35 Televangelism

Chayanika Priyam

Introduction

This module deals with the phenomenon of televangelism that has merged the domains of television and religion in contemporary times. By undertaking an analysis of televangelist practices across contexts, one can ascertain the changing conditions of the cultural, economic and political landscapes under neoliberal contexts. It then becomes important and fruitful to probe the shifts in such domains to study the interlinkages and distinctions of televangelism across the global, local and glocal scales. A study of this kind is also a way of looking at alternative accounts of identity formations and negotiations that is parallel and yet distinct from the accounts of identification emerging from the experiences in the West. Here we try and understand the similarities and distinctions in the accounts by undertaking a situated analysis of televangelism in different contexts.

Contestation, consumption and commodification have been a significant aspect of late modernity, and televangelism is an emerging site of struggle in this context. Televangelism has evolved since its conception three decades ago in US. Televangelism, today, is no longer confined to the media networks in the US. Its scope is now both global and local, as media networks and technologies are interacting and expanding globally and are impacting local religious beliefs and practices. It is a practice that is not simply reacting to the religious sentiments of its practitioners rather is also aiding and inflecting them. (Thomas & Lee 2012) it is this particular dimension of televangelism that must acquire some attention for the sociologists of religion. The question can legitimately be raised as to whether such a practice involving media technologies and the practice of religion come together in order to substitute for the ongoing decline of religious practice among the practitioners of mainstream religion or whether it slots itself in a particular space that not only enhances the engagement of existing practitioners but also widens its net to include newer sections of the populace for whom religion may actually come to acquire a new engagement that is borne out by such an engagement between televangelism and its media publics. Clearly what is at work here is not only the way media technologies are enhancing the scope and reach of traditional religious practices but in many ways televangelism points to a new practice within existing religious practices that sustain and reproduce a new set of engagements that are directly targeted at the commodification and consumption of religion within a market scenario. The matrix of digital convergence, globalization of religion ushering in marketing and branding of religion has aided the spread of televangelism. (James 2010) This has brought several new concerns in the field of media and religion studies. Though the figure of the preacher has given rise to a cult of religious leaders, now we also have products and programmes branded as spiritual offerings being telecasted round the world. Inspired by the intricate media networks of US televangelism, spiritual entrepreneurship has grown into a formidable business across religions. The practices of televangelism in its specificities thus have held forth in media networks at a moment when the boundaries between religious and material commodity are increasingly being blurred. The creative appropriation of media technologies for religious broadcasting by spiritual leaders and groups and the market at large, thus, requires a critical analysis of the evolving mode of mediated preaching referred to as televangelism, both in terms of its conceptual and empirical bearings and outcomes.

Furthermore as televangelism moves southwards, the rise of religious celebrities is perhaps reflective of restoration of faith in the face of disillusionment with the promise of secular reason, lack of justice, and the crushing neoliberal dream of prosperity even as they appropriate the tools of an emerging political economy centered on communicative technologies. As such, increasingly, religion proposed by the televangelists is deemed as vehicles of social and political emancipation. (Thomas and Lee 2012) This has brought to the fore concerns over the efficacy of religious thought and practices as an antidote to disenchantment with modern times, therefore its role in social and political transformation as opposed to the emancipation promised by secular ideals in modern times

Hence there are two ways to look at the impact of televangelism: in terms of its commodification and consumption practices and secondly, in the manner in which it is being upheld as a tool of social and political transformation. Though both the processes are linked, it is important to analyze both as constituent of a larger project of mediating interests in the public life. One important emphasis of this module is to highlight the eclectic ways in which televangelism is studied, whether as reinforcing traditional authority, or challenging privileged positions through the figures of new religious authorities.

In this context, the structure of the module has been designed to highlight the major themes of the debates on televangelism in academia. For this purpose, the module has been divided into four sections. The first section undertakes a brief history of televangelism in the Western context and its role in being a form of religious identification for its practitioners. The second section highlights the ways in which televangelist practices have shaped and been shaped in its encounter with the forces of commodification and a consumer culture. The third section attempts to underline the political significance of the rise in televangelist efforts across states. In doing so, it hopes to raise concerns over the scholarly neglect of the domain of televangelism that is often seen artificial and superfluous (Thomas & Lee 2012). The fourth section delves deeper into the practice of televangelism in the Indian context through a select reading of case studies undertaken in India.

