Week 7 - Theoretical Reading - Faith Tweets

In this article, Cheong writes about people of faith starting to include 'microblogging rituals' in their religious practices. Some of the advantages of this are seen as that it helps to generate regular and heightened prayer awareness, a consistently present sense of sacred connectedness with other people of faith which leads to identifying a higher purpose and sense of community with other believers.

These aspects of microblogging can then, in turn, help those of faith be connected together and revitalise their religosity which, for people of faith, can assist in balancing out the rise of secularism, particularly in developed countries which are technologically advanced.

On the other hand, Cheong argues, this trend towards microblogging can be seen as having possible drawbacks such as the fact that it can detract from, or weaken, existing real time relationships and physical rituals, it is time consuming and can take a person's attention away from what is really happening in the present moment.

A possible solution to integrating these new media types into religious practices, as been suggested by some religious leaders, is to balance this current and emerging need to engage with audiences of new media with the traditional needs of quiet reflection, which is often found in Christianity through spiritual rites such as Holy Communion and the confession of sins.

Reference

Cheong PH. 2010. Faith Tweets: Ambient Religious Communication and Microblogging rituals. M/C Journal: A Journal of Media and Culture.
http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/viewArticle/223

Week 6 - Theoretical Reading - Understanding Glastonbury as a Site of Consumption

The main objective of Bowman's article is to examine the town of Glastonbury (located in south-west England) as an "example of a specialised site of religious and spiritual consumption where...commercial transactions can have sacralised meanings and value" (11).

Bowman sets the scene of Glastonbury by describing contemporary Glastonbury's role as a pilgrimage centre, where a wide range beliefs and praxis are represented in the town through different shops, accommodation, events, goods, services and workshops specifically associated with each of them (17). What has been created by this is a "unique spiritual service industry"making Glastonbury a "site of spiritual consumption" (13).

As a result of this spiritual consumption, Glastonbury, as with other sacred or special sites, can be seen as a place of commercialism with many material goods on sale (14). Bowman explores two main perspectives when analysing the site of Glastonbury. The first, is the view expressed by Hanegraaf in Bowman's paper who describes the "New Ager" as the "ideal consumer". This description depicts a new age person as one who is "continually creating and recreating their own private system of symbolic meaning and values" which creates perfect conditions for commercialism through spirituality (19). In this way, Glastonbury facilitates this commercialism by constantly changing and providing constantly new spiritual material goods to represent different beliefs.

However, as Bowman points out these goods and services are not necessarily "exploitatively or impassively" provided. They are often provided for a purpose (19). Another important point Bowman makes is that those objects that are purchased or transactions that are made at pilgrimage centres such as Glastonbury often have complex meanings and significance. When a person purchases an object from such a centre, it is often the symbolism of the object that is significant - the fact that it represents the centre or marks the person's identity as a pilgrim that has made a specific journey to a specific place (14).

Therefore, Bowman's argument seems to be that while it may be easy to dismiss such a place as Glastonbury as a site of spiritual consumption, commercialism and a place to "spiritually shop around" (13), this is not necessarily in opposition to the place being spiritually significant for people. Material goods for sale are but one aspect or symbol of the expression of spirituality, they do not cancel out the spirituality of a place, both consumption and spirituality can be present and co-exist in the one place.


Reference

Bowman M. 2012. Understanding Glastonbury as a Site of Consumption. In Lynch G. and J. Mitchell with A. Strhan. Eds., Religion, Media and Culture:  A Reader. 11-22. London and New York:  Routledge

Real World v Virtual World

I don't spend all that much time online and was quite hesitant to join Facebook at first, so I'm not in a position to really compare the "real" world to the "virtual" world because I am not a fully-fledged member of a virtual world like I imagine some gamers are. In a way I can understand the appeal of a virtual world, as a form of escapism from the real world. However, the real world is what is real and will not be going away so enjoying a virtual world too much can mean being less able to cope when thrown back into the real world.

One movie that I found absolutely fascinating and life-changing was The Matrix. This movie is centred around the concept of a virtual world and the real world but in the virtual world (in the Matrix) people are not even aware it is a virtual world that they are in, they believe it is real because they don't know any differently. It made me think about how "reality" is a bit of a difficult concept to define. For those people, although a real world also existed, they were completely unaware of it and so for them the Matrix was reality. Who is to say that what we are now experiencing is the "real" world and not some artificially constructed world that we have been wired to think is real?

However, this is a different line of thought to knowing a world is virtual and existing in another world that is considered "real". Knowing a world is virtual has appeal because it is different to the real world, otherwise it would just become the norm. Virtual worlds can sometimes help us appreciate the real world, after spending a lot of time online, going out into nature means that the aliveness and beauty of it all will be even more apparent after comparison to "virtual" worlds. The real world is always there and no matter how involved people get in a virtual world, their body reminds them that they actually exist in a physical plane which will always demand attention no matter what. The real world can't be escaped from through a virtual world. And, for people, virtual worlds can either enhance or detract from the real world, depending on the person's state of mind.

