Is the Language of Popular Culture a Threat to Christianity? The New Phenomena of Polish Religious Discourse in the First Decades of the Twenty-first Century

Abstract

Religious communication doesnt remain indifferent to commercialization and homogenization of culture. The new evangelizations aim to adjust religious discourse to the 21st century mans experience should respect restrictions in the implementation language, genres and icons of pop culture to religious communication. In the paper the author is analysing products of contemporary Catholic religious culture, such as Internet evangelizing mems and everyday articles (e.g. kitchen accessories, clothes, which serve as means of conveying religious contents) or contemporary devotional items and gadgets (e.g. biblical excerpts in shape of „chewing Bible” or prayer books similar to pharmaceutical products). The author shows threats standing behind fitting religious discourse to pop culture and commercial standards: practising of evangelization in an intellectually not demanding and pragmatic way wont result in spiritual development. Introducing religious content into the popular cultures context may promote it, but it also distorts it.