Research findings • Church donations have decreased • Church congregations declining
"Before the year 1900, over 90 percent of Christian giving was channeled through the churches and denominations." But the 20th century has seen the rise of some 40,000 para-church organizations with finances independent of churches. Christian giving to Christian causes independent of churches and denominations rose from 36 percent in 1980 to 60 percent in 1995. "One major example and cause of this that springs to mind is Christian broadcasting," which by 1977 accounted for $500 million in the United States alone. On average, only about a third of Christian giving goes to denominations and local churches.30 The rise of para-church organizations may partially explain why the practice of tithing is more and more uncommon among Americans.31 • Generous Giving
