Religion has been a point of contention throughout America’s history, beginning as a refuge for the religiously persecuted to, in many ways becoming the persecutor. However, one thing has remained consistent is that America is considered by many to be a de facto Christian nation. This is due to these institutions’ intertwined histories and the strong parallels that can be drawn between Christian and American ideals. It is for these reasons that televangelism emerged and thrived for much of modern American history, and, subsequently, became a profound and concentrated embodiment of American values and ideals. However, the most compelling and relevant example of televangelism as the embodiment of American ideals and values is Joel Osteen, the …show more content…
According to its root word, “tele” meaning “at a distance” and evangelism, a Christian practice, televangelism is “the propagation of religion over the airwaves” and is founded on the evangelical principle that the gospel, or Christian doctrine, should be taught to others for the purpose of converting them to Christianity. This practice emerged in the early 20th century alongside the emergence of radio technology; however, due to the rudimentary and local nature of radio at this time, it is almost impossible to discern who was the first televangelist. The career of Father Charles Coughlin, a radio televangelist in the 1930s, proves the power that such religious figures have had since the very beginning. He amassed millions of listeners and was a controversial political figure of the era, so much so that by 1939 he was forced off the air for his anti-Semitic commentary. The power of such religious figures on a mass media platform that uses airwaves owned by the public and provided to broadcasters for free, brings up important issues regarding the separation of church and state, and the freedom of religion. These issues were addressed by the 1934 Communications Act, which established the electromagnetic spectrum as a national resource, and as such, the …show more content…
It emerged right alongside radio and as soon at television emerged as a viable medium, it made the transition with televangelists like Jack Wyrtzen, Percy Crawford, and Billy Graham. The evangelical denomination depends on technological evolution in order to fulfill its purpose of spreading the gospel. The most recent innovations that televangelists have ventured into are live streaming, via the internet and social media platforms, podcasts, which harken back it its radio origins. The position of televangelism within mass communication, has led to a transformation in religious careers, which, in part, has fostered the continuation of the industry. In commodifying religion by placing it on the airwaves where it amasses advertising revenue, as well as donations from viewers, ministerial careers have transitioned from a place of solely moral prestige to a place of moral and socioeconomic prestige. No longer is theology a career with modest earnings, its adoption of mass communication, has turned it into a multimillion dollar industry. Because religious leaders can now capitalize on their careers in a way that was previously impossible, the profession upholds the American promise of upward social mobility, through which prominent televangelists, Juanita Bynum, have been able to achieve much more than the average middle-class aspirations to become millionaires with congregations
During the Antebellum period in America, the country’s thoughts were changing drastically. Escape from religious persecution was a key player in many minds when choosing to come to America and so it became a melting pot simmering with multiple thoughts and ideals. The European Protestants, Roman Catholics, and African American religions were forced to intermingle and the unique qualities of each were particularly useful in the establishment of personal validity (Fox 201, 202). After the American Revolution, most Republicans argued that churches, “brandished superstitious dogmas and mysteries that kept people in the dark about the rational capacities of their own minds” (Fox 159). On the flip side of this, “a few Republicans such ...
First, although Sweeney is an expert in American religion and culture, the book has inaccuracies. According to Mullin, “Pat Robertson's second-place finish in the 1988 Iowa caucuses surprised "all but his supporters," he did not win as Sweeney reports (150)” and “the World Relief Commission of the NAE began in 1944 (not 1945) as the War Relief Commission (172).” However, these inaccuracies do not take away from his premise. Yet, the reader is left wondering if the author’s research was specious. Next, while Sweeney does mention women as a vital part of the American evangelical story, a themed chapter devoted to their labors would be beneficial to both laity and scholar. Ziefle agrees. In his review, he states, “one cannot help but think a separate chapter specifically set aside to discuss women’s roles would have also been desirable.” Nevertheless, Sweeney does represent the rich heritage that women have contributed to the movement. Lastly, Sweeney disappointingly concludes his history of evangelicalism with the 1960s. Leaving the reader to assume there has been no significant change in the movement in the past forty-five years. However, this seems unlikely, since Robert Warner has written a book entitled, Reinventing English Evangelism, 1966-2001: A Theological and Sociological Study. Therefore, Sweeney premise lacks the rich and spiritual powerful heritage of the movement from 1970s to
Southland Christian Church, one of several worship centers in the United States that has earned the moniker “Six Flags over Jesus,” is Lexington’s largest megachurch. With a weekly attendance of 8,000 people and an operating budget that supports a staff of over eighty members, Southland far exceeds most U.S. congregations in terms of financial resources and social clout. In recent years, popular and scholarly studies have attempted to situate the megachurch movement within a broad cultural context. Although the majority of these analyses dispute the precise definition of a megachurch, most distinguish these multiplex sanctuaries from smaller worship communities by using the same criteria—i.e. weekly attendance, campus acreage, annual budget, etc.—that megachurches themselves draw on to represent their own success. [2] However, the essence of a megachurch is not its large buildings, but rather the theology of consumption that informs its programming.[3] In this way, a megachurch ethos has infiltrated even the smallest congregations in the United States and has helped to solidify Christianity’s inextricable connection to consumer capitalism. To those who see megachurches as symptomatic of a flawed Christianity, market-minded church growth confounds one of the faith’s oldest dualities, the contradiction of living in the world without conforming to its ways, as Paul puts it in Romans 12. Megachurches at once reject “the world” and participate in it by seeking to win the lost and wow the consumer at the same time.
