Virtual Faith

the long version

Beaudoin, himself a member of Generation X, explores fashion, music videos, and cyber-space and concludes that his generation has fashioned a theology radically different from but no less potent or valid than that of their elders. Beaudoin's investigation of popular culture uncovers four themes that underpin his generation's theology. First, all institutions are suspect - especially organized religion. Recoiling from perceived hypocrisy, yet hungering for spiritual experience, this generation has taken religion into their own hands. Second, personal experience is everything. GenXers want to discover everything for themselves, and every form of intense personal experience - including sex - is potentially spiritual. Third, suffering is also spiritual. Images of a suffering Jesus have a personal meaning for this generation that they don't have for their elders. Finally, this generation sees ambiguity as a central element of faith. Rather than retreating from doubt, they embrace it.