Should religion use pop culture to teach?

[RUDUing2]

Does this *make it more relevant* to everyday life or does it *cheapen* religion?
How Madonna and `The Simpsons' Are Teaching College
Students Religion
A New York professor uses the "The Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy to illustrate the philosophic principles in J.R.R. Tolkien's literary work. A Maryland professor teaches students about the concept of devotion as it relates to the Virgin Mary and her pop-icon namesake, Madonna. A California professor's students gather on Sundays, at his request, to watch "The Simpsons" and discuss the cartoon's spiritual themes. Colleges across the country are incorporating pop culture to teach about those oh-so-serious topics of religion and philosophy. This media-aware generation of college students knows TV. They love movies. Scholars and students alike say present-day entertainment can make ancient thought fun to learn. Michele M. Melendez uncovers this trend in a 1,200-word story with photos scheduled to move the week of Feb. 21.

www.religionnews.com/coming_up.html

[Goblinmonger]

1. Thoughts of an English Teacher

Hey, good luck to them. I see the Tolkien bit. His work, like Star Wars, is pretty basic biblical good vs. bad. The other stuff seems a stretch. Madonna doesn't seem like her stuff is a devotion as much as a satire. The Simpsons are pretty anti-established religion. But, hey, religious right not getting the point of something. Color me surprised.

[Az]

2. I can't imagine how it wouldn't

The very basis of story telling is to convey a moral or ethical concept. Take a look at all the ancient legends. The very structure of story telling is based on arriving at a lesson.

[Frogtutor]

3. Absolutely

Same holds true in the school classroom; if you want people (especially children) to learn, enjoy learning, and make it stick, you've got to make the subject relevant to everyday life. Otherwise, people in general will decide it's not worth knowing if they can't make real-life connections to it.

It is my belief that institutions that refuse to change and grow with the times are destined to fail, or fade away.

[kwassa]

4. the preachers

I was talking with a young woman fundamentalist who thought Lord of the Rings was basically a Christian story. I don't see it, but hey, whatever.

I read an article about six months ago on preachers talking about what made an effective sermon. All the successful ones said that it was key to relate the Biblical text to what was going on in the daily lives of the parishioners, rather than simply explaining stories from two thousand years ago. They also needed to highlight the big themes and the big messages.

On the other hand, some of these new churches have big audio-visual ministries with contempory Christian music that I find fairly nauseating.

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. IMO, tying religion to the Simpsons

cheapens the Simpsons.

[supernova]

6. It's all good

I don't think there's anything wrong with using modern-day references to teach the Bible. It's how we connect to those ancient writings. Contraru to popular perception, they were not any more "God-centered" than we are.

To say it another way, I wouldn't be surprised to learn Jesus enjoys anime.

It's how we see the continuity between the past, the present and the future.

As for Madonna, I think she does bring up important issues because she is trying to work things out in her mind. We get to go along for the ride.