The Morality and Politics of Consumer Religion: How Consumer Religion Fuels the Culture Wars in the United States

Abstract: In his book Consuming Religion (2003) Vincent J. Miller demonstrates how consumer capitalism has been able to commodify religious rituals, symbols, and figures and market them to consumers seeking self-improvement, individual enlightenment, and/or greater spirituality. His thesis is that “consumer religion” is emblematic of a radically transformed social relationship created by consumer capitalism. This article focuses on an element of consumer religion missing in Miller’s argument; that is, how commodified, consumer religion enables certain conservative political leaders to claim a tradition as their inheritance and, in turn, mobilize alienated consumers/voters in the US culture wars. In practical-political terms, culture-war conservatives have found a way to consolidate political power by embracing both a free market, which actually erodes local tradition, and traditional values, which provides fuel for culture war battles over popular movies, television, music, and public education.