Programmes with a religious content may be pre-judged by a majority of people as a way of influence on making a decision upon religious inclination, but many programs include present day, non-religious issues that may appeal to the agnostic or atheist viewer as well as the religious one. This is the case of “The Heaven and Earth show”, where most of the contents are based on modern day issues and are not always directly linked to religious implication. This makes it another important factor for producers to be thoughtful of; it is their duty to create a programme which relates to every type of person and philosophy in order for its popularity to increase and appeal to every type of audience.
Programmes such as “Songs of Praise” have changed dramatically over the course of the years.
Having started over forty years ago, “songs of praise” used to be a hymn singing show with a prayer or two. However this has changed because it now has different audiences, purposes and sections which may sometimes include an inspirational musical performance, or human interest stories.
Some television channels have decided to change the time slots dedicated to specifically religious programmes to the late night hours because its content may affect certain audiences. This is the case of a Muslim late night show called “Shariah” which talks about the effect on the British Muslim community after the New York attacks of 9/11 and the London bombings.
The reason behind the change in SRP television shows is because of the way religion has changed to approach the people in a totally modern society. Another reason is because Britain has become a multicultural and faith society; however this fact does not affect the majority because Christianity dominates just over 80% of the population in Great Britain.
Specifically religious programmes are those by which producers try to create an impact and diffuse educational and religious content through one of the most popular methods of communication, television. Religious magazine programmes are aimed specifically at portraying religion and beliefs to a selected audience in a special format, very similar to conventional television, with different sections and themes to attract a wide audience.
Broadcasters make space for these religious magazine programmes at specific times and days of the week in their schedule, so that their effectiveness and impact on people can be significant.
By choosing special times of the day, producers have a better chance of entertaining a more suitable audience for the type of religious programme they have selected.
Worship programmes have changed over time according to the target audience and religion, because as society continues to evolve, producers must come up with inventive ideas and alternative ways of creating the programme much more interesting for a society that continuously changes into different perspectives with regards to moral and religious issues. For instance “Songs of Praise” used to be a hymn singing show that had very little to offer apart from a sermon and a prayer or two. Now it has converted into a much more accessible programme with a presenter and different sections where lots of different methods are used to portray their religion in an interesting and appealing way for their target audience.
Most importantly its most significant change is that in comparison to their old format, it seems that it is now more open to different cultures and perhaps other religions. They demonstrate this by sometimes inviting people from other countries and sharing with them, their individual values and traditions. This especially gives the programme a touch of sophistication and renovation, which is what most programmes want to achieve in order to become more popular.
Some religious programmes leave the discussion and debating behind and concentrate more into the essence and roots of a particular religion. This type of programme is commonly known as a documentary and is highly regarded as educational; therefore we can’t classify it as the type that would try and influence the viewer on making own personal decisions. An example of a religious documentary is “Everyman”, this programme mainly focuses on religions and their history, its subject of attention is not always the same, as they always focus on different topics that would interest their target audience. It has proved to be a successful programme as it has had an audience of about 2 million people. It also concentrates on various multicultural issues that make it very appropriate for the country it is shown in. As a wide population of the country belongs to different parts of the world, it becomes very appropriate for the producers to include news and interesting facts on current affairs and to select particular religious groups to inform and teach their viewers on their fundamental beliefs.
There is the “Heaven and Earth show” at 10:00 AM, which is a religious magazine programme with 2 presenters and a phone in. They debate, discuss and sometimes give advice on spiritual issues that are not directly linked to religious ones. However we can’t assume that this program is atheist because on numerous occasions we see that they refer to religion when focusing on a certain theme or issue.
This program has a very contemporary format and occasionally experiences drastic changes to its appearance and presenters, this aspect of the program makes the show seem updated and open to everyone as it does not have a certain set up or look.
This programme may sometimes seem to someone as liberal because it discusses on moral issues that may not appeal to all viewers. Therefore the target audience for magazine programmes has to be people who do not possess strong moral values and are open minded with regards to highly controversial issues in today’s society.
In my opinion some specifically religious programmes are effective in presenting their information in an open way that all people can be able access and understand easily. However it’s relevance to today’s society makes me think that its not as effective, because with some worship programmes, the ideologies and themes are dated and often seem pious and conservative, which does not appeal to society’s ideal religious programme
.
Targeting religion day by day is becoming more difficult in people’s minds because they aren’t very interested in spiritual developments as much as they are in their personal achievements, such as a successful career, a nice car, or an expensive house.
However I think that as long as religious television exists, people will at least think about spiritual life and development. This may result in our awareness of the non-superficial things such as family and unity.
SOAP OPERAS
A drama typically performed as a serial on daytime television or radio, characterized by stock characters and situations involved in sentimentality and melodrama.
Many of the issues that are being addressed in soap operas include premarital sex, cohabitation, divorce, abortion, euthanasia and homosexuality. These issues being addressed are shown through normal people in soaps, and make them realistic by portraying real life situations in which maybe a lot of people are involved.
The reason why soap operas deal with these issues is because they want to show how these situations can be resolved in different ways, and to entertain people with the same type of material, they live with in their everyday life.
