Correlates of Support for the Electronic Church

Abstract

Using a sample of 711 white home-owners drawn from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in 1981, this investigation examined the relation between media religiosity (i.e., the electronic church) and various demographic factors as well as its relation with church religiosity, religious orthodoxy, and civil religious sentiments. Consumers of the electronic church were found to be most likely older, female, blue-collar, long-time Texas residents, with less than college education and more children under the age of six years. Multivariate analysis showed church religiosity to be the best predictor of media religiosity among fundamentalists but religious orthodoxy to be the best predictor among moderates and conservatives. Civil religion was related to media religiosity only among certain moderate denominations' members. Inspection of actual reported viewing indicates that the electronic church is attracting in general only theologically fundamentalist and conservative Christians who are more interested in religious, as opposed to civil or political, messages.