Week 5 - Theoretical Reading - Popular Music, Affective Space & Meaning

"Music meshes with emotion, with thought, with action, with the phenomenological and existential features of social life" (182).  These particular features that music engages with are also features that are central in the construction of a person's identity, and also for constructing meaning in a person's life. This article "Popular Music, Affective Space and Meaning" by C Partridge, draws links between these features of music and how, through these links, it can be connected to a person's spiritual or religious life (183).

Theodor Adorno, a critic of modernity through his research on popular music, argues that music creates meaning through two ways - in the construction of the self and also through giving meaning to, or contextualising, situations allowing for shared meaning between individuals (185-186).  This sharing of meaning can be seen as a pathway to spiritual or religious experiences.

Adorno explains that popular music carries with it cultural and social content which contributes to an affective space being created and particular values being communicated, leading to the construction of both personal and shared meanings, which are at times spiritual, religious, or occultural (187).

In this article, Partridge makes the main point that through a detailed analysis of the interrelation between popular music, the contexts in which it exists, the emotions it evokes and the ideas and values it communicates, it can be clearly seen how music contributes to meaning-making, identity formation and self-understanding - all of which can often be expressed through religion and/or spirituality (192).

Reference

Partridge C. 2012. Popular Music, Affective Space and Meaning. In Lynch G. and Mitchell J. with Strhan A. Eds., Religion, Media and Culture:  A Reader. 182-193. London and New York:  Routledge

Reflection - Religion in general conversation

Since I have been studying Religion at uni, I have found that in my daily life it has opened up so many opportunities for me to learn about others just by me mentioning that I am studying this subject. When I speak to people or meet people and they ask me what I do (once I clarify that studying religion does not mean I am becoming a nun, that in fact it is a broad academic subject), every single person without fail is interested in one way or another and opens up to me about what they think or feel about the subject. I find now that one of my most frequent questions to people after our initial conversation is "Are you religious?" followed closely by "Do you believe in God?".

It sometimes surprises me when people answer "yes" to being religious (and specify that they are of a Christian denomination of some sort), but then hesitate about whether they believe in God, or in one case said they had never really though about whether they believe in God even though they do define themselves as Catholic. These interactions have made me realise that there is quite a spectrum of people out there who consider themselves religious, some of whom I suppose were "brought up" Christian and so that is what they define themselves as, but possibly their life and values and beliefs don't align with this religion as they have grown up but they just haven't gotten around to redefining their spirituality because they have seen no need.

Another person I have spoken to, sat down one day to specifically think about what he believed and decided to write down his own "creed" of how he wanted to live, some of which was quite different to what he had been subscribing to when he considered himself Catholic. I find it extremely interesting in the way people define themselves according to religion and also what organised religions think of this - what is their opinion of someone who considers themselves Catholic because they grew up in a Catholic family, but who has a different set of values and rules to live by, and even in fact is not sure whether or not they believe in God. Are they still considered Catholic by the church because they have gone through the correct rituals of baptism, confirmation etc even though they may not believe?

Week 4 - Theoretical Reading - Spirituality & the Rebranding of Religion

In this article, Carrette and King discuss the concept of "capitalist spirituality", which has a specific economic agenda and is now beginning to inhabit the cultural space that was once the domain of traditional religions (61).

Rather than try to define "spirituality" and analyse the situation through a specific definition, Carrette & King focus on the socio-policital consequences of people trying to define spirituality. They look at the agenda behind certain groups having particular constructions of spirituality and "branding" it in a certain way, and they try to see who benefits from this agenda (61).

The aim of the article is to challenge the "individualist and corporatist monopoly of the term 'spirituality' and the cultural space that this demarcates at the beginning of the twenty-first century for promotion of values of consumerism and corporate capitalism" (62). Carrette and King want to challenge this because, in their view, it is troubling that the modern spirituality that is being promoted does little to address the status quo and therefore does little in the way of helping make significant changes in one's lifestyle and behaviour (presumably making positive changes to one's life as being one of the main benefits of spirituality) (62).

In essence, the article raises concerns about the branding of spirituality as a clever way to make people think they are becoming more spiritual, and therefore improving their life, when in actual fact it is serving a somewhat concealed socio-economic agenda in that it is helping to "smooth-out resistance to the growing power of corporate capitalism and consumerism as the defining ideology of our time" (65).

In effect, rather than opening up spirituality as something that is available to everyone (which is what this rebranding appears to promise people), it plants spirituality within a privatised and conformist space. By challenging this, and questioning the agenda behind the rebranding, Carrette & King believe a space will open up that will allow for "alternative, more socially engaged constructions" of the term "spirituality" to be expressed (62).

Reference


Carrette J and R King. 2102. Spirituality and the Re-branding of Religion. In Lynch G. and J. Mitchell with A. Strhan. Eds., Religion, Media and Culture: A Reader. 59-70. London and New York: Routledge.