Annotated Bibliography

*so, this is totally the only thing I forgot to print out today, so hopefully I'll be able to go print it fast after class, but if not... here it is!!!

Works Cited

Anonymous. ReligiON, ReligiOFF. weknowmemes.com. We Know Memes. 2012. Internet Meme (picture).

This source is a popular internet meme, found on several source websites, of which the cited site is only one example. Memes are pictures with captions that are used to make a statement on current issues, similar to a political cartoon. They are often published anonymously on internet forums and express the opinion of those that create them, and those that share them. This particular meme portrays the opinion that religion is medieval is backwards.  I think that this will strenghtn my argument because it shows a common portrayal of religion in a forum that many young adults are familiar with.

Douthat, Ross. "Divided by God." The New York Times 7 April 2012. Opinion Editorial.

This is an opinion editorial, so it expresses the opinion of one person regarding religion in America; it was published by the New York Times, which is a widely read magazine all over the united states. It describes how the United States has become so religiously diverse, and increasingly secular, to where we are largely practicing a hybrid of religion and secularism, become what Douthat calls "a nation of heretics" because we can never agree with one another on anything involved with religion. The article also talks about times when churches were strong and had a wide base of support, namely the civil rights era. I am hoping that I can use this article to show that the US is becoming more secular, which contributes to the negative portrayal of religion on the internet, and I hope that by pointing to times when churches had stronger membership, I will be able to give good suggestions to the interdenominational faith council.

Gonzalez, Michelle A. "Religion and the US Presidency: Politics, the Media, and Religious Identity." Political Theology (2012). Online.

This article deals with how religion was portrayed in the 2012 presidential election which showed how religiously diverse the United States had become. It analyzes the increasingly interconnected nature of religion and politics and how religion is necessary to politics; I hope that this will help me to see and analyze how Americans feel about religion.

Hosseini, S. H. "Religion and Media, Religious Media, or Media Religion: Theoretical Studies." Journal of Media & Religion (2008). Article.

This is a scholarly source. it's a research paper about the relationship between Religion and the Media, analyzing a spectrum of ideas that ranges from the Media being completely controlled by religion and religious authorities, to the idea that the media is completely independent of, and some might go so far as to say unbiased by, Religion. This has a lot of other good sources that it can point me to, but it doesn't really have any original ideas. I'm hoping that it will help me to articulate what I think the current relationship is between religion and media, giving me a good foundation and springboard for the rest of my argument.

Rhode, Harold. Most Intolerant Religion. 29 March 2013. Article. 6 November 2014.

This is a blog post on an expressly anti-Muslim website, explaining how and why the Islamic religion and the people who practice it are backwards and poor. It makes the point that they as a society are unable to forget perceived past wrongs. I want to make the point that religion is perceived as backwards, but I don't know if this is the best source, simply because it has such an explicit bias.