TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1998//
TI  - The Secularization of Religion and Television Commercials
JO  - Sociology of religion
A1  - Maguire, Brendan
A1  - Weatherby, Georgie Ann
SP  - 171
EP  - 178
VL  - 59
IS  - 2
N2  - Secularization theory had a privileged status within sociology for many decades. Recently, this theory has been challenged on a number of grounds. Specifically, researchers have argued that religion is not on the wane in modern society, but that it is an increasingly central and influential feature of contemporary social life. Hence, there is a debate within the sociology of religion concerning the viability of secularization theory. Findings from the present project, a content analysis of 797 television commercials^ show that religious symbolism is rarely featured by television advertisers. Only 16 out of 797 commercials contained religious or spiritual content. As discussed in the paper, this finding can be interpreted in various ways with regard to the present status of secularization theory.<p /> 
LA  - 
SN  - 1069-4404
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3712079
ID  - ref1
ER  -