Readings Week 13 - Why Has Religion Gone Public Again?

by Laura Green

In this chapter, David Herbert explores the role the media has played in re-publicising religion. He asserts that we have not seen the complete breakdown of religion that secularist theories once suggested would be a product of modernity. Or, the complete degradation of cultural forms, which media theorists believed would occur through the advancement of electronic media. Herbert believes that the modern media and religion actually interact in a way that brings religion back into the public sector. One reason he gives for this is the decline of state controlled media in many countries, which has led to greater expression of religion in the media. However, by transmitting religion in this form, the shape of religion is often changed to suit modernity.

Herbert illustrates this growth in media-religion interaction and the subtle altering of religion that this produces through the example of post-communist societies. In communist regimes religion was often forced to go underground due to political persecution; this in turn made religion extremely politicised. Democratisation in these countries has led to a de-politicisation of religion, and often a major growth in religious media. Herbert states that although religion has become more public in post-communist countries, this has not meant that the religious observance of citizens has unanimously grown. It has meant that religion is more involved with social issues though. However, Herbert illustrates through an example of a polish radio station, that religion in post-communist media is often a changed form of religion. Radio Maryja, was very influential in Polish public policy, but its views were often varied significantly from the official views of the Catholic Church. The influence of this station suggests that religious media has actually changed how religious authority is produced.

In Western societies, media has also been influential in the re-publicisation of religion and in producing a subtle change in the form of religion. Herbert suggests that the ethnic minority groups who reside in Western societies are significantly more religious than their local counterparts, who are much more secular. Due to the ease of media transmittance in the modern era, these groups can still be connected to their culture and their beliefs through things like cinema, news and television. However, Herbert argues that the way such media outlets frame religion to ethnic minorities can actually alter their views on their cultural and religious identity.

At the end of the chapter, Herbert sums up how modern media interaction has often altered religion. However, he also argues that this is not a one-way street; the media too is changed by its interaction with religion. Media outlets are forced to be very observant of the expectations of religious people in depictions of faith and culture, because of the importance of religion to a significant part of most societies.

References:

D. Herbert, “Why Has Religion Gone Public Again: Towards A Theory of Media and Religion Re-publicization,” in G. Lynch, J. Mitchell & A. Strhan, eds., Religion, Media and Culture: A Reader, (London: Routledge, 2012): 88-97.