CULTURE AS A PRODUCT Hall and Neitz (1993) provide an inclusive definition of culture that describes it as 1) ideas, knowledge (correct, wrong, or unverifiable belief), and recipes for doing things; 2) humanly fabricated tools (shovels, sewing machines, and computers); and 3) products of social action that can be drawn upon in the conduct of… Continue reading Culture as Both Product and Practice
Category: Culture
The Case for the Cultural Study of Religion
RELIGION AND CULTURE Rituals, symbols, and myths have been at the forefront of the Sociology of Religion since Durkheim (1915) wrote of the prominence of beliefs, rights, and rituals in the worship of social life. Naturism, animism, and totemic beliefs are mostly bygone religions – relics of a pre-industrialized world, but Durkheim predicted that religion… Continue reading The Case for the Cultural Study of Religion
American Secularization and Media Depictions of End Times
INTRODUCTION Media Influence Art has always had an influence on society, even if that influence is more indirect than the artist intended. In the “age of mechanical reproduction” (Benjamin 1969[1936]), the aura of art may not be as strong as the medium of film and television has eclipsed the close distance of the stage. The… Continue reading American Secularization and Media Depictions of End Times
The Church (Part 1): Trail of Blood
Most of us know the difference between The Christian Church and the local church. One is spiritual, and the other is physical. When COVID hit last year, I heard many Christians appeal to the Church as an excuse to abandon their church – because the “Church is not a building." However, the local church has… Continue reading The Church (Part 1): Trail of Blood
God’s Exhaltation
1 Peter 5:6 says, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:” Humility is not my strong suit, which is ironic because I suffer from low self-esteem and imposter syndrome (an internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to… Continue reading God’s Exhaltation
The Christian Celebrity
Our churches have become carbon copies of one another. You can attend almost any church from any denomination and you will have a similar experience, from the look to the music to the structure of the services. The various denominations are beginning to blend back together. Protestants, who broke away from Catholic heresies are melding… Continue reading The Christian Celebrity
Altering the Availability Heuristic
A heuristic is “a mental shortcut that allows an individual to make a decision, pass judgment, or solve a problem quickly and with minimal mental effort.” We use heuristics all the time. In any given situation, we are armed with data about the situation — usually sensory — and use heuristics to fill in the… Continue reading Altering the Availability Heuristic
Why I Write
“Under the governance of the printing press, discourse in America was different than it is now – generally coherent, serious, and rational” -Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death The value of the written word has been lost in our postmodern American culture. The complexity of well written prose has given way to “tweets written by… Continue reading Why I Write
Gain the World, Lose Our Souls
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”Mark 8:36 Yesterday, the Benham Brothers spoke at my workplace. They rose to fame because they lost a show on HGTV because they refused to back down from their public opposition to gay marriage back in 2014.… Continue reading Gain the World, Lose Our Souls
Through “The Looking Glass”
THE LOOKING GLASS SELF In 1902, C.H. Cooley published a social theory that I believe holds up over a century later - “The Looking Glass Self.” The basic premise of the theory is that our behavior is shaped by our perception of how we believe others see us. In other words, perception of “society” is… Continue reading Through “The Looking Glass”
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