2008/06/23 by Thomas Karl Alberts · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Aesthetics #Dialectic #Epistemology #Exegesis #Imitation #Media, Religion, Digital Communication #Philosophy #Psychology #Religion and Society Interactions #Religious Tourism and Spaces #Revelation #Social psychology #Sociology #Theology
paper · doi:10.1080/14755610802211510
openalex publication_date 2008/06/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
This paper offers a theoretical exegesis of fake religions, a category of phenomena that formally resembles authentic religion, except for the lingering suspicion that the intention is to satirise, parody or mock. Working from the observation that usually there is considerably more agreement about what does not count as religion than what does, I propose this putative category as a means to approach the intractable problem of authenticity in religion. The discussion begins by reflecting on theoretical orientations towards this problem and notes that an approach suitable to understanding fakery must account for the subversive qualities inherent in imitation. In the main discussion, I explore registers of authenticity in fake religions. With reference to Michael Taussig's theory of defacement, Walter Benjamin's theory of the dialectical image, and Peter Berger's theory of redeeming laughter, I argue that fake religions produce sacrality in their connecting the body of the perceiver with the movements of concealment and revelation.