Section I

History of Televangelism and religious identification

This section will aim at tracing the history of televangelism, and its role as a form of religious identification. In order to do so, the works of Hadden and Swann (1988), Frankl (1987) and Schultze (1987) have been listed. It will look at the different ways in which televangelism has been understood by the above-mentioned scholars. In brief, televangelism, according to Hadden and Swann (1981), is a hybrid concept (fusing the terms ‘television’ and ‘evangelism’) that refers to the use of television as a means of propagating the messages of faiths to masses. The works of Hadden and Shupe (1988) trace the rise of televangelism to the revivalist movements of nineteenth century America. Frankl (1987) attributes it to the revival of ministries of Charles Finney, Dwight Moody and Billy Sunday. Schultze (1987) argues that the era of televangelism must be seen in the context of the American Dream propagating ideas of success, technological utopia, and so on.

Sociologist Jeffrey K. Hadden coined the term ‘televangelism’ in reference to the phenomenon of evangelist broadcasting occurring in the wake of the deregulation of the U.S. broadcasting system. In the 1920s, though religious programs were included in the radio station broadcasting in the U.S., it was considered to create “headaches” (Hadden 1993: 115) However beginning in the 1960s, with the deregulation of radio and television stations, several evangelists began to view technology as a medium to spread their messages to the masses. Around this time, there were networks of religious broadcasting being formed such as the Christian Broadcasting Network founded by Pat Robertson, networks by Paul Crouch and Jim Bakker and so on.

Moreover, televangelist practices are in tandem with the emphasis on the individual in neoliberal times (Frankl 1997). It promotes the idea of salvation resting on individual pursuits and efforts rather than being solely defined by God’s grace. The rising power of the visual manifested in the popularity of televisions sets and now the social media appendages have managed to garner a mass for the consumption of televangelist messages. Here it is redefining the way people experience and practice religiosity. For an insight into this discussion, Frankl’s (1987, 1997) texts are useful.

Further in the late 1980s, the world of televangelism was shaken by a series of financial and sexual scandals. But as can be perceived by the continuing growth of televangelism in regions and religions apart from the West (See James 2010, 2012, Thomas and Lee 2012), televangelism now needs to be understood against the changing scapes of commodification, consumerism and contestations.

Section II

Commodification, Consumption and the Branding of Religion in Televangelism

Televangelism was popularized in the US during the era of the 1960s marked by a competitive, deregulated, commercial television ambit. It continued to dominate for the next two decades. Here Jeffrey Hadden’s article on the rise and fall of televangelism in America addresses the structural outlets for religious broadcasting, namely, the broadcasting network structures and the role of the local religious television stations. He attributes the survival of religious broadcasting to these two structures. However in the era of globalization, one needs to think beyond communication structures in terms of simply technological advancements. There is a redefinition of cultural and political spaces, experienced through the processes of commodification and consumption.

This section will engage the readers in a cross-textual analysis of the manner in which television has shaped religious practices and markets. Through a careful reading of the suggested texts, an attempt will be made to understand the interlinkages between contemporary forms of televangelism and its impact on shaping religion as a discourse and a brand—as a consumable entity available to public life. While one needs to acknowledge that there has always been a ‘material’ aspect to religions, televangelism in the age of globalization has initiated and reproduced packages of religion as inhabiting spaces of cultural production such as shopping centres, sport stadiums and so forth.

The debates on commodification of religion and the role of televangelism however are not without contestations. Thomas (2008), in this context, highlights the debate as that of whether commodification hinters the spiritual or whether it enhances the spiritual in a context wherein the consumer negotiates between the use value and the status value of the product, in this case, religion. Here while the works of Sinha (2010) aim to highlight the emotive and social value of commodified religion as in the case of religious objects such as flowers and perfumes used in the everyday that enhance the spiritual domain, Thomas& Lee (2012) warns against the overarching logic of commodification of religion to diversify and strengthen one’s personal fortunes and empires.

Another strand of debate deals with the issue of branding and rebranding faith. Here the role of popular culture is implicated in crafting a version of religion that is accessible to the audience at large. Indian televangelist Baba Ramdev among others is an example of such trends. In illustrating the brand of Baba Ramdev, Thomas and Lee (2012) point out that,

“They are nationally and globally recognized brands whose messages and products tap into the religious needs of the middles classes in particular, and whose ministries facilitate the communication of an accessible god… In the case of Baba Ramdev, yoga—a traditional Indian exercise for the mind and body—has become the basis for a multi-million-dollar health and well-being empire.” (Thomas and Lee 2012: 6)

Thus it is important to study the ways in which televangelism has been commodified through its production and reproduction across platforms.

