THE CONFLICTS OF POP CULTURE IN RELIGION

WHAT IS POP CULTURE?

The definition of popular culture (or "pop culture") generally relates to a particular
society's attitudes and material culture. From the modern West, pop culture refers to cultural
merchandise such as music, art, literature, fashion, dance, film, cyber culture, television, and
radio consumed by most of a society's population. Pop culture affects the aspects of social life
most actively associated with the public. The 'culture of the people' popular culture is defined by
the interactions between people in their everyday activities: styles of dress, slang, greeting
rituals, and the foods that people eat are all examples of popular culture. Popular culture is also
informed types of media that have mass approachability and interest.

The phrase "popular culture" was invented in the mid-19th century, and it referred to the
cultural traditions and norms of the people, in contrast to the "official culture" of the nation or
ruling classes. In extensive use today, it is defined in qualitative terms—pop culture is often
viewed as a more superficial or lesser artistic expression.

SOURCES OF POPULAR CULTURE

Throughout most human history, the masses were influenced by arbitrary jurisdiction and
traditions of historical folk culture. Most people were scattered throughout small cities and rural
areas – positions not conducive to popular culture. With the beginning of the late 18th century or
the Industrial era, the rural crowds began to relocate to cities, leading to the urbanization of most
Western societies.

Urbanization is a critical ingredient in the establishment of popular culture. People who

At the start of the twentieth century, the print industry mass-produced illustrated
newspapers and periodicals and series novels and detective stories. Newspapers toiled as the best
source of information for the public, with a developing interest in social and economic activities.
The ideas represented in print provided a starting point for famous dialogue on all sorts of topics.
Fuelled by further technological growth, popular culture was significantly influenced by the
emerging patterns of mass media throughout the twentieth century, such as films, broadcast
radio, and television all had a profound influence on culture.

The mass media, modern music, film, television, radio, video games, books, and the
internet are leading sources. In addition, advances in communication allow for the more
excellent transmission of ideas by word of mouth, primarily via cell phones.
 Professional artists also inspire popular culture in realities that provide the public with
information. These sources involve the news media, scientific and scholarly publications, and
‘expert’ opinions from people considered an authority in their field. At the very least, it produces
a starting point for public discourse and varying opinions. News stations often allow viewers to
call or email their opinions, which may be shared with society.

WHAT IS RELIGION?

Religion is a faction of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe,
especially when considered to create a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving
devotional and ritual practices and often carrying a moral code governing the behavior of
human’s affairs.

Religion is a set of interrelated beliefs, practices, and systems that often correlate to a
governing force's belief and worship, such as a personal god or another spiritual being. While the
basic definition of religion is expressed, there are many various perceptions of what religion is,
and not all religions are focused on a belief in a god, gods, or supernatural forces.

Religion often involves cultural beliefs, worldviews, texts, prophecies, revelations, and
morals, and even the popular culture involved that have spiritual meaning to members of the
particular faith. It can incorporate a range of practices, including sermons, rituals, prayer,
meditation, holy places, symbols, trances, and feasts.

RELIGION AND POP CULTURE

Religion can be a critical factor in the cultural identity of many people, influencing their
behaviour and traditions. Rituals, sacrifices, prayer, and art are many ways people show their
allegiance to a particular religion. Their relationship is complex at best and not easy to describe,
but they are critical in the contemporaries of humans and how they build and make sense of the
world around us. Even the titles themselves, "religion" and "culture," ask for much further
information out of the range of different relations.

Popular culture can no longer be seen entirely as a source of escapism or thinking beyond
reality. It can amuse, entertain, instruct, and relax people from the relative outcome of this age.
From the Church of All Worlds, which was portrayed in the Star Wars movie, the Church of
Satan and Judaism seen from the Star Wars series are three examples of new religious
organizations that have been considerably inspired by popular culture to recreate a religious
message. These are hyper-real religions, a simulacrum of a religion partly created from a popular
culture that inspires believers/consumers. These post-modern expressions of religion are likely to
be consumed and individualized, thus more relevant to the self than a community and
congregation. On the other hand, religious fundamentalist associations manage, at times, to
maintain this synergy between popular culture and religion, and at other times, re-appropriate
popular culture to promote their religion. Examples of this re-appropriation are Christian
superhero comics and role-playing games, Bible-based PC games, and 'White Metal' music.

Exploring these new phenomena, religion and culture is still expanding from the
numerous insights that all this information and this book views itself as the 'hyper-real testament'
of these new religious aspects by addressing the theories, among many others, and by exploring
the use of fictions such as those from Harry Potter, The Matrix, Star Trek, Buffy and The Lord of
the Rings.

WHAT IS THE INFLUENCE OF POP CULTURE IN RELIGION?

Because of the exploration in the intervals running along with the outlines of religion and
popular culture, one must not underestimate the representation and praxis of religious
representation in popular culture and vice-versa. 

There was a time when popular culture and religious region did not meet with an
academic preference or logical sense. The space between, around, and interpenetrating each was
comparatively unexplored.  Religion in Popular Culture came into that gap with the contention
that to understand American religion today, like prominent people, we must enter the interstitial
spaces — the borderlands — that mount the barriers between religion and popular culture.
Today, the range of religious and popular culture studies is rich in both depth and diversity. From
exploring popular culture as a "hyper-real" religion to examining aesthetics and secular religion,
audience-centered surveys of media, and delineation of "authentic fakes," the research on
religion and popular culture is varied voracious.

