Robert
Pen
Divyadaan: Salesian Institute of Philosophy, Nashik
Paper Title: “Understanding the Role of
Religion in a Media-Centric Society.”
Abstract
There have been large scale studies on the topic ‘Impact of media’. But
very few have focused on the area of religion. Usage of media is a part of the
humdrum of our lives. It is one thing to understand the effects of media, but
understanding the foundational change brought about by media is a totally
different topic. Religion in general has been at the foundations of any society
or social structure. Over the years both mass media and religion have
intertwined with each other. Hence, this research is to analyze the change
brought about in religion due to the influence of mass media and what can
religion do to enter into a creative dialogue with the mass media. To this
effect, the first part deals mainly in answering the foundational question of
media having affected religion and presents a comparative report of the effect
of media. We cannot just stop here and hence we move on to recognize the
challenges that religion has to face from the media world in the second part.
It discusses issues and makes a few comments for reflection over the
pervasiveness of media. The third part of the paper is the most important of
all the three parts. It presents the role of religion in the possible and
necessary reform of media which by nature is value-neutral. It is not a
remedy-provision, but rather a step towards being more media conscious and
participative, which leads to the final conclusion of this paper.
Robert Pen, sdb, from Divyadaan: Salesian Institute of Philosophy, Nashik holds a doctorate in Philosophy of Communication
from Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Some of his important
publications are Critical Understanding of Social
Communication: Communication for Pastoral Leadership - book
2 (2010)
andCommunication for Communion:
Communication as Mutual Self-Mediation in Context (2012).