Whether people stood for or against the Reverend William A. Sunday, they all agreed that it was difficult to be indifferent toward him. The religious leader was so extraordinarily popular, opinionated, and vocal that indifference was the last thing that he would get from people. His most loyal admirers were confident that this rural-breed preacher was God’s mouthpiece, calling Americans to repentance. Sunday’s critics said that at best he was a well-meaning buffoon whose sermons vulgarized and trivialized the Christian message and at worst he was a disgrace to the name of Christ (Dorsett 2).
New brands of distinctly American Christianity began developing early in the country’s history. Before the revolution, George Whitefield set the stage for American religious movements. The most important factor that helped launch these movements was the American Revolution. The country was ripe with conversation and action on a new understanding of freedom. The revolution “expanded the circle of people who considered themselves capable of thinking for themselves about issues of … equality, sovereignty, and representation” (6). The country was beginning to move toward an understanding of strength lying in the common people, and the people’s ability to make their own personal decisions on issues of leadership and authority. There was a common belief that class structure was the major societal problem. The revolution created the an open environment that pushed equality of the individual, allowing political and religious beliefs to flourish and grow without being held in check by authoritarian leaders.
In Nathan O. Hatch’s “The Democratization of American Christianity” he quickly forms his thesis and expands on the argument “both that the theme of
Religion of the protestant church was an important factor in the pre-war timeline culture. The Second great awakening, which occurred in the 19th century, greatly impacted American society. This new point of view in terms and matters of faith led northerners to cherish the theory of Christian perfection, a theory that in fact was applied to society in an attempt to eliminate social imperfection. On the other hand, southerners reacted by cherishing a faith of personal piety, which focused mainly on a reading of the Bible; however, it expressed very little concern in addressing society’s problems.1
However, both groups consciously reshaped the organizing framework of religion to diminish its ordering of their lives within the public and private sphere. Prothero posits that while “The Bible remained authoritative [. . .] Americans insisted on interpreting it for themselves” (47), especially women who lived under its patriarchal construction. “In that effort,” Prothero continues “they were assisted by a new culture hero: the populist preacher, who combined evangelicalism and egalitarianism in daring new ways” (47). Prothero maintains that it was “the rise of pulpit storytelling” (51) that allowed such reimagining of religious ideology. Prothero goes on to argue that the “story sermon” (51) as a rhetorical style “did not catch on as fast in New England as it did in the South and the West (51),” a point ...
The book, Jerry Falwell and the Rise of the Religious Right by Matthew Avery Sutton portrays the historical background behind Jerry Falwell and traditional Christian beliefs. Some of the issues and events that drove Falwell and other conservative Christians to new forms of political activism in the second half of the twentieth century are: sex education, abortion and homosexuality.
Fundamentalism and American Culture by George Marsden provoked new insights and challenged existing assumptions of fundamentalism within America. Through Marsden’s critical analysis of fundamentalist roots which assess the contextual religious, social, and intellectual developments within early American culture, one can see a complex movement that has deeply ingrained itself within the overall American fiber. Due the movement’s perspicacious leadership which challenged American social norms through a variety of avenues and in highlighting particular branches of the fundamentalist movement, Marsden provides a deepened insight which helps preclude previous caricature assumptions one my have on fundamentalism within America.
