The news keeps referring to Pew polls about religion’s impact on politics. If you want to go to the source rather than rely on a media gatekeeper, the Pew web site is a treasure trove of information not just on religion and politics.

This is not their only area of interest. Check out the general Pew research site for information on:

* Polls on Politics, Policy and Media
* Religion and Public Life
* Research and Analysis on News Media
* Internet and Information Technology Trends
* Latino Trends and Attitudes
* State Policy and Political News
* International Opinion Polls
* Social and Demographic Trends

It’s the new year and everyone is getting in on the annual weight loss resolution. The Biggest Loser is trying to get America to lose a million pounds. I guess no one told Oprah and Bob Greene about this, because they are also trying to get one million Americans to commit to losing weight.

You’ve probably also heard that Oprah has her own network (OWN), which was the former Discovery Health Network and I’m sure there will be plenty of weight loss stories in the mix.

The latest in the line of God/Jesus-inspired weight loss programs is the Hallelujah Diet. This link will take you to a clip from The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet where proponents of the diet expound on its wonders. The diet is supposedly Bible-based, but in reality is basically a vegetarian diet — the diet of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.

L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, said (and I’m paraphrasing) if you want to make a million dollars start a religion. I say if you want to make 2 million start a diet and sell it as religion.

Some other bloggers have made mention of my work or have some threads about marketing religion that might be of interest.

NYMIEG — Keep an eye on this one for an upcoming breakfast presentation I’ll be doing with this organization in NYC.

Phil Cooke — While Phil and I don’t agree on everything, he has been nothing but supportive of my work and I want to give all kudos to him. Check out this blog for a current thread on marketing religion. (Phil has a book called Branding Faith which will be released in March 2008. Phil’s work is more of a how-to versus my critical, more wide-angle view of the issue.)

Splitting Hairs in Forest Hills — This is a community blog for people in Forest Hills. It’s a terrific community site which often discusses religious topics. Even when not discussing religion, it’s smart and thoroughly engaging.

One other site of interest is the USC media and religion site. This is very good for the latest books on religion and the media.

Finally, if you are interested in more information about my appearance at St. Bart’s church in NYC, here is a link to their website.

It seems that upscale Chinese have the same spiritual issues as overstressed Americans. A new BusinessWeek article suggests that upscale, overworked Chinese are discovering the wonders of Buddhism. After acquiring homes and BMWs, materialism that is new to most Chinese, they are discovering that they are bored and they begin to ask, “Is that all there is?” Some have gone so far as to opt out of the rat race to live their lives in monasteries.

From BusinessWeek, January 10, 2008

Downloadable mantras are available and flights to Tibet are sold out. At the 2nd Annual Buddhist Items and Crafts fair “more than 40,000 entrepreneurs descended on the vast Xiamen International Conference & Exhibition Center and loaded up on statuary, prayer beads, incense burners, and other goods.” It certainly sounds like they could give the CBA (the International Christian retail show) a run for its money.

So perhaps this marketing of religion is not just an American phenomenon.

MONDAY, JANUARY 14
9:00-10:00 AM ET
INTERCONNECT, WMUB Radio, Oxford, Ohio, NPR affiliate
Interview with co-host Cheri Lawson
Notes: NPR affiliate. Show is broadcast from Miami University and reaches listeners in Southwest Ohio and Southeast Indiana. Cheri and John Hingsbergen are the married hosts of Interconnect, a weekly one- hour discussion of spirituality, self-care, alternative health care, and lifestyle issues.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 15
1:00 – 2:00 PM ET LIVE
THINK, KERA Radio, NPR Affiliate, Dallas, TX

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18
VOICE OF AMERICA, INTERNATIONAL
This is being taped. It will air within 2 weeks. I’ll keep you posted on availability.

1:00-1:50 PM ET, LIVE
AFTERNOON MAGAZINE, WILL Radio, Urbana/Chicago Suburbs, IL, NPR affiliate
Broadcast from the University of Illinois. Heard throughout Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois. The show features interviews with newsmakers and experts on international affairs and daily life.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 20th
Time TBD
RELIGION ON THE LINE, 77WABC New York

SATURDAY, JANUARY 26
10:15-10:30 AM ET, LIVE
THE VALDER BEEBE SHOW, KXVI-FM and KKEI-FM, Dallas
Notes: Intelligent, insightful conversation from a spiritual perspective. Valder is also editor of Lifestyles & Books for a Dallas newspaper and editor for an online women’s focused web site, as well as the author and editor of the syndicated book review column, “For Your Reading Pleasure.” Also streams on the web from rhythmflow.net.

This is just a great example of marketing religion in today’s environment. It’s also just really entertaining.

They’re all going to an evangelical conference — called Rethink — at Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral January 17-19.

Included on the list of spokespeople are some obvious names for an evangelical event such as this: Kay Warren (wife of Rick Warren), Charles Colson (of Watergate fame turned prison ministry entrepreneur and receiver of faith-based initiatives funding), George Barna (Christian market research and conference denizen), among many others. What was more interesting, though, were the other names on the list. People like the aforementioned Larry King, George Bush, Sr. and Rupert Murdoch. According to the conference web site:

We’re purposely gathering a group of speakers you wouldn’t necessarily expect to hear at a Christian conference. Our aim is to be immersed in the latest thoughts and perspectives of these respected cultural icons to tap into what’s happening in our world today and to grapple with how we respond.

While we can understand what the conference attendees get out of this, what are Larry King and Rupert Murdoch getting out of it? They are certainly not doing this because they need the money. One has to wonder when major media figures and politicians become so enmeshed with religious organizations. Yes, we are a nation of faith, but I get a little uncomfortable when these big names end up at this sort of event and there is no accompanying media coverage about it. (Truly, let’s see if any major news outlet shows any news coverage of this event.)

In fact, we see little, if any, investigative reporting about how religion is working behind the scenes of politics and media? Religion and Ethics Newsweekly does some investigative work. The only piece I’ve seen on a major network was Tom Brokaw’s piece about New Life pre-the fall of Ted Haggard. Instead of asking about politicians’ faith reporters should ask about their faith connections.

One final note, Kathy Ireland will be a speaker at the Rethink Conference, too. Talk amongst yourselves.

Sorry this didn’t replicate too well. To see the original, go to cartoonchurch.com