I can\u2019t remember the last time I listened to an entire album. I used to love listening to entire CDs. And because I only had a few, I knew everything about the artists. I think partially, I could go deeper and learn more about them because I wasn\u2019t exposed to as many. There weren\u2019t ways to learn about other artists or songs even if I wanted to. And also, I\u2019m not sure I even wanted to. Sometimes I would be too afraid to skip to my favorite songs because I was worried it would ruin my CDs. Outside of albums and Eps, the only other mediums of listening to music were through the radio or watching MTV after school. While they might have pulled songs from their original albums, to a certain extent I had no choice in what I was going to listen to. The digitization of music began to change that beginning with Napster and other illegal P2P file sharing networks. I could download all the albums and songs I wanted, when I wanted them. I couldn\u2019t even begin to imagine the change that streaming services like Spotify would eventually bring. Now, I can literally choose to listen to anything I want any time I want it. And I admit, I don\u2019t know much about the artists I listen to. I\u2019m not sure I can even bring myself to listen to an entire album. I get to pick and choose what I want to listen to and Spotify lifts it out of the context of the album, artist, and time and simply plays it in my ears to fill my desire.<\/p>\n
I think this represents particularly relevant phenomena that Vincent Miller highlights in his book, Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture. <\/em>He states that results of the commodification of religion (and really I think anything) results in abstraction and fragmentation. In regards to religion, it means that religious ideas, practices, and artifacts are\u00a0\u201cthrown into a cultural marketplace where they can be embraced enthusiastically but not put into practice\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n More broadly, Vincent Miller’s Consuming Religion is a book that explores the intersection of religion and popular culture. Miller argues that religion is not something that is separate from everyday life, but rather that it is embedded in the fabric of our everyday existence. His concluding thought seems to be that religion and popular culture are not two separate spheres, but rather that they are mutually reinforcing. He posits that religion can be used to promote consumer culture, and that consumer culture can be used to promote religion. What becomes clear is that the relationship between religion and popular culture is a complex one, and that it is important to understand this relationship in order to understand the world we live in. Miller says as much to begin his book. \u201cThis is not a book about religion against consumer culture; it is a book about the fate of religion in consumer culture\u201d[2]<\/a> Miller continues in his book to make it abundantly clear that consumer tendencies are inescapable because as we are bound to the economic, social, and cultural structures of the world we live in.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n In Chinese heritage churches, there seems to be an increasing tendency for younger, post 1st<\/sup> generation, Chinese-Americans to attend and serve at small Chinese churches and attend services at a larger church later and perhaps attend a small group gathering during the week tied to yet another church. There seems to be a fragmentation of different elements of one\u2019s faith and spirituality that separates concepts like teaching, serving, and fellowship. I think much of this has been spurred by felt needs that are implicitly and explicitly pushed by evangelical leaders and institutions. The idea that there are a set of basic needs that must be met causes us to either search forever for a church or to as many of these young Chinese-Americans have done, pick and choose where and how we might fulfill each need. As I consider whether or not this is of concern, I also consider another question: does this behavior diminish their sense of community, or does it simply broaden the community they get to experience?<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Vincent J. Miller, Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture<\/em> (Continuum, 2005), 28.<\/p>\n