Soap operas deal with these issues very well, because the producers think of every aspect that should affect the issue. Class, status and relationships, among many other factors are the sort of things soap operas concentrate the most on, to make a credible approach to a believing audience.
Back in September 2000, there was a fairly polemic issue featured in “Eastenders”. A moving case of euthanasia was presented, where Dot is persuaded by Ethel to help her die in a more fast and humane way. This was because Ethel didn’t want to die slowly and painfully in the care of Hospice staff, so she decided to ask for Dots help. It happened to be that Dot was a catholic; the issue of euthanasia is strongly regarded as a sin in the Christian faith, so it was religiously wrong for her to have any action upon this decision
Ethel couldn't understand how it could be so wrong to help a friend but Dot's religious beliefs made her argue against Ethel, so why did she have to live by them. It was her life, and her choice how to die.
Ethel was in pain and adamant that she wanted to end it. Dot asked for reassurance that Ethel was making the right choice. She fetched the pills and poured Ethel a glass of water. They bid each other an emotional farewell and Ethel died later peacefully in her sleep.
I think that the soap opera chose with this issue because I believe that the producers felt it necessary to portray an increasingly topical issue. I have carried out some research, and found that the numbers of cases of people pleading for euthanasia have been increasing by 15% every year since 1997. Not surprisingly, just after a year of this dramatically preformed episode, The Netherlands became the first European country to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide, so in some way it was convenient to present this issue to viewers, to create less of an impact for what was to come.
Frankly I do not see how this issue could have been resolved in any other way, Ethel wanted her last wish and it was fair that she was granted her last happiness, even if it was to scandalise religious audiences. However, as she lived alone, Dot could have opted for an alternate remedy of mutual companionship. In this way, Ethel would have spent her last days with somebody she trusted and was friends with.
If I was to make a decision on Ethel’s request for assisted suicide, I would have acted in the same way as Dot. I believe that it is indeed more humane and fair to end with painful situations rather than to delay things and ultimately make them far worse.
Christians are mostly against euthanasia. The arguments are usually based on the beliefs that life is given by God, and that human beings are made in God's image. Some churches also emphasise the importance of not interfering with the natural process of death and the will of God.
I am sure that Dot was aware of this fact before she even considered the possibility of practising assisting suicide on Ethel, she strongly opposed at first, but in my opinion, her friendship with Ethel was more important than any principal in her religion. Also that she was to some extent sure she was being merciful and thoughtful of another one’s pain and suffering.
FILMS
The recently launched film, “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” offers a clear view of an issue that may not be of much concern to a wide majority of today’s society. It is about a young girl that is terribly possessed by a malignant spirit who claims to be “Lucifer” in the form of 6 demons. At the first sign of these abnormalities she asks for the help of both the scientific perspective and the religious side, she is a devout catholic but unfortunately she dies and her parish priest Fr Moore is charged with murder, as all evidence proves him responsible for her death.
This film apart from being very interesting and informative, can also lead to great doubt or speculation on things like the existence of dark forces or demons, and maybe even God. Because of this I suspect, that this film wasn’t created for the sole purposes of religion, but religion was used for the purposes of entertainment.
The film is very visual in the sense that it provides the viewer a clear representation of the physical effects that demonic possession can cause, and the way an exorcism is carried out.
Exorcism in the Catholic Church is to be practised only by an ordained priest or higher authority in the church. It is believed that demonic possession is when a satanic force engulfs and takes full possession over a person’s physical and mental state.
The act of exorcism is considered to be an incredibly dangerous spiritual task that not very many priests can carry out without the gift of casting out spirits. This ritual assumes that possessed persons retain their free will, though the demon may hold control over their body, and involves prayers, blessings, and invocations of the saints and the Virgin Mary.
In a way I think that this film may have opened the eyes of many people, in favour of the Catholic Church, because some may have been fairly affected by its contents an may feel the need to search for a security or protection in the practise of a particular faith, most likely to be the catholic one. However the film not only treats the issue of demonic possession but also the culpability of a catholic priest that ends up being accused guilty of the death of Emily Rose.
The issue of exorcism in this film may contradict with the different beliefs of other Christian branches. This is because some Christians may have different experiences or opinions in the subject of exorcism. In the scientific background the need for an exorcism in this particular case of Emily Rose, was completely unnecessary, this is because they assumed that she could’ve been treaded medically and be cured but she preferred Fr Moore to exorcise her, and consequently this is why he is believed to be responsible for her death.
“Television always presents religious people as out of touch with the modern world” do you agree?
I don’t agree with the statement because I feel that television should have a variety of different types of programs to appeal to every type of audience. Perhaps some specifically religious programmes may be a bit obsolete because of their content or form of expressing their views on different modern day issues, but this is obviously to expect from a religious programme. It’s like comparing a horror movie to reality, it’s not very likely that the things which happen in the movie will happen to us in the real world, but it is more than certain that you will watch horror scenes if you pay to watch this type of film. Also if television may present religious people as out of touch from the real world may be because these people have chosen to live this type of life and have opted to diffuse this belief through the media. I don’t think that television is directly responsible for portraying them in this way.