Neoliberalism, the Mega-Church, and the Individual
Type of Presentation
Individual presentation
Brief Description of Presentation
A multimedia presentation examining the ways in which the visual, audio, verbal, and literary text of the megachurch markets a narcissistic feel good theology absent of Christian tradition and theology.
Abstract of Proposal
As an English teacher at an affluent, suburban high school with an extremely popular Christian students organization, I have been shocked at my students’ ignorance of the Bible. How can it be that these high school students are unaware of the story of Adam and Eve, the Great Flood, the Tower of Babel, and the betrayal of Jesus yet claim to be Christians? In an effort to understand, I turn to the curriculum of the largest churches in the area – the mega-churches.
Primarily located in the South, mega-churches have weekly attendance of over 2,000 and are predominately non-denominational, evangelical, and suburban. Not only are they structured like corporations complete with strategic plans and franchising opportunities, they also employ sophisticated corporate marketing to package and sell the commodity of pleasure by disassociating themselves from traditional Christian churches. Much like other places of consumption (i.e. shopping malls, rock concerts, or amusement parks), the sensory stimuli of the mega-church reproduces a sensory landscape stimulating to the consumer and the message is one largely absent of guilt-producing Scripture. By creating a non-church free from historical, cultural, and religious affiliations; mega churches allow individuals the freedom to create God in their own image thus perpetuating the theology of neoliberalism.
Location
Coastal Georgia Center
Start Date
3-26-2016 12:50 PM
End Date
3-26-2016 2:20 PM
Recommended Citation
Bishop, Diana F., "Neoliberalism, the Mega-Church, and the Individual" (2016). International Critical Media Literacy Conference. 32.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/criticalmedialiteracy/2016/2016/32
Neoliberalism, the Mega-Church, and the Individual
Coastal Georgia Center
As an English teacher at an affluent, suburban high school with an extremely popular Christian students organization, I have been shocked at my students’ ignorance of the Bible. How can it be that these high school students are unaware of the story of Adam and Eve, the Great Flood, the Tower of Babel, and the betrayal of Jesus yet claim to be Christians? In an effort to understand, I turn to the curriculum of the largest churches in the area – the mega-churches.
Primarily located in the South, mega-churches have weekly attendance of over 2,000 and are predominately non-denominational, evangelical, and suburban. Not only are they structured like corporations complete with strategic plans and franchising opportunities, they also employ sophisticated corporate marketing to package and sell the commodity of pleasure by disassociating themselves from traditional Christian churches. Much like other places of consumption (i.e. shopping malls, rock concerts, or amusement parks), the sensory stimuli of the mega-church reproduces a sensory landscape stimulating to the consumer and the message is one largely absent of guilt-producing Scripture. By creating a non-church free from historical, cultural, and religious affiliations; mega churches allow individuals the freedom to create God in their own image thus perpetuating the theology of neoliberalism.
