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Article: The Morality and Politics of Consumer Religion: How Consumer Religion Fuels the Culture Wars in the United States.(Report)
- Article from:
- Journal of Religion and Popular Culture
- Article date:
- September 22, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Scott Kline University of Waterloo
Abstract
In his book Consuming Religion (2003) Vincent J. Miller demonstrates how consumer capitalism has been able to commodify religious rituals, symbols, and figures and market them to consumers seeking self-improvement, individual enlightenment, and/or greater spirituality. His thesis is that "consumer religion" is emblematic of a radically transformed social relationship created by consumer capitalism. This article focuses on an element of consumer religion missing in Miller's argument; that is, how commodified, consumer religion enables certain conservative political leaders to claim a tradition as their ...