“LIMITED TIME OFFER ! CONVERT TODAY AND RECEIVE LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP TO OUR FAITH!”
There’s usually a knock on the door, perhaps even 4–5 unsolicited rings at the doorbell. No, they’re not your typical salesmen but they do come highly adorned with their swaying attitudes and influential brochures on “How to connect with your inner Christianity.” Most of us are probably grappling with the very question of opening the door or pretending we‘re conveniently not home as we tip-toe on our heels to glare outside our miniature peepholes. And for those of us with the religious superego nudging us from behind will — in most likelihood — do the ever-so subtle thing of just shyly unbolting the lock, just enough so that your head can fit through , and with an indisposed, “Yes?”, you unlock your chance to becoming a customer of religious conversion.
There’s no barefooted way to draw around the concept, for it fundamentally reflects both the hegemonic and fiscal mirrors that attempt to cross over the reins of secular society today. Popular culture is but a mirror that soaks in the image of our dialect, conversations and contemporary needs.
Perhaps, we ought to surpass this notion into perceiving ourselves as mere consumers; rather, we are consumers in every element of the popular culture landscape – the social, the economic and in particular, the religious. Of course, the advent to a shift in consumerism towards religion advocacy hasn’t always been as candid as in most cases of mass media that direct audiences patently towards the supposed five biggest blockbusters of the century. Then again, these chart records are about as fluid as religious trends, so who’s to say religious advocates can’t buy into a bigger merchandise of faith?
Even the modest of Catholic consumers are triggered by the thought of having the benevolence of a celestial or heavenly being guide the bliss in their lives. Who knew that the nineties would be the era of guardian angel delivery, right at the service of your living room T.V.?
‘ Yes, ladies and gentlemen, if you dial the number on your screen right now, we’ll set you up for a decade long screening of… “Touch By an Angel”.
Perhaps, the invitation to this classic television hit was never as polished as those preceding lines but nonetheless, having a media format was an embryo for a “religious awakening,” that Catholic families could gather around on the biblical ‘day of rest’ – presumably Sunday – after morning at Church and Sunday brunch feast to reconcile with their homogeneous supply of religious provision.
Even then, television had become more than the antennae-box but a product of a complete corporate construct that delivered the very ideals, messages and religious ambitions that Christian enthusiasts coveted for.
Whether it’s the invention of pixie-like angels with a heavenly light in the background or a display of proselytism outside your doorstep – society is habituated to follow like black sheep. Intertwined into the grain of religious selling is the delivery of a primed consumer culture that latch on to popular culture mediums that communicate and prey on our resonances.
Whether one sees it as a neo-liberal bargain or just a pitch towards fundamentalists in search for a religious personification with God, both point to the complexity of trying to operate under rhetorically-oppressive desires that sell all but the same appeal.
