Playing with Religion

Abstract

The relationship between religion and the media as reported by Christal Whelan, Benjamin Dorman, Jolyon Thomas and Ian Reader vary to the degree that religion and its capacity to induce personal transformation are subordinated to the media and its capacity to entertain. Using Jolyon Thomas' concept of shûûkyôô asobi (religious play), I have constructed a scheme for understanding these papers within an analytical continuum that allows for (1) the recognition that both religion and entertainment are locked in an interactive relationship at the same time that (2) distinctions can be made about the greater or lesser role played by religion as a transformative fantasy in relationship to entertainment as imaginative amusement.

Religious Content in Anime “Enen no Shouboutai”

“…Agama dan hiburan, shûkyô dan asobi, berbagi kemampuan yang memungkinkan penonton untuk keluar dari wilayah yang sudah dikenal dan masuk ke dalam fantasi, yang bisa menjadi hal biasa dalam penciptaan masa lalu yang diidealkan (atau bahkan nyata), atau luar biasa dalam membangun dunia yang sepenuhnya imajiner. Kekuatan untuk mengangkut beroperasi di banyak tingkatan, dan dapat menimbulkan pengalaman baru yang bersifat sementara atau abadi, menggairahkan atau transformatif (Tanabe Jr. & George, 2007).…”