Christianity VS. Hegemonic Culture : Communications Paper.

A subculture is the refusal and resistance to conform to the hegemonic culture. This refusal is based upon a personal experience that one encounters, which does not match the presented naturalized experiences of the dominant culture. (Hebdige) The Christian movement is a subculture within the world that has been successful in its survival because of its strong backbone. Nonconformity seems to be a common theme amongst most spectacular subcultures. Christianity is a unique subculture where its resistance and refusal of the hegemonic culture, is not out of frustration or a selfish desire of recognition, however a desire for others to experience a higher calling in their lives; a greater purpose. It is one of the few subcultures that have no selfish goals, but a mission to let others know they can all share the experience of a high power no matter what their life situation. It is an experience available for all, and an experience that has been miss-represented, defused and diffused by the hegemonic culture because of its potential power to change the worlds dominant culture. (Healy, 2000) If everyone started to encounter an experience with a high power, then the world would no longer look for its satisfaction within material things that make the rich richer and the poor poorer. The selfish hegemonic culture driven by financial greed would be out of business. The world population would return to focusing on the immaterial things of life; things of true eternal value that do not rely on the latest technology to develop. People wouldn’t need to watch shows like Opera to learn how to live, they could simply pray to the creator of all things. If the hegemonic culture allowed the church to dominate, the world would change dramatically. Populations would begin going to church Sunday mornings, instead of watching television. Sundays would become a day of rest again, a day where there would be no shopping consumers, or workers. Subcultures usually have a selfish mission to become dominant. Christians see the world as their mission field, as the bible says, “Go and be fishers of men”. This phrase implying that the church’s role in today’s society is to spread the gospel news and to fish not for food for themselves and their own hunger, but to search for men who are lost and present them with the one thing that will satisfy their starvation and desperation in a world that has left them simply wanting more. Christians do their work, and live the way they do, not for personal gain, but out of compassion for the lost. As Williams has said,
“Culture is a particular way of life which expresses certain meanings and values not only in art and learning, but also in institutions and ordinary behaviour. The analysis of culture, from such a definition, is the clarification of the meanings and values implicit and explicit in a particular way of life, a particular culture” (Williams)
Christianity brings forth their core values such as love, peace, patience, kindness, self-control, grace, and mercy, which are very counter to the hegemonic cultures disillusioned selfish values and norms.
Christianity has created volumes of noise against the hegemonic culture. Noise by definition is known to be an interruptive message sent against the hegemonic culture, by a subculture. (Hebdige) Christianity creates its noise by focusing on unselfishness. The world constantly promotes investing in material items for your selfish wants and needs. The church focuses on putting others before yourself. The church proclaims various diverse messages. If you have food on your table, clothing, and shelter, those are the necessities. You will receive more satisfaction in providing these basic needs to the rest of the world than you would buying yourself a new sports car, or participating in the latest fashion trends. Christianity, unlike the dominant culture, keeps its focus on inner values. These values existed on a higher scale throughout the human population before the technology boom. However these values still exist, and do not need technology advancements to grow or ‘get better’. They are created from within one’s heart and your inner person; and grow as your actions and thoughts and morals become based upon these values. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, and self control are just a few. The fact that these life long virtues, priceless in value, do not rely on anything of the worlds own man made creation is very unique. It presents a major challenge to the norms of the dominant cultures theory of selfishness. “Buy more, spend more, follow us and our popular trends are you will be happy”. The values Christianity present are the secrets to happiness in life, and this is why the hegemonic culture fears the power of this subculture. If the market ever took hold of these truths, they would no longer invest in selfish desires. They would no longer seek to be like Paris Hilton, but seek to be Christ-like, devoting themselves in scriptures, not the lines of cosmopolitan magazines. We would become a world focused on inner beauty rather than outward appearance. That’s a multi-billion dollar industry gone down the drain there. What about if people listened to what the Church had to say about the fashion industry. They would proclaim that you don’t have to show skin in order to attract a partner. However, focusing on the inside will opt for a much more successful relationship in the end. The fashion industry would crash. How about waiting to have sex before marriage? The sex industry makes billions of dollars a year. What would happen to the economy! This noise that Christianity puts forth on so many different playing fields recognizes the struggle for signification in the human population. The hegemonic culture offers no personal individual meaning behind a certain lifestyle, it simply becomes the normal way to live; investing in the popular clothing, music, food, technology and cars. However Christianity shouts against this offering an authentic experience with God from which will stem a purpose and meaning in life that isn’t determined by the richest greedy people in the world, but is determined by a God who is in full control. For example, there is a “Teen Challenge Choir” that will testify to this struggle of signification. They travel North America giving personal testimonies of their past drug addictions and alcohol addictions that where created by the unending ‘want’ in their lives that was created by the hegemonic culture. Then when they turned to Christianity, they had a meaning and purpose and satisfaction in something was true and genuine, and as a result changed their entire lifestyle. They will testify to say that society has a pre-conceived notion that a church is about rules and there is no freedom, but in fact that is where true freedom is found; because if anyone is enslaved, it’s those who have been tricked into living the life the hegemonic culture desires you to live. That’s a life that will make them money and leave you unsatisfied.
