Commercialization of Religion - Essay Example

Final Essay Section 1 The nature of religion has, throughout most of history, been a core aspectof life, providing for explanations and instructions on how to behave and think. However, modern life has moved away from religion and towards consumerism as the center of informative thought. The media has superimposed itself over the place of the clergy as being the central resource for how and where information is found, the influence of secular writers more important than those of the church. Religion is more often influential only where it is directly relevant, rather than through the daily influences that it once held within the lives of individuals as they sought answers when none were readily available. The act of going to church is often the singular religious activity within the week for the modern person. Rather than a daily practice, going to church gives a mere nod to a history of religiosity within a family, connecting to others in fellowship, but not providing the central space within a person’s framework of understanding his place within the world. The tenets of the Bible are often looked at as quaint and out of touch with the realities of life, thus creating a division between what is believed and how one acts. The nature of business becomes one of those areas where a diversion from the tenets of the Bible can be observed. In trying to run a business, decisions must be made that support the continued success of that business, but the nature of those decisions are rarely made in line with the generosity of human spirit that comes from a life that is truly lived by the teachings of Christ. This reduces the nature of religious practice to its basic rites, the motions being undertaken without the informative meaning having value in daily life. The nature of life that is lived through secular means, and without the infusion of religious spirit, becomes centered on the self without the consideration of others at the core of the decisions that are made on a daily basis. Life is merely ‘flavored’ with religious practice and intention, rather than informed, the difference being that where the clergy held the center space for informing the public, it is now science, technology, and the consumer culture that informs people on behavior and thought. Religious leaders have had to adapt. Miller states that “When these wide-ranging appropriations are considered in terms of establishing identities and worldviews in a changing society, we can begin to see how many respected spiritual authors function precisely as new cultural intermediaries…They introduce a literate, popular audience to venerable religious and spiritual traditions in a manner that is easily detached from traditional, institutional and communal infrastructures” (104). Cultural philosophies are framed through its interactions with television and the internet rather than through its interaction with the Bible, thus to compete religious leaders have had to turn away from convention and towards technological and literary advantages, but this has not been fully successful in diverting culture from its focus on consumerist philosophies. In the abstraction of religion, then, is the substitution of consumerism to fill in the spaces. Miller states that “the form of religion we have been discussing - abstracted sentiment divorced from practice - is ideally suited to this world. It supplies the veneer of meaning and conviction of which modern existence so often deprives us, without disrupting the underlying form of our lives - our obligation to consume” (88). As members of the culture see the need to participate in consumption, identity and the formation of cultural belief becomes tied to the consumer culture. Section 2.3 Thought has become informed by the media, the infusion of materialism and the nature of consumerism becoming the central focus on how life is lived. The nature of culture has been designed by consumerism, what is needed in life and the way that it is used created through watching commercials and families on television, rather than through a lived life that is determined through the sacred. In creating demand, providers of goods and services frame life to have needs that will be met by their supply, rather than need being driven by actual necessity. Therefore, life is formed through economic application, rather than through spiritual applications of necessity. Children are particularly susceptible to the rise of consumerist thought. Advertising targets them in order to push their demand so that it has influence on the choices that their parents will make for them. McDonald’s is a prime example of how this has worked. McDonald’s has used a clown and a group of costume clad cartoon type characters in order to target children. They have meals that are designed around toys, and the intention is to create the scenario that when children see the distinctive red and yellow, they will beg to go to the restaurant. The nature of the food provided is unhealthy, but this is not important. What is important is convincing children to put pressure on their parents to take them to the restaurant. Shor quotes an Eventive Marketing sales brochure as it states “There are places people go to escape their worries…And their minds are as malleable as putty. Sounds to us like the perfect opportunity to stick your product in their faces” (69). This is the core of what happens where children are involved. They are impressionable and seeking to learn everything from every source available. When they encounter an advertisement, it informs them of a decision making process that is intended to lead them to the place where they are emulating the actions and benefits that they see. This creates the demand and the ‘need’ within them, providing the company with a resource in which they then tap into the consumerist nature that has been developed. In addition, not only does the need for material gain become the center of thought, the idea that life is framed by the nature of what is seen on television or on the internet becomes the focus of achievement. What is desired in life becomes framed by what is perceived as true life, rather than through looking around and living by the example of parents and the clergy. In searching for identity, children seek to find ways in which to express their identity, and advertising fills that gap at an overwhelming frequency. According to Miller “In this culture, religion, like other commodities, serves to fill in the identity of the consumer” (88). However, as much as religion attempts to fill in the identity, with children, the competition from all of the media stimulus can become far more central than religion. Culture is being designed by the media who has an agenda of consumer activity, rather than through interrelationships that are designed to tap into the character and values of individuals. Through influencing children in this way, culture has now developed generations that are driven by what they see in order to frame their existence, rather than through relationships with others and through a relationship with God. 3.6 Work is a part of life that can have the benefits of a variety of cultural and character building aspects. However, in the consumerist culture, work can be a place where inhumane activities occur, creating hardships that take from the individual their sense of self. Pope John Paul II wrote in his Laborem exercens that “the whole way of looking at the question of economics is marked by the premises of materialistic economism” (16). The work of the worker becomes ‘merchandise’ that is sold to the employer, thus objectifying the individual and his contribution. Therefore, the tension is in the balance between the supposed freedoms of capitalism in contrast to the nature of Christian life where by man must have more meaning and subjectivity within his identity, rather than a commoditized sense of the object. As seen in the example of tensions within labor relationships, such as in the coal mines of West Virginia, coffee farms of Ethiopia, and in the factories of Tijuana, the human element becomes subject to the ‘needs’ of the employer, the human rights that protect health and welfare being stripped away in order to service the industry. In this, industry is the central issue as it has become an entity, a ‘living’ object that must be given service, rather than a cultural understanding that business should be about people, rather than about profit. Profit services an industry, where if stakeholders are considered at a higher level than the end profits, then the human element is not discarded as being immaterial to the functioning of the business. It is not in the capitalism, per se, that the problem arises, but in the execution of capitalism with the concept of the shareholder model of corporate governance being at the center of how a business is run. In this model, the only concern that is relevant is that of the owners, which are defined either by the literal owners or by the shareholders in a corporate structure. In making every decision based upon the needs of the owners of a business, the rest of the stakeholders are left to the effects of those decisions without regard to their needs. Thus, laborers are laid off, their personal needs for health insurance and benefits that are necessary are exploited or eliminated, and the decisions are not based upon a human element. This model is predominate in the United States, but in much of Europe, the stakeholder model is incorporated. Thus, all stakeholders in a business, including labor, are considered in making decisions. Therefore, supporting capitalism is not contra-indicative, but supporting models that take out of consideration the human needs of all concerned runs in conflict with Catholic belief systems. Works Cited Miller, Vincent J. Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005. Print. Pope John Paul II. On Human Work: Encyclical Laborem Exercens. Washington, D.C: Office for Publishing and Promotion Services, United States Catholic Conference, 2000. Print. Schor, Juliet. Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004. Print. Read More