Religion In Popular Culture Essay

The authors of the textbook indicate that religion, science, and media all influence the way we think about sexuality. Which of these three influences you the most? How do they influence you? Is it a positive or negative influence? What kinds of sexual values in television programs have the greatest influence upon you?

he will be the downfall of evil and that he is strong enough to overcome it all.

Pop culture, or popular culture, is knowns as a term appeared in mid 20 century. It is defined as the categories of entertainment, politics, sports, fashion, technology, and have a way to influence a person's opinion to a certain topic.

Is it possible to be a Muslim without believing the validity of the prophecies of Mohammed? Is it possible to be a Christian without believing in the resurrection of Jesus? My definition of religion transformed greatly during my studies the past few months. Even as a religion major at St. Olaf College I thought of religion very narrowly, as a construct of metaphysical beliefs. But I've come to realize that religion runs far deeper than my Lutheran mind previously conceived.

Culture is the complex whole including customs, law, morals, belief, knowledge, arts and other abilities and habits that man acquires as a member of society. Culture occurs naturally in an individual's interactions in the society building his/her identity right from time of birth. Culture is acquired by people through interactions in the society ADDIN EN.CITE Lopes2006458(Lopes P., 2006)45845817Lopes P.,Culture and Stigma: Popular Culture and the Case of Comic BooksSociological ForumSociological Forum387-4142132006Springer08848971http://www.jstor.org/stable/4540949( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_1" o "Lopes P., 2006 #458" Lopes P., 2006). Popular culture includes social life aspects engaged in the public sphere. The determination of a popular culture is possible through interactions between people's everyday activities. Popular culture is influenced in the modern day by mass media that portray different aspect of the society including dressing style, greetings, eating habits and slang among others ADDIN EN.CITE Williams J.M.2010460(Williams J.M. & Rodgers J.S.,

In Chapter 10 of Religion and Popular Culture in America, Joseph L. Price attempts to show sports as an example of popular culture as religion, because of its ability to shape the engagement of their fans and the fan’s environments. Although the majority of fans do not see sports as coming close to being a religion, Price gives several compelling reasons as to why sports are religion.

Let It Be” by the Beatles has many references to along with a huge faith based theme. The reason this song was such a good choice for this assignment is due to how Paul McCartney uses his relationship with his mother and plays on the relationship Mother Mary, our saint, has with us. Throughout scripture we see a theme of God and saints helping people in their times of trouble. This song uses that idea and also brings a personal hidden connection with the singers life and relates them to these ideas in faith. This song can really help someone look deep and think about themselves and others in need. The part that brings it all together is the connection felt with the song writer when the deeper meanings are revealed.

war. But not with the sword will I slay this foeman, though light were the task to take his life.

Popular culture, on the other hand, is a form of 'low' culture and is based primarily on marketing, mass production and revenue. Low culture is what is sold to the masses, ergo, low culture equals mass culture. All these terms refer to popular culture, defined in the Oxford Dictionary of Sociology as: '…accessible to

However, what is popular culture in the context of society? Popular culture is the accumulated store of cultural products that are consumed primarily by non-elite groups such as the working, lower, and middle class. Thus, popular culture involves the aspects of social life most actively involved in by the public. As the people’s culture, popular culture is determined by the interactions between people in their everyday activities: the use of slang, styles of attire, greeting rituals and the foods that people eat are all examples of popular culture. Popular culture is also informed by the media; people have certain interests that appeal to them and they seek more information regarding it. Media thus helps to propagate this popular culture because in addition to reaching those who have already adopted society’s popular culture, so too can the people who have yet to be exposed to it join in. This is a phenomenon that we also see with the emergence of soccer. Soccer had first started out as a way for English elite to socialize among themselves. The inception of modern soccer was actually due to the ‘import’ of European soccer to the countries they were

So the theme in Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take the Wheel” is how someone's life is heading towards a dreadful path, the person can’t take control of their life. They don’t know what to do or how to help themselves so, this person reaches out to Jesus to ask for guidance, advice, and to completely take control of their life. This song uses metaphors, similes, allusion, and symbolism in many of the verses. This song was a hit all over, staying at #1 for 6 consecutive weeks on the Billboard of Hot Country. It was also was #4 on Hot Christian Songs and topping highly on the Billboard of Adult Contemporary. This song also won the ‘Single of the Year’ in 2005 at the CMA’s (Country Music Awards).

I made a vow to shield you from all your enemies, no matter if they were my friend or foe.

In his classic work Christ and Culture, H. Richard Niebuhr asserts that the relationship between earnest followers of Jesus Christ and human culture has been an "enduring problem."1 How should believers who are "disciplining themselves for the purpose of godliness" (1 Tim. 4:7) relate to a world whose culture is dominated by "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life" (1 John 2: 16)? Culture is God's gift and task for human beings created in His image and likeness. At creation humanity received a "cultural mandate" from the sovereign Creator to have dominion over the earth and to cultivate and keep it (Gen. 1:26, 28; 2:15). But sin's effects are total, and

Subsequently, every living soul who've crossed my path found my looks to be unsettling. Rigid, dark, tethered clothing rest upon my body flowing through the cool breeze, upon my horse's, back as it slowly creeps through the forbidden forest. Nonetheless, I continuously search for the head, which was taken in battle, vigorously day and night. Needless to say, I hunt for the one who've done this unspeakable action to me, any means necessary. I search near and far for my lost head and the days begin to feel like an endless path. I typically ride at night when the moon casts its shadow over the town to hide this hideous monster I've become. Although, if I happen to cross the paths of other people, I am overwhelmed by rage and the only focus I have in my mind is to kill. Unlike the war, I don't have any weapons, such as guns and blades, to take out my opponents, my weapon is the flaming pumpkin I cast at my victim to eradicate all threats.

Popular culture is a term that holds various meanings depending on where it 's being defined and the context of its use. It is usually recognized as the language or people’s culture that prevails in a society at a point in time. As social researcher Brummett explains in his book “Rhetorical Dimensions of Popular Culture”, pop culture reflects the characteristics of social life, where the publicly are most actively involved. Popular culture is known as the ‘culture of the people’. This culture is determined by the interactions between people within their daily activities, for instance, dressing styles, use of language, greeting rituals and the ways that people behave in public, etc. are all examples of popular culture. Popular culture is also diverted by the mass media (Abbott and Sapsford, 1987).