Demanding And Serious Religion
Yesterday I wrote about Neil Postman's commentary on television news broadcasts. I thought I'd follow that up today by posting a quote of his about Christianity, especially in relation to religious broadcasting:Quote:
| I believe I am not mistaken in saying that Christianity is a demanding and serious religion. When it is delivered as easy and amusing, it is another kind of religion altogether |
(and yes, those of you who are playing my Quote Puzzler game, this is eventually going to be a quote in the competition!)
Postman says that in preparation for writing about religious broadcasting, he watched 42 hours of television's version of religion. Robert Schuller, Oral Roberts, Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Falwell, Jim Bakker and Pat Robertson. He then said that he really only needed to watch five hours to draw his conclusions.
He drew two conclusions:
Quote:
| The first is that on television, religion, like everything else, is presented, quite simply and without apology, as an entertainment. Everything that makes religion an historic, profound and sacred human activity is stripped away. |
His second conclusion is this:
Quote:
| The second conclusion is that this fact has more to do with the bias of television than with the deficiencies of these electronic preachers, as they are called...what makes television preachers the enemy of religious experience is not so much their weaknesses but the weaknesses of the medium in which they work |
Postman goes on to say that because television is, by common usage, a medium of entertainment, religion needs to be turned into entertainment in order to play well, in order to gain an audience and a following. The result is, of course, that the television preachers must tailor not just their stage set, but also their message in such a way that it will not cause the viewer to change channels.
Can you imagine what would have happened if Jesus' Sermon on the Mount had been televised? Or perhaps his "Woes To The Pharisees"? Certainly no one would have listened to that for more than a minute before surfing away to some other "easier and more entertaining" channel.
And the television preachers are very much aware of this. So the message ceases to be serious, and plays to the whims and feelings of the viewer. It fits in with a verse Pastor B talked about in church last Sunday night:
Ezekiel 33:32
Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them.
Only now, with televised religion, the tables have turned; it is no longer the audience who treats the preacher as a sensual love song - it is the preacher who has consciously decided to become a sensual love song.
As with so many areas of our society, television is driving the way we think, so now even non-televised churches are buying into this mentality. All you have to do is read Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Church to realize that the church--like television--is becoming far too ratings-conscious. This is a slippery slope to begin sliding down, and it ends with a compromise of "demanding and serious" for the sake of "easy and amusing".
The church is not television. Nor should it be.
Posted On Jun 2, 2005 at 5:16 AM
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