Section III

Televangelism and the Political Project: Contesting Meanings

The substance of televangelism, now, cannot be dismissed as artificial processes. Though televangelism was conceived of in the US, today, world religions at large have embraced it to further their spread and impact. It is now defined and shaped by movements and expressions legitimate in their own right. Thus there is a need to understand the working of these cultural and political expressions in their context. By doing so, one can hope to understand the potential of televangelist efforts in situations of harmonizing or debilitating solidarities. This has led to myriad ways in which religions have been recasted through the lens of televangelism. This section aims at bringing out debates and case studies of this phenomenon. The televangelism operating in Hindu and Islamic traditions, for instance, though influenced by its Western counterparts in self-help religions, however, have its own hybrid characteristics reflective of the particular context. At the same time, it problematizes a simplistic binary of the global and the local, as will be exemplified in the case studies undertaken in this section.

In order to study televangelism in the context of Islamic traditions, the work of Echchiabi (2007) dealing with the phenomenon of self-help gurus in Kuwaiti Islamic channels, Dorothea Schulz (2003) work on mediation of Islamic public discourse by the Muslim movement Ansar Dine in Mali will be undertaken. The spread of televangelism in the Indian context will be dealt with by referring to the works of Jonathan D. James (2010, 2012), Santanu Chakrabarti (2012). Through the works of the above, one hopes to highlight the simultaneous process of rejection of religious authority and its remediation by new authority as undertaken by televangelist practices. These processes too are differentiated on the basis of the context, for instance, while on the one hand, in the context of Judaic faiths, there is a tussle to spread messages to audiences who are looking at religion in line with the era, on the other hand, the proliferation of new sources of religious authorities in the form of godmen and godwomen have not challenged Hinduism rather provided a fascinating appendage to Hinduism. However this is not to argue that attempts at criticizing the new-age gurus haven’t emerged from within the folds of Hinduism.

Here the seminal work of Jonathan D. James titled “McDonaldisation, Masala McGospel & Om Economics: Televangelism in Contemporary India” provides an entry point into the debates on the concerns over forms of televangelist practices in the South Asian context by relating it to questions of power and politics. He examines the changing forms and style of preaching in churches in India by understanding the shift in the landscape in terms of the entry of television and its influence on the Protestant Church and Hindu community in India. Both, Christian televangelism and Hindu televangelism will be discussed through this reading enriched with examples from case studies. Other works such as that of Mankekar (1999, 2002), Rajagopal (1993, 2001) are useful references in order to study the television culture in India. Mankekar looks at the close identification of television and religious identity in India along with the political bent of screening cultures by understanding the formation of ‘womanhood’ in a nation-state. Rajagopal discusses prolifically the impact of television on religious nationalism and the shaping of the Indian audience at large. What is important about Rajagopal’s work is the way in which he is able to show the role of media technologies in the construction of a religious nationalism which on the face of it might appear to be merely an act of engagement with religious symbolisms at the level of everyday life, but which in its deeper constructs provides the potent glue for uniting together a religious community across the length and breadth of a sub-continental geography which might never have been possible in the absence of such media construed technologies of religious nationalism. The screening of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata on Indian television made possible a form of cultural bonding across the length and breadth of India that would have remained forever impossible in the absence of such technologies. It is not surprising then that in the era of globalization that gets ushered in with the Indian economy strategically moving in the direction of neo-liberalism, one also observes the rise of a religious communitarianism both within the majority and the minority community that is hugely sustained by Gurus and Godmen. It is these communities that today also constitute the bulk of support that is obtained for religious nationalism not only in India but in different parts of the global south. To that extent it becomes problematic to evaluate the competing returns of media televangelism whether these be in the sphere of commodification and consumption or in the construction of what some might call a religious communitarianism. In either case, Rajagopal’s work points to the role of how religion as a cultural resource services the interest of dominant ideologies who control these media technologies.

Furthermore, closely related to this concern, is the role of the political economy in ushering certain types of televangelism. Here the role of the state and its relationship with minorities through legislative means play a crucial role in manufacturing religious capital. (Thomas and Lee 2012) For instance, in the case of India, the spread of Christianity television by Pentecostal evangelists has been attributed to a significant degree to the edging out of minority religions in state broadcasting. In this regard, essays in this section will also try to tease out the conditions and consequences of the political economy on televangelism.

