Religion and Pop Culture

Religion and Pop Culture
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Religion and Pop Culture
Popular culture is a term used to describe objects and different forms of practices that, in a great way, have a similar meaning to a given social system. According to Illiyyun (2018), this may include entertainment, fashion, or even a given media object. Thus, popular culture is majorly associated with things that are available for purchase and can be assessed by many individuals. Furthermore, pop culture tends to reflect the values that individuals already hold. Significantly, it deepens the level at which individuals are committed to it. On the other hand, religion refers to different social and cultural systems that relate humanity to a supernatural or a given spiritual element. Therefore, religion is about different forms of beliefs and doctrines that people adhere to. Gittinger (2018) demonstrates that an ideology qualifies to be called a religion when it orients its followers to a given power and when it entails the transmission of certain values. Religion also creates a community, and it does this by bringing people who may not have anything in common other than certain struggles together to form a community. Thus, religion and pop culture tend to intersect in different ways since pop culture can be seen in religion and in the same manner religion can be seen in pop culture.
Intersect Between Religion and Pop Culture
According to Illiyyun (2018), pop culture and religion intersect in different forms, and this is something that is inevitable. Firstly, the intersection is seen when religion is portrayed in pop culture, for example, in movies. In watching a movie, it is easy to note that different religious themes and languages are used. An example is the role of a redeemer, which is a role played by most superheroes in films and movies. Most of the plots in different superhero movies are based on religious themes such as the need for forgiveness, death, and resurrection. Therefore, through the use of film, the religious beliefs that people adhere to in different societies are depicted.
Secondly, the intersection occurs when pop culture is reflected on religion. In most cases there is always an appropriation of different aspects of pop culture by different religious groups. Thus the effects of pop culture are easily seen in traditionally recognized religious groups due to how they currently operate and what they believe. In the current world, it is easy to see that religious music and other religious activities that are performed in different parts of the world are being used as entertainment. Consequently, the intersection of religion and pop culture is inevitable because, just like religion, popular culture entails having a community (Illiyyun, 2018). Like religion, various sports events such as soccer bring a community together in a given season. Furthermore, the intersection is inevitable because they both function the same way. In religion, individuals in a given community will always testify and say that they find the meaning of life in religion. Similarly, in sports, which are popular culture, a lot of people globally believe that supporting a given team gives their lives...