Recognizing that the field among those two influential aspects is fluid and that
observations of present widespread culture phenomena can be obsolete almost as quickly as they
were relevant, the emerging positive impacts still correlate with pop culture and religion. They
tend to compensate for the critical rule of this societal evolution. The principles at play in this
meticulous approach to religion and popular culture still stand.

Popular culture is essential for the perception of religion and pop culture because of the
de-institutionalization and the concomitant rise of alternative, various, and atypical religious
conglomerations and practices. The hybrid that proliferates in the contact, cooperation, co-
option, and conflict that differs and that is existing between religion and popular culture offers an
ample opportunity for resonant readings of religion in the 21st-century, which also uses virtual
significations.

Indeed, religion and popular culture are involved in distinctive and dialectic ways of
interacting and interpenetrative feedback. Religion manifests itself in popular culture, popular
culture manifests itself through the multimedia age that creates religious memes, religion
responds to popular culture's symbols, and popular culture reacts to religion. Nevertheless, the
two cannot be so efficiently separated into separate sections. Religion and popular culture are
frequently mixed up but entangle a good relationship in today's future age.

WHAT ARE THE UNDERLYING CONFLICTS OF POP CULTURE AND RELIGION?

Through such a dominant approach of religion and relatively accepted by the media,
through pop culture, a glimpse to more primary, ancient, and even ontological interests can help
explain the Christian anxiety with the media because pop culture is severe from different
domains.

Media and religion are institutions composed mainly of ardent, hard-working people who
believe in what they do; they represent pop culture in today's world as a religion, but religion
can’t be done precisely what pop culture pertains to. ''Belief'' is recognized here as something
more profound and more critical than just employing up to a list of observations about the
presence of gods or press ordinances but believing in gods or press guides means trusting those
sources and acting in a particular way the basis of that knowledge.

In practice, religious and media people often neglect to do that, and their failures prevent
them. Another area of potential conflict between religion and media pertains to ''the source. The
multi-dimensional analysis of religion is often the ''source'', rather than the ''content'' that divides
religious and non-religious people. Journalists will often call upon ''experts'' to comment on a
story because they understand that familiarity can and is conceived through education, training,
and practice. Such authorities are typically schooled in universities or academies in some
manner. Religious people may observe those secular sources with suspicion and ridicule the
research that backs the experts' claims.

The final area of conflict is suggested is that the claim to legitimate authority. Not only
do media and religion tell their chosen story, but they also describe why the events occurred.
Media professionals see themselves as authentic critics on what happens and why; because the
creation of pop culture beyond media is exemplified in a prevalent manner; the film and music
industry used by the society to make a profound way of where they can express themselves
through a more creative and famous way. Notably, an Oscars awarding or a k-pop concert
occurs, or even when events are surprising or disturbing, journalists, columnists, and leader
writers excite the community they rush to offer explanations and relative comments that pleases
the entire entertainment industry, they become more different from the influence of pop culture.
From the religious community, the sudden implied change from notable change and garnering
prevalence of spreading the word of God is vital, and, taking a quasi-religious role, alters and
tries to shape anarchy into order. This is all seen within the people's advocacy within their
beliefs, and matters are traditionally seen as the province of the religious leader, in shaping
recurring acting with a prophetic voice.
 The media calls this process ''analysis''; religions call it ''theodicy''. A humanistic analysis
will concentrate on human-oriented details such as mental health, belief, idealism, ideology, or
social conditions by way of explanation. A religious (or monotheistic) explanation may explain
why an all-powerful, all-loving God would permit such things to happen and consider a proper
religious response. This may include praying, reflecting, reaching out to others on inter-faith
networks, charity, and, ultimately, converting people from Islam to Christianity to advocate for
better religious life.

The variations and regions of conflict between religion and the media, especially in pop
culture, appear to be interchanging, overlapping, and irreconcilable. They could be improved
when each side understands the other's equally defensible claim or adheres to their doctrine that
the truth they speak is sacred. Popular aspects are not reckoned, especially when they understand
''sacred'' as something that is, argued, as non-negotiable for the two different groups of people
each claim that their truth is non-negotiable, problems are inevitable between truth and reality.

CONCLUSION/INSIGHTS

In the contemporary living of humankind in the 21st century, popular culture plays a vital
role in our lives, especially youth. Hence, future teachers and all adults must be more acquainted
and involved in advancing our critical understanding of everything we read, watch and hear in all
sorts of media than the youth to guide them properly in attaining more accurate and holistic
knowledge inside or outside the classroom. When discussing religion, many people have
different perspectives about religious beliefs and how to approach them. Religion is grouped into
different sections: religion and spirituality, religion and philosophy, and religion and politics.
Religion has many different views from different cultures because everyone approaches it
differently with different beliefs also. To make something religious is to have some belief in
God, but everyone’s belief is different depending on the culture of someone.

While figuring out what pop culture is, it is essential to look at the word “popular” to help
someone find the answer. The word “popular” comes from the Latin word “Populus,” which
means “people.” Pop culture widened its limit during the end of the 20th century, especially in
the 21st century. The idea of a general mass of people shapes pop culture. It influences people
and their way of life. Religion is also one way that Influences the latter, and it creates a widened
and more changed way that paved the way to more innate belongingness with the one and true
God

Popular culture controls the way people interact with each other. One’s everyday activity
depends on this culture greatly. To sum up, some things are prevalent, and some things seem to
be popular. Everything changes; even pop culture and religion will intercorrelate with each other
because of societal change that has been happening throughout the centuries. Over time, popular
things would be changed by new popular things as we believe in it faithfully.