Page 194 - Religion in the Media Age Media, Religion & Culture

Believers, dogmatists, and secularists 183

Like more socially conservative parents, then, Jan feels the pressure of the
ubiquitous, pervasive media, and wishes to see herself standing outside its
influence. In a certain way, Jan understands that her family is not that
different from many others in either their attitudes about media or their
media behaviors. In a way, there may even be a comfort for her in this
identification. When asked whether she thought others would find
anything to be uncomfortable about her family’s media behaviors, she
responds that, with the possible exceptions of films they might watch with
gay or lesbian themes, she doesn’t think so.
Jan: Some of the people I work with . . . have a more religious orientation,
and for some of them, I think any gay and lesbian issue is uncomfort-
able for them. And so watching a movie, even though it’s not sexual or
anything like that, would be uncomfortable for them. But generally,
most of the things we watch, most people wouldn’t have a problem
with that.
Interviewer: Do you feel that your spiritual beliefs influence your choices
about what you watch in the media and your rules for media use?
Jan: Do my beliefs influence what I watch? Yeah. I mean, I don’t tend to
like a lot of violence, and have a pretty non-violent approach and
belief system, and certainly don’t choose to watch those things. (Also)
I’m not likely to turn on Billy Graham or anything like that. (chuckles)

Vicky agrees with Jan about the general bent of media (dismissing most of
it as bad, negative, violent, and exploitative) and about the notion that
their values, if gauged by the media, are out of step with the majority of
the culture. “Our society is going off the deep end,” she concludes. She
also believes that the fact that they are a lesbian family does not make
much of a difference in their attitudes about media culture.

I think it has to do with more just our values in general. I think if we
were a heterosexual family, we’d have the same values and hopefully
the same sensitivities . . . we have friends who are heterosexual who
are very similar to me. We have the same kinds of discussions, and
they’re very aware of discrimination issues and they watch the same
kind of shows and don’t watch other kinds and that kind of stuff.

As evidence of this, Vicky notes that she and her born-again sister, while
they can agree on little else, can agree that violent television is bad for
their children. For both Jan and Vicky, there is a sense that their beliefs
and practices around media connect them with larger discourses about
parenting and family values in the society. “I think we just want to see
ourselves as part of the larger community, and we want to be accepted as
we are,” she says. Both Jan and Vicky have a hard time identifying specific