Gary Laderman discusses offbeat "religions"—including Oprah's devotees
Tupac Shakur is alive and well today. With multiple album releases after his death and a legacy filled with religious imagery, the West Coast legend maintains a post-mortem presence in the devotional lives of his fans. Dozens of websites continue to promote Tupac’s “spirit, legacy and truth,” even 13 years after his death. In the book Sacred Matters: Celebrity Worship, Sexual Ecstasies, The Living Dead, and Other Signs of Religious Life in the United States, author Gary Laderman shows that this is just one example of the many unconventional religions sweeping through America.
From Oprah’s discipleship program to the rituals of the Super Bowl, he contends that for centuries past, U.S. religious life has been moving outside of churches and into movie theaters, dances clubs and sports arenas. Rather than suggesting these cultural centers simply have spiritual undertones, he says they are actual religions with elements of the sacred. For example, in the way that many Catholics travel to Vatican City, he argues, Elvis fans make an annual pilgrimage to Graceland and offer devotion to The King.
“Today, religious practices and commitments emanate from unlikely sources: science and the pursuit of truth; music and the social effervescence at concerts; funeral spectacles and sexual compulsion,” Laderman writes. “These and other areas of fascination and fixation, often intermingled with fear and trembling, awe and faith, speak to the breadth and depth of religious cultures in America.”
As an interesting analysis of American film culture, Laderman shows how early Disney movies such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio and Cinderella convey a great deal about life and meaning in 20th century America. The films’ young, innocent protagonists must confront evil figures and often overcome them through miraculous, myth-like interventions. Snow White, for instance, defeats the evil queen after the prince resurrects her from “sleeping death” and takes her to live happily ever after in a sky castle. Thus, the film affirms the moral order of good over evil, salvation and domestic happiness without mentioning God. Laderman then conveys how Americans can get their fix of “the sacred” apart from conventional religion.
The book, which is divided into sections of culture, provides similar analysis of music, celebrities, medicine, sexuality, sports, death and other cultural trends. As a professor of American Religious History and Cultures at Emory University, Laderman continually draws parallels between these trends and specific dogmas and rituals of other religions. He shows how rave parties and their code of PLUR (peace, love, unity and respect) are derived from Christianity and Native American traditions. He doesn’t take a stance on whether these sacred matters are good or evil, but rather discusses them in a way you would expect from a college professor. Although he seems to carry a certain cynicism toward aspects of faith, his insights make Sacred Matters thought provoking for any reader.
