Material Religion: Using Real Objects to Authenticate Fake Religion

Our discussions this week emphasized the dualities inherent in religion such as fake versus authentic and concrete versus abstract; contradicting concepts that are heavily dependent on each other. In order to make a religion authentic, we call on existing physical objects to use as props in order to help us achieve a transcendental state. We see this reliance on material objects in every form of religion, both fake and authentic. In Seinfeld’s Festivus, a metal pole replaces the Christmas tree. Kumaré carries the Ohm staff. Children gather around a Christmas tree to collect gifts and sports fans buy jerseys and baseball caps to support their favorite teams. The nativity scene remains a key symbol in the Catholic religion. On The Daily Show Jon Stewart ridicules one news reporter’s rant that a festivus pole was put up in front of a nativity scene in Florida. She obsesses as if having full access to a plastic nativity setup is the only way to celebrate her faith in god. 

            Chidester specifically notes the growing significance of material possessions in American pop-culture: “ human identity and community… have been focused on material objects… invested with transcendent power and sacred significance, the consumer product has emerged as the modern fetish, the object of religious desire in a capitalist economy.” The role of the object has transformed from helping to establish the religion, to becoming the religion. Chidster uses Coke and the company's museum as an example. Coke is a product everyone can enjoy, from the President of the United States, to an average teenager. It is the ultimate symbol of community, togetherness, and equality.

            So if studying religion is a means of considering human behavior, then what can we draw from our reliance on material objects to authenticate religion and find inner peace? Do we consider this just one more ruinous consequence of consumer America leading us down a doomed path? Should we be wary that these new “meccas” are built by large corporations just to take money from their “followers'” pockets? Or like any other fake religion we have discussed, do the ends justify the means? Do people just gravitate towards material objects because they are accessible and facilitate togetherness? If Americans can find happiness from celebrating these commodities, does the process through which that happiness is achieved really matter at all?