THE WAR ON RELIGION........

 

Holy Rollers. Super-Saints.  The Way.  All nicknames from biblical times to the present that poke fun at Christians.  In the bible, Jesus promised Christians persecution and in biblical times the method was burning at the stake all who claimed Christ.  Today Christians are being roasted by images and messages.  In recent years there has been a publicized war on religion with hollywood and celebrities stepping out as  major opponents.  Through satirical portrayal in movies such as Saved and Religulous and literature like, Holy Willie's Prayer and Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, media has projected some not so favourable illustrations of Christian spirituality.   Last year, Comedy Central developed an animated series that depicted Jesus leaving his father, God, and going on adventures to discover himself away from the shadow of God.  After complaints and a campaign from religious groups that discouraged advertiser sponsorship, the station could not find advertisers to fund air time.  Below is a clip from the show.

The War Ain't Over But They are Fighting Fair

Although the media has not stopped in poking fun at religion, there has been recent messages of a redeeming factor for Christianity called: The New Face of Christianity.  Images are displayed of a generation that wants to eliminate the oxymorons of Spirituality with more focus on providing assistance to the poor, working with families to educate the youth, and being good stewards over the earth where God has given them dominion  by becoming more green.  These images show the focus Christians place on compassion for others with ministers such as Joel Osteen, who begins most messages with a joke and speaks to his congregation about the great things God has in store for them because of His love. 







Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, The African American Church

In the media the African American church has two personalities. We are seen as the pillar of our communities and we are seen as jokes. To make my point I have two videos to share with you. The first video is a little boy who is reciting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s  “I have a dream” speech. I don’t know if you remember who Dr. King is but he had the same type of religious clout in the nation as the white Evangelist Billy Graham.  Dr. King one of America's greatest preachers was so influential in this country he now has his own national holiday.  It is the African American church that helped our culture stay together during our bad and good times in the United States of America. On the other side of the coin we have what the Blues Brothers depicted in their movie as the African American church. I can’t blame Hollywood or the media for having this ugly protyal of us because we did have churches that only had shout parties and had no teaching going on. To be fair though, we as a people who have gone through many trails and tribulations have a reason to shout! To outsiders, especially Non-Christians they will never truly understand or be able to accurately retell our story.

Media Ecology: The New Religion of Media

 W: In years past, the church was the socializing agent in the community where the church family was in some regards just as important as your immediate family.  The issues of the community were addressed by the preacher which sparked civil engagement in the community.  Children were born into the church family, reared and cheered on by the congregants with the expectation that they would grow up to make them proud and continue the cycle.  The minister and the church were looked at as change agents to help fight the social injustices of society while strengthening the spirit to face those tribulations.  Over time, with the advances of technology, the church's role as a social agent has declined and has been replaced by the media, particularly in the case of youth.  The images and messages displayed by the media are held as "bible"  for some and a template on the way to live.  One possible reason for the shift could be the portrayal of organized religion in media as suffocating and hypocritical, while the media environment provides a plethora of liberties. 

Do you think the media's perception of religion has affected its stance as a socializing agent?





Religion is it a Major Force?

T: Religion along with education at one time were the major forces in any society, which dictated how people should live according to George Gerbner the founder of the cultivation theory.  The values and morals in religions were passed down from one generation to the next with the intent to preserve the culture.  In this effort to preserve the culture, it was imperative that people within a community or village socialized ideas and issues.  Then came along the TV, and to the dismay of many within religious communities “it,” became the major factor which dictated how people should live.  Now along with TV, virtual communities’ i.e. social networks, gaming, and online dating communities have begun to reshape how people all over the world interact with one another.  Religions have begun to invest a tremendous amount of effort in these communities realizing the importance of having a presence and an understanding of how ideas and issues are socialized and resolved.  Below are a few examples of the Christian religion trying to establish new community’s (colonies):

Godtube vs Youtube

Lifespace vs Myspace

Christian Dating Website vs Popular Dating Websites

Visions vs World of Warcraft

Do you believe the above efforts help religious ideas and issues get socialized so they have the opportunity to impact society?

