Celebrity Culture and Popular Religiosity (Religion- Group 2)

Our group has chosen to look at the role of religious topics and issues in the life's of celebrities. For us to better understand the topic it was important to answer the question, " How does the media present or communicate religious feelings of celebrities?". We will be looking at the numerous aspects of religious activity, dedication, and belief. In order to answer the question in depth we will also look at tradition and popular culture as portrayed as a celeb.

Sources:

John Maltby (2004). Celebrity and Religious Worship: A Refinement. The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied. (pp. 286 - 288).

In this article Maltby speculates on the possible relationship between celebrity worship and religious worship. Its stated that a close relationship between attitudes toward famous persons
and attitudes toward religion may not be obvious, there are theoretical arguments proposing possible relationships between these. He later states previous findings to show a "negative relationship" between celebrity worship and religiosity.

Sachin Tendulkar, Cricket and Indian Nationalisms (2005). SPORT, CELEBRITY AND POPULAR CULTURE. (pp. 433-446)

The key issue in this article was the importance of celebrity display of popular culture which in turn can stem to beliefs about values and religion. Particular sporting celebs such as Tiger Woods and David Becham were mentioned because they are not just athletes they are considered celebrities and role models. We would use this article to research the way people are influenced by "icons".

Douglas V. Porpora (2006). Personal heroes, religion, and transcendental metanarratives.Springer Netherlands. (pp. 209-229)

This article will be used for sociological interest in popular culture, also how the "hero types" lauded by the media from situation comedies to movies, books, and magazines. All which have involved celebrities. Do people today have personal hero's? Of course, does that influence their views of religion?

Alexandria "Nicole" Howell-Moore