Introduction: Neither the resolve of patriots nor the labor of men freed Americans from the hands of tyranny. The fathers of this nation, as well as those who fought for her ability to prosper were united by their unwavering faith and trust in God. The future of this world lay heavily upon their shoulders, yet they carried the burden willingly for the duration of their lives and passed it down from generation to generation. As a result, a new nation was born and grew into one of the most powerful countries of the world. Although America began as a Christian nation, it has pulled away from the fundamental beliefs that held this nation together. Despite their ancient predecessor’s emphasis on faith and Christianity, the current government has taken a more secular path. The legality of abortion and the exclusion of religious references in public institutions are a couple of examples how morality has been corrupted within the government. Society itself also forsakes the religious path, twisting the concept of morality to fit the lifestyles they wish to lead. David Barton uses line graphs to demonstrate the decrease of morality since 1950. Violent behavior, the circulation of sexually transmitted diseases, and the birth rate for unwed girls, has drastically inclined while educational achievement and family stability have dropped at an accelerated rate (242). It is apparent through the government’s choices, the media, and the attitudes present in average society that Americans have drifted far away from the principles on which this country was founded. Without a genuine faith and trust in God, American society will continue to deteriorate until memories of a once great nation are all that remains.
Christianity’s role in America has rapidly changed over the last decades. Although it is still the most popular religion in the country its power over the people has decreased significantly. However, there are still many misconceptions towards American Christianity and in order to understand the unique nature of this religiously diverse country; one must understand its history and its citizens own views on the matter.
Portrayal of Religious Individuals by Television The recent series of the BBC2 show, Coupling, presented an episode where a very religious Christian, James, was presented. In this episode, James was a presenter for a religious programme at a radio station, and meets Jane, who has an extremely stereotypical view on Christians. Jane is non religious herself, which is assured when she mentions that "I'm Christian too, I just happen to dress well" - which presents the typical outlook of many people nowadays, that believe Christians tend to wear 'out of fashion' clothing. James informs Jane that he is anti-premarital sex, which shocks her.
"This is the Hour of Decision with Billy Graham, coming to you from Minneapolis Minnesota" Billy Graham, has preached to more than 210 million people through a live audience, more than anyone else in history. Not only that, but Mr. Graham has reached millions more through live televison, video and film. This has led Billy to be on the "Ten Most Admired Men in the World" from the Gallup Poll since 1955 a total of thirty-nine times. This includes thirty-two consecutive more than any other individual in the world, placing him as the most popular American for about forty years. This essay is going to talk about Graham's personal life, and what kind of family he grew up in and im also going to talk in detail about how he became an evangelist, because I feel it is very important yet interesting. His accomplishments in the fifties are uncomparable, so I will be including a considerable amount of information concerning that topic. Finally I will be talking about his personal achievements, books written, and how he has been a companion to some of the American Presidents. William Franklin Graham Jr. was born in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 17, 1918. Graham was raised on a dairy farm by William Franklin (deceased 1962) and Morrow Coffey Graham (deceased 1981). In 1943 he married his wife Ruth McCue Bell, and had four children Virginia 1945, Anne Morrow 1948, Ruth Bell 1950, William Franklin, Jr. 1952, and Nelson Edman 1958. At age eighty, he keeps fit by swimming, playing with is nineteen grand children, and from aerobic walking, in the mountains of North Carolina, where he currently lives. (Billy Graham Best Sellers, 1999) Billy Graham told Time Magazine in one article about his life before becoming a preacher. "I lived on a farm. The only difference was I had to get up early in the morning and go milk cows. When I came back from school that day, I had to milk those same cows. There were about twenty cows I had to milk. By hand. That was before they had those machines. I loved being a farmer. But God called me to this work that I'm in now. I knew it was God calling. I said, "Yes. I will follow what God wants me to do." And so I went to two or three schools to get education.
The role of religion in politics is a topic that has long been argued, and has contributed to the start of wars, schisms (both political and religious), and other forms of inter and intra-state conflict. This topic, as a result of its checkered past, has become quite controversial, with many different viewpoints. One argument, put forth by many people throughout history, is that religion and the government should remain separate to avoid any conflicting interests. This view also typically suggests that there is one, or several, large and organized religions like the Roman Catholic Church, which would be able to use their “divine” authority to sway the politics of a given state by promising or threatening some form of godly approval or disapproval. By leveraging their divine power, individual figures within a religion, as well as the religion as a whole, could gain secular power for themselves, or over others. A second view, which was developed by many theologians through history, suggests that that without religion there would be a general lack of morality in the people and leaders of a given state, which would give way to poor political decisions that would not be in the interest of the people and perhaps even God (or the gods). This argument, however, does not address the fact that morality can exist without religion. In sociology, it is commonly accepted that social norms, which include morality, can result from any number of things. Religion, laws, or the basic desire of survival can all create these norms, so it suffices to say that as a society, our morals reflect our desire to live in relative peace through the creation of laws that serve to help us to survive. The argument of whether or not religion and politics should mix...