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Neil Postman and The Great Debate of Televised Religion

Neil Postman and The Great Debate of Televised Religion Neil Postman states that religion on television is expressed purely as entertainment. He believes that by making religion more entertaining, sacred rituals and traditions are replaced and lost. In his chapter titled “Shuffle Off to Bethlehem,” Postman describes what he believes to be a fraudulent religious tactic and loss of spirituality through television. Postman also makes a good point when he states that all televised religious matter has been geared purely towards entertainment rather than achieving a real spiritual connection with people. He says it best when he comments, “ Everything that makes religion an historic, profound and sacred human activity is stripped away; there is no ritual, no dogma, no tradition, no theology, and above all, no sense of spiritual transcendence.” I agree with most of his points on this loss of the spiritual connection. Participating in spiritual rituals and traditions, as well as feeling a sense of community, are necessary for worship and cannot be replaced on the T.V. screen. I also agree with Postman that rituals and traditions are lost through television. I know that when I attend church, communion is a very important part of our Sunday. In the Church of Christ, communion is taken every week. I cherish that sacred time and find that I need that tradition to make me feel a spiritual connection. It is not just bread and juice, it is a reminder of a sacrifice that was made for me. Baptism is another ritual that I feel is a sacred event to symbolize your commitment to the Lord. I feel that once you make the commitment to become a Christian, the next step is baptism. I don’t think it is something mandatory for salvation but it just takes your commitment one step further. To make your commitment known through baptism is not something you can do through the television screen. I could never replace the feelings I had when I was baptized. First I went to the back to get dressed in my robe. All of my family, friends and a few of the adults at church that I was close to came in the back to help me and lead me through my baptism. This meant the world to me. I had my best friend’s dad dedicate me before I was baptized. The feelings I felt when I rushed under the water were indescribable. It was a complete cleansing and feeling of happiness after I was lifted out from the pool. A feeling of community is a part of worship which can only be shown and not felt through televised worship. This feeling of community envelops around me everytime I’m singing during worship. To feel the whole congregation lifted up in song and singing with all of their might to the Lord presents a feeling like no other. You can almost feel the Lord rejoicing with you. It definitely is something you can’t get from television. It is something that has to be felt in the presence of people and a sense of community. In a study that was done by the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, one participant was quoted as saying, “[Singing with other people] is kind of a group expression an[sic] it’s kind of like bringing everybody together and foeed[sic] on one thing.” Another participant was quoted as saying, “I feel God’s presence in the communion with the congregation, the caring and the friendly open feeling of the congregation to me speaks to God’s presence, because you can be in another gathering for other reasons and the feeling of the group is totally different, so I think that you can feel God’s presence in the mood, in the feeling of the people worshipping with you.” The study also showed that participants felt, “ T.V. worship lacks an essential physical presence and touchability.” I feel my physical presence in church is respectful because the Lord has done so much for me, I should be able to get to church for him. Another participant in the Scientific Study for religion had a similar view. In response he noted, “since God has done so much for them, they should make the effort to be present.” In return, being in the community setting of church gives a sense of renewal and makes the week more bearable. There isn’t anything to replace this feeling. There is a strength and cleansing process, which sets the standard for the remaining days until the next service. Sins are forgiven and a focus has been found. That sense of peace will help to carry you through the week and if you are ever struggling, you have a whole community in the church which are there for you unlike television. Televised religion cannot provide support and community like the members of a church. Youth and family groups are small groups within my church that help me when I need someone to be there. I am involved in both of these groups and have found that no matter what, the people in these groups are there and always ready and willing to support me in any way possible. Parents out of the family groups even send us packages to college and cards of encouragement. We have adopted church parents for college and my two parents have been wonderful supporters of my experiences. It seems like they just know when to send me things to lift my spirits. I feel blessed to have that type of spiritual community. Television doesn’t provide more than a visual image of support and does not come close to providing the emotional support that is needed to get through the trials and tribulations of religion and life. All the sacred rituals and spiritual connections to God and community are aspects of religion that cannot be found on television. In his chapter, “Shuffle off to Bethlehem,” Postman creates an excellent argument against the secular traditions displayed in televised religion. I agree with his views and feel that religion is something much more demanding and spiritual. It almost seems a responsibility as a Christian to remember that although it is hard to attend all services, God has done more than you could ever repay him for. Attending a real service and worshipping him in person is one small thing you can do to make a big difference in your spiritual connection to the one who created you. Bibliography:

Word Count: 1063