Islamic Televangelism: Shining the Light with
 Lite Religion

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12437440

W: Islamic Televangelist, Moez Masoud told a BBC news reporter in an interview, that the first words that came to his mind when Hosni Mubarak stepped down as president of Egypt were, "Pharaoh has let his people go.  Thank you Moses."    Masoud's words weigh heavily in the Islamic community in Cairo, especially among the youth of Cairo.  He is a former advertising executive and media student who has hosted his own television show in both Arabic and English with an Western feel where he openly discusses issues involving sex, homosexuality, and even the oppression of women.

Even as a Christian, I feel a certain kinship to Masoud in that he exhibits a humility in his message of Islam with the ideal of spirituality from the heart rather than a rigid  religion.  He and his counterparts have set-out to change the face of Islam from an angry religion to what is described as Islam "lite," a watered-down less extreme version.  I was surprise after hearing Moez to find that the issues that he addresses are also relevant in the Christian community.  In an interview with, Dick Gordon, he speaks about his belief that homosexuality is a sin but as a believer of Islam, he should still show that person love, or as he described it, "hate the sin, love the person".  I heard an American Christian  televangelist express the same sentiment, in fact there are many similarities of Western televangelist broadcasting style in both Masoud's message delivery and even the appearance of his TV show.  It is easy for me to distance myself from the Islamic extremist who bomb buildings with women and children inside, all in the name of Allah, but when I hear this soft-spoken yet still charismatic Islamic preacher speak about a loving and compassionate faith, I think to myself that if the words "Islam" and "Allah" were eliminated it would become hard to determine whether he is talking about his faith or mine.

All I's on Egypt - What do You C?

T: All eyes have been on Egypt in the last few weeks and probably like never before have people been more eager to learn what they could about the country.  Due to the topic of our blog I have decided to show what social media has done for the country of Egypt and religion. Now, I feel that I must state upfront that I am firmly rooted in my faith in Jesus Christ and it is because of His love that I can have an open mind and listen to the man on the video talk about his faith in Islam.  I chose to display Islam because the majority of those in Egypt are Muslim. So many times in traditional media, religions end up having false stereotypes projected over and over. This can be aggravating for true believers in any faith. The beauty of social media is that it creates communities in which people can choose to become a part of and can take the time to have open dialogues. In traditional media it is mainly a one way conversation.  Moez Masoud, the young man in the video has been able to share a side of Islam that hasn’t been seen since before September 11^th 2001. This is the beauty of social media it gives us the opportunity to become closer as a global society.

What impressions are you left with? Please share your thoughts below.

Our Focus

This blog will examine the religious community’s usage of mass media as a tool for outreach. Since the mass media is so broad my partner (W) & I (T) will focus on but not limit ourselves to the fields of broadcast television & social media.

W: My portion of the blog will explore the Christian church’s use of media broadcasting to revolutionize worldwide evangelism and the depiction of how the media interprets this practice. Currently, there is a two-fold relationship among the media and Christianity with the media having the double role of depicting the respectable virtue of Christian exploits, but also shining light on the peculiarities of faith against the norms of society.  The light of observance is not always shined in a positive view, especially in the negative or sometimes cynical interpretation of Christian leaders in television, films, and news reporting.   There are often times mutual feelings of antagonism from the Christian church in regards to the stereotypes the media project of religious leaders as money hungry vipers in tailored suits and shiny shoes taking advantage of poor parishioners who are seeking sound counsel. 

T: For my portion of the blog I will examine how the church uses the social media sites Facebook, Twitter and Youtube to reach young adults (18-26) & youth in the church as well as those in the local community.  We know the message of the church is relevant but has the church stayed up-to-date with the language and communication methods of the people in the 21^st Century. In the last few years the field of social media has grown by leaps & bounds from the delayed gratification of emails to instant messenger to virtual communities that we experience in real time.