Why are protestants so much a part pop media?

[waxwing]

Anyone have any ideas why most small cities have at least one Christian radio station, several book stores, contemporary Christian music concerts etc. I grew up in the Protestant tradition but over the past year I have been attending the Catholic Church as well as being involved in RCIA. With that said I do like spending time at Christian Bookstores of which 80 % of the books are Protestant in nature. The music on the local Christian radio station plays CC music of which I find more positive and uplifting than a lot of the other choices. Is there any reason why the Catholic Church doesn’t have similar bookstores, radio, etc.

Thanks
ww

 

[jmcrae]

Is there any reason why the Catholic Church doesn’t have similar bookstores, radio, etc.

Actually, we have all of these things - have you heard of EWTN television, and the Universal Books and Church Supplies chain of Catholic book stores? We also have several radio stations, including our very own Catholic Answers Radio.

 

[waxwing]

I realize we have EWTN (which i listen to and find enriching and informative). I realize if you happen to live in a large market there may a Catholic bookstore there. But overall it is a question of scale.
There is no comparison in media saturation between Protestant and Catholic. I have no problem with the large Protestant presence in the media(well perhaps certain tele evangelists - but thats another story) it just would be nice to have a larger Catholic presence.

ww

 

[deb1]

I realize we have EWTN (which i listen to and find enriching and informative). I realize if you happen to live in a large market there may a Catholic bookstore there. But overall it is a question of scale.
There is no comparison in media saturation between Protestant and Catholic. I have no problem with the large Protestant presence in the media(well perhaps certain tele evangelists - but thats another story) it just would be nice to have a larger Catholic presence.

ww

I think that a big reason is that there are more Protestants in this country then Catholics. This means that there are more radio stations, book stores etc that are geared toward them.

It also seems that Protestants of a certain mindset are more vocal in their desire to evangelize others. Therefore they are willing to put a lot of money into media and radio programs.

Older Catholics seem to me to be more private in their devotion and not as likely to try and convert a Protestant away from his church. This might be why Catholics in some areas-the south for example- have not caught up with Protestants in areas such number of books stores etc.

I believe that this trend is changing. This forum is a good example of Catholics willing to defend their faith.

 

[Cat]

I think there is a lot of resistance among Catholics against the insurgence of “pop” culture into our faith. There is a lot of suspicion about “Protestant” things getting into the Catholic Church. As a former evangelical Protestant, I have sensed the need to be extremely careful and not try to impose things on people who don’t want them.

I tend to agree with you about the need for more media. As much as I love EWTN and Relevant Radio, they don’t begin to compare with the big Protestant stations. In our city (150,000), the we have three Protestant radio stations, and one of them consistently places in the Top Ten radio stations (how many listeners) in the city. Not bad. It’s about 80% music, 20% talk. As far as I can see, Relevant Radio is about 97% talk and 3% music, and the only rock music I hear is on shows that are about Catholic rock music. There’s no live DJ playing music. Too bad. I don’t like rock music, but the majority of people do. And I really don’t like to listen to talk shows when I’m driving to the store, because I can’t sit in the car and listen to the whole show.

OTOH, there needs to be a balance. I don’t think any of us want to see “the Catholic lifestyle.” We want real faith, not a “culture.”

Catholics tend to say that Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament will draw people to Himself, and so we don’t need media and radio and rock music to attract people. Well, I’m not so sure about that. I agree that Jesus can attract people to Himself, but I think that’s why He puts all of us humans down here instead of just calling us home–we’re supposed to do the work of evangelism, and go to the well and entice people into the presence of the Lord with interesting discussion and appealing lures. I see nothing wrong with using media to spread the Good News.

 

[kentuckyliz]

I dunno, I don’t care for the mass marketing formula schlocky stuff that you find in the christian bookstores. It so kitschifies God. It seems irreverent somehow. Cheapens God.

 

[deb1]

I dunno, I don’t care for the mass marketing formula schlocky stuff that you find in the christian bookstores. It so kitschifies God. It seems irreverent somehow. Cheapens God.

I agree! It used to annoy me to no end that it is hard to find modern Christian novels that deal with difficult, real life problems.