Christianity’s noise is a certain discourse, a way of life. It is not a product of a prayer, but a process, and way of living. Christianity’s discourse and way of life is totally counter to the hegemonic culture and thus creates more noise, and has a greater affect on the world. Christianity encourages seeking God’s route for your life, the influence on your life being a higher power, above all other powers, even above the control of the hegemonic culture. The relationship you develop with God will be more powerful than any other, even one with Donald Trump. The dominant culture encourages you to pursue a selfish route that they control by determining your wants and needs for you. This is a form of slavery, being brainwashed to not think for yourself, but to follow whatever the latest issue of 17 magazine says. You are always left wanting something else in the world, and will live a hopeless life of disappointments. There are two complete different ideologies within the Hegemonic culture and the subculture of Christianity. The ideology within the hegemonic culture has no meaning beneath peoples habits because they are simply robots of the dominant culture, the rich wealthy and famous holding the remotes. They simply adapt to what they are directed to want, need, think, and feel. Whereas within the subculture of Christianity, the ideology includes a purpose and meaning behind the lifestyle of living by the Ten Commandments, it is a higher calling. They do not accept man made hegemonic rules, norms and interests.
Style has always been a way of expressing a subculture. Christianity has a unique and diverse style where it is not all about physical appearance. In reality, the only focus on physical appearance in their style is being conserved and not revealing. They do not want men focusing on lust, but love. That is their style. Style is usually based on what you wear, and Christians strive to “wear” Jesus. They try and reflect as much of Christ as possible through their lives. Style is behaviours, forms, and rituals, Christians strive to live their lives as Christ lived his. The Ten Commandments vs. The ten must haves of 2009. The difference in the hegemonic style and the style of Christianity is another example of noise. Christians have a style that focuses on the heart, and the condition of your heart, not the condition of your sports car. How the world would be a more peaceful place with more beautiful people on the inside like Mother Teresa, rather than Super Models Beautiful on the outside like Paris Hilton? Who accomplished more good for the world? Christianity represents a style of honesty, kindness, loyalty, understanding, and forgiveness. Whereas the hegemonic culture tends to base their style upon terms such as; sexy, selfish, dominant, competitive, wealthy and famous.
Bricolage is a term that describes the juxtaposition of two apparently incompatible realities on an apparently unsuitable scale and as a result delivers a powerful message to society. (106, Hebdige) It is also important to note that Bricolage is an intentional term. Christianity has taken the two most incompatible things, “good” and “evil” and has joined these two distinct notions. We have “Jesus Christ” who lived a perfect life, wanting to be best friends with anyone who will simply ask for forgiveness, no matter what sin was involved in their past. This is taking a murderer, or a thief, and sticking them together in the same sentence with the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ. This form of Bricolage proclaims Christianity’s message of God’s grace, love, and mercy. This becomes one of the main discourses of the church today. A discourse breaches our expectancies. A particular discourse is a development which is both dramatic and “meaningless” within the consensually validated norms, pose a challenge to the normative world. They render problematic not only how the world is defined, but how it ought to be. (Hall, Stuart) Christians present this discourse through their aim to be pure and holy through their thoughts actions and motives; this being a very powerful discourse. Christians aim to live as Christ lived. Christ sat and ate with the robbers and the criminals and befriended them. He offered friendship, love, and grace to anyone who asked. Thus in today’s society Christians are still proclaiming this message of redemption that takes the most retched sinner and the holy one, and makes them best friends, through forgiveness. Christianity welcomes drug attics, prostitutes and connects them with a pure God. This type of juxtaposition of allowing “evil” to become friends with “good” results in a very powerful message of the church. Bricolage is supposed to promote awareness of the naturalization that the hegemonic culture is creating. Christianity points out that the hegemonic culture is trying to make the quest for satisfaction in material things, the natural, and common sense thing to do. When in reality, they just want to make money, they want to make you think you will be satisfied, but in the end leave you wanting something else. When people begin to understand this, they will turn to the church, turn to a higher purpose, a higher calling, a higher meaning in life; the discourse and culture, the church represents.
