UU Young Adults say "Turn off TV"
Turn off the TV
and tune in community, faith
Saturday, May 28, 2005 - Bangor Daily
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I recently spoke with a friend in the media industry who
insisted that television has become more powerful than
God.
Now, as you might imagine, this statement was issued
expressly as a move in the taunt-the-minister game.
My
longtime friends - smart, savvy men and women in their early 30s who
live in large cities and work in media, computers, publishing and
the ever-expanding service industry - never tire of throwing down
the popular culture gauntlet and watching me take up the
challenge.
On this occasion I did not disappoint, but sallied
bravely into battle, insisting that religion - be it liberal or
conservative, Christian, Unitarian Universalist, Islamic, Buddhist,
Hindu or Jewish - was more powerful than the televised media, and
that the innate spiritual nature of human beings would always win
out over the most intoxicating televised drama, factual or
fictionalized.
And, I have to tell you: I lost this
fight.
These women and men, some with families, some single,
are exactly the people we would like to attract to our religious
communities.
They are independent, both financially and
intellectually, educated, earnest, deeply concerned about the world,
and longing for empowerment and insight. Perhaps you know people
like them. Perhaps you are one.
These "young adults," as we
term them in Unitarian Universalism, will tell you that they are not
"religious." And, they do spend a lot of time watching awards shows,
HBO dramas, local newscasts, CNN, political commentaries and
comedies, sitcoms, and "Lost." They get both their stock and news
updates via the Internet. They are motivated by good causes and
often politically liberal, but they don't vote. They never come to
church, mosque or synagogue.
In the lives of this segment of
the population, both liberal and conservative, and in the lives of
many other groups in our American culture, television is more
powerful than God, or, certainly, more
influential.
Television dictates behavior, dress, artistic
preferences and future trends. Certainly there are charismatic and
fundamentalist megachurches able to buck this trend, able to attract
young adults through a huge variety of programming and what some of
us might feel are questions to answers of faith too easily given and
received.
But for most mainline churches, and many
synagogues, this loss of the young and upcoming crowd to the secular
religion of media is of grave concern. Not only do we feel the drain
of this trend on our religious communities, we feel its inevitable
influence on our society as a whole.
While the religious and
political right rises, often using the televised media to get its
message broadcast locally, nationally and internationally, liberal
and moderate mainstream Americans remain underrepresented in both
broadcast and print media, without any visible movement toward
changing that trend.
One answer to this dilemma is to change
the media, make them more representative of our varied cultural,
political and religious voices, hold them accountable to the
mainstream and liberal views of America, demanding truth and
integrity in reporting and a separation from corporate ownership and
sponsorship of radio, news, television shows and film.
In
this scenario, media continue to reign supreme, but their
dictatorship becomes more benevolent.
There's another
solution.
It is the acknowledgment by smart and savvy men and
women that even moderates and liberals can and do worship at the
altars of false gods.
We might think hard about our loyalties
and priorities and deduce that no television show in the world, no
matter how entertaining, insightful, newsworthy or culturally
influential, can fulfill the human desire to achieve spiritual
knowledge about ourselves, our attachment to and communion with the
divine, and our desire for loving connection with other human
beings.
The place to achieve that kind of communion and
community is at our local church, synagogue, mosque or temple.
Contrary to popular belief, joining in the spiritual journey at one
of these places will not limit our smarts or savvy or inhibit our
intellectual or financial freedom, but will enhance our ability to
gain insight, make changes, live kindly upon the earth and join in
the struggle for justice in our neighborhoods, cities and
states.
Sure, the hilarity of "The Daily Show" with Jon
Stewart can let you enjoy a short-lived satirical catharsis, but
only a deeply spiritual community can give you the ability to
sustain your sense of humor in the face of both triumph and
tragedy.
And, yes, CNN can tell you what's in the news, but
your local religious community can teach you how to be part of it -
a real and active part of the pulsating human drama that invites and
involves us all. Turn off the TV - join in the show.
Jennifer
Emrich-Shanks is student minister at Castine Unitarian Church. She
may be reached through bdnreligion@bangordailynews.net. Voices is a
weekly commentary by Maine columnists who explore issues affecting
spirituality and religious life.
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