Abstract
In the more recent scholarly literature on media, pop culture or celebrity studies, there has been a growing tendency to identify media, stardom and other pop culture forms of cult with religion. An increasing number of concepts have sprung up such as “media as religion” or “stardom as religion”. However, these concepts need to be critically scrutinized as to whether the use of specific theological terms in those concepts is sound and consistent—or, as the case may be, superficial. The primary aim of this paper is to examine whether there are essential intrinsic similarities between religion and media. To answer this question, we have examined the structural similarities between media and religion (by comparing their use of ritual and liturgy; emotions; cosmology; myth and archetype; and the cult of individualism in particular). Subsequently, we have analyzed the key terms that have emerged from those comparisons (religion and faith; God; emotions; community; liturgy; cosmology; archetypes; saints; individualism). The term religion is used in its broad sense; however, the subject is examined in detail within the context of Christian theology. We came to the conclusion that media religion is a non-theistic religio without God, with an exclusive emphasis on social cohesion. The absence of verticality, lack of transcendence to eternity as well as the non-existing relationship with God as a person—have determined the remaining partial conclusions presented herein.
Highlights
The focus of research on the relationship between media and religion has gradually shifted from the effort to describe how religion, or the church use media to transmit religious messages—by exploring the key characteristics which affect the transmission of such messages through mass media—to a more profound attempt to explore the underlying relationship between religion and media
We have analyzed the subject from the perspective of Christian theology by focusing on individual areas which have already been subject to theoretical reflection
At the outset of this study, we made a reference to the confrontation of the term “religion” and related terms which are used in media anthropology theories from the perspective of conservative Christian (Catholic) theology
Summary
The focus of research on the relationship between media and religion has gradually shifted from the effort to describe how religion, or the church use media to transmit religious messages—by exploring the key characteristics which affect the transmission of such messages through mass media—to a more profound attempt to explore the underlying relationship between religion and media. We will examine the difference between the understanding of religion, faith, God, rites, liturgy, unity, community and sainthood within theology and compare them with the concepts found in theories of media anthropology This leads to the question of the role of emotions, spiritual search, individualism or archetypes within the framework of theological thought and within the concepts of media anthropology. When we speak about a phenomenon (whether it is the media or celebrity culture) as something akin to religion or having the characteristics of religion, it is reasonable to explore the terms and concepts used in such an experiment through the lens of one of the biggest traditional formal religions This is not undertaken in the sense of a confrontation or an attack but in the form of a curious inquiry with a focus on the question of the extent to which the terms adopted from religion and used in the new contexts converge toward or diverge from their original meanings—regardless of whether they are used in a figurative sense or in their full original sense. We are exploring the subject from the Catholic theological perspective since that is the theological underpinning of the primary target audience for our theoretical analyses, arguments and findings
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