Pastiche is a term that describes the unintentional blurring of history. (Jameson)Christianity as a subculture does not act within this term, however always focuses on doing things intentionally. It is the hegemonic culture that tries to take the church and its history, and secretly mix it in with other forms of culture to try and make a distorted allusion of Christianity. Yes, the hegemonic culture does this intentionally, however they present it in such a way that society will perceive it as something that was just naturalized, and has always existed in such a manner, that it is simply, “pastiche”. For example, the hegemonic culture takes the cross and makes it a world wide symbol that anyone can wear, whether you believe in the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ or not. The hegemonic culture has taken the most powerful symbol in Christianity that originally proclaimed a message of Christ’s death and resurrection thus creating grace mercy and forgiveness, and has naturalized it to a symbol of fashion. It is now known as “just the type of pendants people are wearing these days”. The hegemonic culture also has celebrity representatives mashing together their secular promotions as well as proclaiming themselves to be apart of the Christian church simultaneously. This act of pastiche and mixing of the church’s history has become a defusion.
Defusion is found in the hegemonic culture’s efforts in neutralizing Christianity by integrating bits and pieces of it into the dominate order (Hebdige) thus activating Barthes theory of a “privation of history”. (Barthes) The historic values and truths of Christianity are stripped away when celebrities and people in power convey hypocritical messages. As Britney spears accepts a music award for the most absurd sexually music video, she thanks God. This creates a culture of hypocrites thinking that they can have a little bit of Christianity in their lives, and still continue living as a robot obeying the commands of Vogue magazine rather than the world of God. The dominate culture tries to create a mashed version of Christianity which allows people to have “The best of both worlds”. When in fact, the hegemonic culture, is simply distorting the truth, watering it down so it becomes convenient for them to prosper in it as well. It gives people the allusion that they can still participate fully in the selfish material desires of the culture that they offer, and still share the experience of Christians. This mixed history of worldly claims and spiritual claims has distorted the church and divided its power. This is a form of pastiche in the fact that the hegemonic culture has made it common sense for anyone to relate anything to Christianity. It doesn’t matter what you do or think, you can put any lifestyle, hobby, or person and simply put it in their under Christianity even if it makes absolutely no sense. The dominate culture likes to transform the distinct lifestyle of Christianity, and its desire for holiness into a gray area where anything is accepted and lawlessness is the norm. The hegemonic culture likes to present grace as something that requires no discipline. You can have a Friday night of sex alcohol and drugs and then a Sunday morning of salvation. They have neutralized Christianity down to an hour in a building on Sundays, when it is how you conduct your whole life according to the biblical scriptures. Christianity is about love mercy and grace, but equally about discipline in thoughts motives and actions. The dominant Culture has also tried to diffuse the church. Diffusion is when the dominant culture tries to spread out, “divide and conquer” a subculture. (Hebdige) They have done so to Christianity by focusing on the differences in different branches; Protestant vs. Catholic. However the subculture of Christianity is recuperating by creating inter-denominational events such as a local event, “YC”. This is a youth convention that brings together Christians to encounter the experience they all share with God as their common ground, as well as their common desire to know him and make him known. The hegemonic culture’s efforts in defusion, and diffusion as well as making Christianity simply a pastiche, where anything goes, is their reaction to the Christianity’s success and “noise” that is counter to the culture they wish to control and enforce. This is the dominant cultures way to recuperate from the subcultures impact. (Hebdige) In some ways the hegemonic culture has had some success in doing so. Their brainwashing creation of church being a pastiche has caused some Church’s to neutralize their doctrine and meaning because of the influence of the dominant culture. However there are still Christian Church’s that stay strong in their subculture, not watering down their faith or conforming it to make people comfortable, but are taking it on as a challenge to live out the lifestyle of a Christian that is constantly going against the flow and norms of society . Strong Christians will not conform to the world, but believe the world will conform to Christianity.

Christianity is a subculture that is very prevalent in the world today. Whether the hegemonic culture likes it or not, it is the one subculture that has existed from the very beginning. It once was dominant, and got pushed to the wayside through technology shifts and the movement of society into a robotic selfish world. However Christianity is still rising up against it’s obstacles continuing to create noise and strive against what has become the ‘cultural norms’ and disillusions of society. The church is a subculture that isn’t about to conform to the views of the dominate culture.





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