A people's religion: Democratization of spirit, entertainment theology, the contours of religion in the postsecular

This dissertation demonstrates the mood and landscape of popular religious expression in the present postsecular time. It identifies the dominant expression of religion, namely spirituality, which in the postsecular manifests itself as a people's religion, the result of the democratization of spirit through the new globalized cultural imaginary. I argue that this democratization of the religious impulse represents an evolution rather than revolution of the religious impulse and that this evolutionary shift manifests in numerous and diverse ways, primarily through the medium of globalized popular culture.; This dissertation gathers together the new religious impulse under the heading of rhizomic sacralization and then seeks to identify the dominant means of religious expression into manageable categories. These are: postmodern gothic; westernized Asian thought; rational mysticism, the marriage of religion and science, and the rise of resistant communities.; The methodology employed to gather information was a mixture of cultural studies, anthropology, and cultural criticism used to explore various aspects of popular culture such as novels, motion pictures, television, popular music, and fashion. Entertainment theology is the term I have applied to my results and it is presented as a viable means for discourse and engagement in postmodern religion.; In light of these evolutions in religious impulse I argue for a missional and theological response by the Christian community in order to engage the present situation in a viable way. This is accomplished by a move into the current religious expression and the manifestation of Christian faith not as a religion of the past, but one of the present and the future. It must derive its missional impetus from the democratization of its own mediation, the diffusion of the message by the people, not contingent upon centralized authority, but on the wind of the true Spirit.