The Modern Experience of Religion

“The Written Relationship” explores the way in which the boundaries of religious meaning are demarcated by the media and the extent to which the media is used in religious discourse as a tool for representation.

So, how do we come to know religion and spirituality? In an increasingly atomistic, secular and individualistic society, our interactions with the sacred – be it via organized religion or spiritual endeavor – are more often than not a highly personal pursuit.

The primacy of the private domain (as opposed to the public) in modernity means that the sacred is not a domain itself about which we chose to dip in and out. Instead, it exists within the self, and in our daily individual experiences – be it walking to work, reading the newspaper or engaging with popular culture.

The classic dualistic understanding of religion as a dichotomy between the sacred and the profane is blurred by the modern experience. According to Emily Durkheim, the sacred “consists of an ideal and transcendental world that is set apart from ordinary life” (in McDannell, 134).  The awe-inspiring rites and rituals of the sacred stand in stark contrast to the profane, which Durkheim suggests entails “the everyday and utilitarian” (Durkheim in McDannell, 134)..  

To what extent, then, is our understanding of religion in a practical, lived sense constrained by a dichotomy between the sacred and profane? Classicalists once asserted that the two exist in staunch opposition, however religious organizations today increasingly “mingle with secular, churches become businesses, Christ dispenses grace of TV, preachers call themselves CEOs, faith healers build ultramodern hospitals… and churches hire religious market analysts” (Harding in McDannel, 139).  Far from rivals, the sacred and the profane are self-supporting.

Individuals experience forms a new ‘mass culture’, a contested terrain where individuals and communities struggle to establish meanings and relevance. In such an environment, organisations must “exploit the cultural needs of the masses in order to make a profit and/or maintain their class rule”  (MacDonald in McDannel, 142). In this sense, the sacred – be it organized religion or proponents of certain brands of spirituality – rely on the medium of the profane to mark their meaning and relevance, and the media of the profane uses sacred discourse to stake its importance.

In terms of our experience of religion then, this complex relationship means that representation of the sacred is highly constructivist and targeted. We must look to the media with a critical and analytical eye, just as we must be aware of organized religion’s prevailing fight for relevance in our atomistic, secular modernity. 

References:

McDannell, C. 2012/ “Scrambling the sacred and the profane”. In Lynch, G., Mitchell, J. & A. Strhan (eds). Religion, Media ad Culture: A Reader. London and New York: Routledge. 134-146. Print.