Postmodern Religion

• Lyon 2000: postmodern society has saturated reliiogn with global images and messages.
• Lyon 2000: religious ideas have become disembedded - the media lift them out of physical churches and move them to a different place and time.
• Helland 2000:

  1. religion online: top down religion, electronic version of church with no dialogue between parties
  2. online religion: religion entirely disconnected a physical church 'cyber religion'
• Cowan 2005: studied pagans who gained a sense of self worth from the feeling that they belonged to a global network
• Hoover et al 2004: online religion just a supplement to church-based activities rather than a substitute
• Lyon 2000: Religion has relocated to the sphere of consumption
• Ammerman 1987: American Christian Fundamentalists use a number of churches without specific loyalty to any of them
• Jameson 1991: a great variety of religious products to choose from has resulted in a loss of faith in 'meta-narratives'
• Berger: diversity of choice concerning religion has weakened religious institutions to hold a monopoly over beliefs
• Religion and Spirituality are not declining. Rather, they are taking on new forms that fit the consumerist nature of postmodern society
• New Age spirituality rejects the idea of obligation and obedience to an external authority instead emphasising personal development
• Individualism has caused our weakening allegiance to traditional religious institutions
• Lyon 2000: we are now in a period of 're-enchantment' with the growth of unconventional beliefs, practices and spirituality