Section- IV

Televangelism and the Indian Context

This section will study more closely the works on televangelism and its consequences in the Indian scenario. In the Indian context, the works of Jonathan D. James (2010, 2012), Philip Ninan Thomas (2012), Purnima Mankekar (1999, 2002), Arvind Rajagopal (1993, 2001) will be closely followed. Firstly it is important to study the conditions in India that makes the phenomenon of televangelism possible. As argued by James (2012), a context-based study of televangelism will highlight the “local needs, expectations, and aesthetics” (James 2012, 109) apart from the larger global project of televangelist efforts. In this context, the site of televangelist practice in India has been traced to the advent of the satellite television in the 1990s (James 2010). The work of Jonathan D. James is vital in entering the discussion on televangelism in India. In his work, televangelism, and in particular the case studies of his work focused on Christian televangelism in the South whereby he drew an Ritzerian analogy, describing the mixing of Indian and US gospel programmes as ‘Masala McGospel’ on the lines of McDonaldisation as he argues that the overarching structures of the global has a great influence on the local dynamics of televangelist practices. (James 2012). Here he suggests a shift in the practices of the Protestant church in India from its colonial moorings to the popular Christianity models of the US (See James 2010, 2012). Few of the instances of such a shift as elaborated by him includes the choice of chorus scores rather than hymns and the use of experiential pastoral techniques above preaching from texts. Furthermore, in another study by Chakrabarti (2012), a discussion on new-age televangelism practices in India is discussed. Here the figure of Baba Ramdev and his politics has been discussed extensively by undertaking a rigorous analysis of his shows, sermons, seminars and so on. A prime focus of this work is to highlight the manner in which new-age religious figures have played into a politics of poverty where on the one hand its practitioners include the rising urban middle class and on the other hand the workers from rural and urban centres. In this regard, Chakrabarti’s work highlights the neoliberal nature of televangelist propaganda and shifts the gaze from religious politics to politics of religion in a globalizing economy. In this context, it may be worth also mentioning that apart from Chakrabarti’s observation about the ideological function of Televangelism in a neo-liberal setting, more importantly, for these new age gurus like Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, televangelism is also a site in which they bring together the marketing concerns of their religious/health commodities in contact with the vast and growing population in both rural and urban areas who have emerged as their new-age audiences. Such strategies then illustrate how televangelism apart from its professed engagement with preaching the doctrinal messages of a given faith is deeply enmeshed in the structures of market business and capital to create vast empires of religious economies that often escape the attention of mainstream economist on grounds that such economies inhabit the presumably esoteric domains of religion and culture.

In order to further substantiate one’s understanding of televangelism in India, this section will address the ways in which the audience engages with the content and meaning of televangelist efforts. The Indian context is distinct in its own way as characterized by a secular foundation along with deep religious underpinnings. In this context, the work of Thomas and Mitchell (2005) has noted the reception of religious broadcasting by the Mar Thoma community in Kerela. Another crucial work in this field is by Thomas (2008) on Christian consumers of televangelism in Chennai.

In light of the above, the practice of gifting television sets to families of lower income has led to possibly greater access of individuals and groups to television channels. This can be observed in the case of Tamil Nadu. Further the entry of smartphones has led to decreased reliance on television to receive one’s news. Now with a click, one can access a wide array of entertainment and news networks. What this has meant is that televangelism is no longer only a phenomenon experienced through access to a television medium and network rather it is available round the clock across a plenitude of platforms. (Thomas and Lee 2012) This has led to an increasingly complex network of production, distribution and consumption of religious broadcasting across the world. Thomas and Lee (2012) in their critical analysis of the phenomenon of televangelism in India, argue, that the mobile operators have segmented the market in a four-way schematic order of ABCD, i.e., Astrology, Bollywood, Cricket and Devotion. These value-added services provide one an option to begin the day with a prayer; watch devotional videos telecasted live from shrines and so on. Further televangelism has provided a platform for the ‘secular; to be ‘sacralized’. This can be observed in the case of religious quizzes, shows and serials such as CBN’s Khushi Ki Duniya in India and Pakistan’s game show Alif, Laam, Meem, designed on the lines of the popular game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire, where the ultimate prize is pilgrimage deal to Mecca for two (Doherty 2011). Thus the recasting of religion in popular forms of culture has led to its further appeal to audiences. Hence, the new communicative technologies have been instrumental in creating an audience for televangelism in the public life.

Conclusion

Televangelism has all the trappings of fascination, hybridity, charisma and marketability evoked as a concept and practice in the age of late modernity. As highlighted in the above module design, it is then important to understand the appeal of this widespread fascination that is transforming the way people experience and conduct religion and business, both by the televangelists and entrepreneurs and for the audience at large. In this sense, televangelism has popularized the discourse of religion in societies by visualizing old and new rituals through the medium of television among other newer electronic participants. It has also been able to bridge a gap between the politically and economically separated audiences by catering to the needs and wishes across sections. In doing so it may have challenged traditional sources of authority and power in religious discourses bringing in complex contradictions and contestations, however one should not neglect the new codes of religious practice and authority that it has brought to the global and local field. Hence through a careful reading of the select texts as suggested throughout the module, the reader will be able to grasp these changing processes and make fruitful observations on the study of religion, media and society in India.

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