Religious Consumerism Flashcards
What does postmodern society also involve?
The growth of consumerism, and the idea that we now construct our identities through what we choose to consumer.
What does Hervieu-Leger emphasis about consumerism?
This is also true of religion, where we act as ‘spiritual shoppers’.
What does ‘spiritual shoppers’ mean?
We choose religious beliefs and practices to meet our individual needs, from the vast range available in the religious marketplace.
What can we do instead of sign up to any specific religious tradition?
We can pick and mix elements of different faiths to suit our tastes and make them part of our identity, until something more attractive comes along.
What does Lyon argue about religion?
It has relocated to the sphere of consumerism.
As people have ceased to belong to religious organisation, have the abandoned religion?
No.
What does it mean to be a ‘religious consumer’?
Making conscious choices about which elements of religion they find useful.
What do people now have access to?
A wide range of different and contradictory religious beliefs.
What does this do to traditional religion?
Weakens their claim of a monopoly of the truth.
What happens to previously dominant religious institutions?
They lose their authority and decline.
