Author Description

Throughout American history, religious movements have repeatedly proved themselves to be powerful forces capable of masterfully manipulating the social and political landscape of the nation. Key to the influence religious organizations have historically held in the United States is their use of communication technologies. In this vivid account, Christopher Boerl and Katie Donbavand adroitly weave a rich narrative illuminating the effects various historical phenomena have had and the reactionary religious response which followed. Through shifting social norms and political realities, the authors also show the role media has played in nurturing religious movements and fanaticism. Broadcast media in particular is identified as a unique conduit through which the now dominant, conservative articulation of Christianity both took root in the United States and flourished as an imposing cultural standard. More recently, new communication technologies, such as the Internet and social media, have usurped the reign of broadcast media. In so doing, these technologies are serving as a form of religious pluralization and theological fragmentation. In short, new communications technologies are fragmenting a once homogenous religious body, and, in so doing, proving that some gods are more powerful than others.