Religion and the Media

Introduction

In my ‘Religion and the Media’ coursework I will be looking at a variety of religious programs and discussing their relevance to modern religious views and morals.

        For the first part, I shall be looking specifically at the different religious programs shown on the four major television channels.

        I shall look in depth at how the issue of Euthanasia, a subject that a lot of people have a very strong opinion about, has been portrayed in the popular television soap Eastenders.

        I shall also be explaining how the subject of homosexuality, a subject that raise a lot of controversy among religions, is handled in the Hollywood film ‘Philadelphia’.

        In the second part of my coursework I will discuss whether or not current television presents religious people as out of touch with the modern world.

A1. Describe the variety of specifically religious programs on the four main television channels.

There are quite a few religious programs shown on television at the moment but most of these fall into three main categories; mainstream worship, religious discussion and religious documentary.

        Two examples of religious discussion type shows are, ‘Heaven on Earth’ and ‘Sunday Morning’. Both programs discuss current issues from a religious point of view, they both do this in such a way so that it is interesting to both religious and non-religious people.

        A couple of examples of religious documentaries are ‘Paradise Found’ and ‘Two Thousand Years’.

        Two Thousand Years charts the progress of Christianity through the ages, it uses quite complex visuals and is narrated by Melvyn Bragg.

        Paradise found takes a minor celebrity, such as a soap actor, and follows them to a religious retreat then documents the personal and spiritual journeys they undertake whilst there.

        Both of these programs may appeal to religious and non-religious adults. Two Thousand Years may appeal more to non-religious adults than Paradise Found because as well as religion it also details segments of world history.

        The other style of religious programming is Mainstream worship. This sort of television show targets mostly religious people. Songs of Praise is a good example of mainstream worship. Like many other Christian television programs it is broadcast on a Sunday.

        The program is made up of recordings of large or medium sized congregations singing traditional hymns in churches and catherdrals across the country. Between the hymns there is often a short interview with a member of the congregation where they will talk about how they found God and how christanity has changed their lives and helped through the hard times.

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        The words to the hymns are subtitled  along the bottom of the screen. This is for two reasons, firstly, so that the viewer may sing along to the hymn if they wish to do so and secondly, so the viewer knows what the words of the hymn are and can fully understand the message being conveyed by them.

        Songs of praise is aimed at a higher age group than its rivals, this is because more and more of the younger generations are leaving Christianity and the ones who remain feel that the traditional tools of praise e.g. singing, are outdated ...

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