Reviews for Prayer and Personal Religion

The average rating for Prayer and Personal Religion based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-04-22 00:00:00 Russell Beerling In Religion in the Media Age, Stewart Hoover examines the intersection of religion and media and filters his own research through the existing body of scholarship on the relationship and cultural effects of religion and media. Hoover’s argument is that religion and media can no longer effectively be viewed as separate spheres, but instead must be seen as overlapping entities that share the same spaces and purposes (9). He is interested in how we are conditioned to consume media and how our consumption shapes and reflects our religiosity. Hoover couches his work within the existing scholarship, yet his interest is in religion and media “on the ground” (24). He claims his study represents a convergence of the existing paradigms of media, cultural, and religious studies. Religion in the Media Age begins with an introduction to the scholarship on religion and media. Hoover outlines the schools of thought that have dominated the conversation to date. He rejects Quentin Schultze’s argument that media and religion are in conflict, and that the media’s growth is evidence of religion’s decline. Hoover notes the school of thought led by Robert Wuthnow that focuses on the effect of media on religion and vice versa. He explores the examination of the religion/quasi-religious “functions of rituals” within media (15). Finally, Hoover places himself in the “culturalist” school, which accounts for the relationship between audience and media as well as meaning and identity. After his introduction to the scholarship, Hoover describes the “evolution” of communication. While he includes the Internet, he is focused primarily on television in this timeline and throughout the book. He frequently refers to televangelism and argues that despite its continued growth, it remains a “sleeper,” staying quietly “in the margins” (60). Even Hoover focuses more on family-friendly entertainment and vaguely spiritual programming (e.g. “Touched by an Angel”) than overtly Christian programs (“The 700 Club) when exploring religion and the media. Chapter three begins extensive transcriptions and summaries of interviews with families and individuals of various religious backgrounds. These interviews describe in detail how people are consuming media, how it relates to their faith, and how they describe their choices. “It is, in any case, part of the contextual surround of the culturally appropriative practices we will be attempting to assess through these interviews,” (98). Within Hoover’s analysis, the content of the interviews reveals as much about the roles of religion and media in their lives as the content of the programs they watch. Of the interviewees, he claims that, “as they encounter the media in their lives, they do not look at a horizontal inventory of symbols so much as they engage in an ongoing conversation with themselves and with their culture…” (66). In analyzing the interviews, Hoover draws heavily from Wade Clark Roof’s understanding of “lived religion” of “everyday life” and emphasizes the ways in which interviewees see their media consumption through various lens (e.g. religion, parenthood). This analysis highlights the overlap he sees between the public and private spheres, and reinforces the relationship between religion and media. Perhaps Hoover’s most valuable contribution is his analysis of the role of media and religion in the coverage of 9/11 and even the event itself. He describes how, up until this terrorist attack, the media had regarded religion as best left out of journalism. “That so much of the motivation and its reception were framed by religious ideas makes it by definition an issue of media and religion,” (240). As such, the media was left with no choice but to explore religion and its implications. Hoover argues that 9/11 contributed to a new form of ritual mourning some scholars called “media events” (244). He sees these events as blurring the boundaries of religious ritual. Hoover is careful not to treat “the media” as a monolithic force. Rather, he attempts to show trends and in our relationship with religion and media and their effects upon one another. He argues that his research reinforces and strengthens the current scholarly trend of “culturalism” and its understanding of religion and media in concert within the lives of society. He acknowledges that his work, while adding to the existing literature, is only the beginning of understanding the depths and dynamics in the relationship of religion and media, particularly as the Internet continues to grow in new and exciting ways.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-09-01 00:00:00 Jon Jensen There is a lot going on in this book, most of it extremely interesting, though I feel that the book ends up a bit overwritten in places. Tackling the issue of religion and media is a broad and challenging objective that Hoover and his compatriots navigate very interestingly, with lots of insightful methodological asides to be had in this book that contribute significantly to understandings of how media have functioned in society in recent times. Of particular interest is the chapter on post-9/11 media engagement with religion, and how such things are drastically different from the complacency that came before. Other chapters in the book felt like they relied almost too heavily on prior theories to understand phenomena coming from interview data, and so felt kind of descriptive rather than particularly engaging. Overall the book is a fascinating overview of media and religion at a time when television still interesting dominated, prior to the real widespread adoption of social networking sites and the rise of the smartphone. As such its methods and ideas are interesting, even if its conclusions are arguably irrelevant in today's world.