Televangelists are more and more commonplace, especially since Postman's writing of this book. The preacher is the focus, and the sermons serve as just another form of televised entertainment. This is not the fault of the preachers themselves, but rather the fault of television as a medium and its biases. Religion is something that is truly untelevisable because it loses its purpose when broadcast in this way. The delivery of the message changes the message itself. Television simply doesn't enforce the state of mind that Postman says is necessary for a religious experience because you can watch that sermon the same way we watch any other television show.
There is also the money. These religious programs make as much money as many other non-religious programs. They have the same production value, their preachers are attractive just like any other main character elsewhere on television. By delivering Christianity as something easy to swallow and easy to understand, it undermines the religion itself. God plays a second role to the entertainment value of the program. God is in our minds, whereas the preacher is immediately available to be idolized.
If it is entertaining, does that mean that religion isn't working?
Is this simply an example of moving into the modern age, or what are the even higher implications?
Does the same hold true for other religions, or has only Christianity been commercialized this way?
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