A Religion of Entertainment

15 Apr 2026 - Random

“There is no doubt, in other words, that religion can be made entertaining. The question is, By doing so, do we destroy it as an ‘authentic object of culture’? And does the popularity of a religion that employs the full resources of vaudeville drive more traditional religious conceptions into manic and trivial displays?”

…

“As a member of the Commission on Theology, Education and the Electronic Media of the National Council of the Churches of Christ, I am aware of the deep concern among ‘established’ Protestant religions about the tendency toward refashioning Protestant services so that they are more televisible. It is well understood at the National Council that the danger is not that religion has become the content of television shows but that television shows may become the content of religion.”

Quotes taken from p. 124 of Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (2005), by Neil Postman. Buy here