In class on Wednesday, we talked about whether it's a good or bad thing to relate religion to pop-culture. An example of the merge is the church behind the city center, an IMAX theatre converted into "The Core." Apparently, there is still stadium seating and even a pop-corn stand. I'm a little skeptical about this conversion; after all, religion is not supposed to be about being entertained. I don't think that religion should fall prey to the instant gratification mindset. Americans have access to so many resources; if a person wants something, they'll get it pretty quickly. So, my concern is that this will apply to religion. First of all, being a part of religion is not supposed to be easy. Finding your personal spirituality is not easy. I'm not saying that this is true, but perhaps the individualization of religion is a form of laziness? Maybe that's why people don't go to church anymore; it takes too much work, and there's not a lot of instant satisfaction out of it. Maybe it's easier to tell yourself that you are religious, but in your OWN way. This is just an observation.
In any case, I think that the relation of religion to pop-culture is necessary. As Augustine said, religion must evolve with the time period. If religions don't evolve to meet the needs of people, they will quickly fade out. So, the modernization (for lack of a better word) of church may be necessary but contradictory to the rules or beliefs of the church.
Really interesting article about clothing and religious statement.
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7368
A picture of an Evangelist church with stadium seating.
I do agree with you that people often "don't believe in God, but a higher being" sort of thing but really it just makes them 'spiritual' but not have to get up on sunday. I also thing the anti-individualization of religion is a form of laziness. By accepting beliefs of whatever someone shouts at you, that is definitely being lazy in my book. so...both ways are lazy. I guess maybe we just live in a lazy world.
ReplyDeleteI think part of this is the commercialization of religion. One has to wonder what many of the inspirational spiritual leaders from the 18th century and earlier would say about the phenomenon of going to church through your tv. Does watching a televised service "count" just as much in the long run as going to church every Sunday? No one really answers these questions outright, I think maybe they just want viewers.
ReplyDeleteI was just talking with my room mate about The Core. We were having a debate about the evolution of religion and whether it takes away the meaning of religion to have stadium seating and a popcorn machine, or at least big movie screens, or stages for bands, and fancy laser-lighting like some churches have. She said she thinks it does. While I wouldn't go to such a church myself if I was religious, I'm willing to consider that maybe updating churches by making them more accessible to the youth and our culture might be a part of how religion is evolving and surviving in our society today. Although I do think the popcorn machine is a bit much.
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