In The Simpsons, religion is used satirically. Many people are offended by the way the show handles religion. They ask if the media is changing us or reflecting our changes.


Clifford Geertz calls this the “‘intrinsic double aspect’ of cultural products that are both models of and models for reality” (as cited in Dalton, Mazur, & Siems, 2011, p. 240). Geertz argues that this is important to a culture because these patterns “give meaning … to social and psychological reality both by shaping themselves to it and by shaping it to themselves’ (Geertz 1973, 93)” (as cited by Dalton, Mazur, & Siems, 2011, p. 241).



The opinion I seem to be forming is that culture’s influence is inescapable and our best plan is to try to influence it for the better. Influencing it for the better may just involve using technology and media as Schultze suggests. “We will have to invest as much time and energy in the habits of our hearts as we do in our high-tech practices” (2002, p.209).

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Dalton, L., Mazur, E. M. & Siems, M. (2011). Homer the Heretic and Charlie Church: Parody, piety, and pluralism in The Simpsons.

In Mazur, E. M. & McCarthy, K. (Eds.) (2011). God in the details: American religion in popular culture (2nd ed.) (pp. 237-254).
New York, NY: Routledge.

Mazur, E. M. & McCarthy, K. (Eds.) (2011). God in the details: American religion in popular culture (2nd ed.) (pp. 237-254). New York, NY: Routledge.

Schultze, Q. J. (2002). Habits of the high-tech heart: Living virtuously in the Information Age. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

Spicer, T. (2011, April 11). Christian Media [Msg. 1]. Retrieved from http://sauonline.arbor.edu

Woods, R. (2011, April 11). The Matrix, L.O.S.T., Seinfeld, and, yes, Rocky! Some “big ideas” for everyone [Msg. 1]. Retrieved from http://sauonline.arbor.edu

They suggest two possible explanations for their findings. The first is that “conversational partners adopt a different metaphor (‘‘partner’’) than observers (‘‘evaluator’’) to use as a yardstick in evaluating the content of the conversation” (2007, p. 352). The second possibility is that observers have “fewer cognitive demands than conversational partners. Cognitive processing demands significantly impact the performance of listeners (King & Behnke, 2000).” (2007, p. 352).

I find this interesting because it shows how every variable affects our communications. As an observer in this study, I would walk away dissatisfied with others’ conversation while the participants were happy with it. That doesn’t make much logical sense, but it shows how easily we can be offend at things that do not even pertain to us. That is not covenantal communication at all!

Aristotle’s Principle of the Golden Mean, that virtue is a point on a continuum between two vices, is often applied to levels of self-disclosure between strangers or new acquaintances. In fact, the dangers of self-disclosure, such as premature disclosure or overly intimate disclosure, are frequent topics in interpersonal communication texts (for example, see DeVito, 2004; Knapp & Vangelisti, 1992; Redmond, 1995; Trenholm & Jensen, 2000). Canary and Cody (1994) contrasted a positive and linear hypothesis (greater self-disclosure leads to greater liking for the discloser) with a curvilinear hypothesis. In this second view, disclosure leads to positive responses until some critical level is reached, after which it becomes counterproductive. (2007, p. 345)

Truly we need a  balance of virtue involved in communication. It gives me much to continue mulling over. How do we stay in that balance? What methods can we employ to check our conversations and ourselves? These are questions that I hope we answer as we continue on our learning journey.

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Weisel, J. J., & King, P. E. (2007). Involvement in a Conversation and Attributions Concerning Excessive Self-Disclosure. Southern Communication Journal, 72(4), 345-354. doi:10.1080/10417940701667639

1. Presence – (preferably face-to-face, this could also include online interactions) Just as we talked about presence (immediacy) being an important factor in classmate relations, this is necessary in intimate relationships.

2. Growth over time – Realizing that relationships are an ongoing process and continuing to learn about and grow closer to each other as time passes.

Just as we are always evolving, growing and learning as we continue through life, I think that our friendships grow. Even if we were able to say that we knew everything there was to know about a person (which I doubt is possible, even with a spouse), the next day there is more about that person to learn.

I think what I term growth includes many qualities. Self-disclosure is one of the big ones. Social penetration theory sounds interesting and very true. If I stopped sharing with my closest friend, she would quickly become unaware of what is going on in my life and then she can no longer relate to my life. I have had this happen recently. I did not talk to my closest friend, Becky for some time and now I feel distant and as if she doesn’t quite understand me like she used to.
3. Gracious perceiving of others – Strom (2009) writes about this as critical to covenantal relationships. This requires recognizing that we are all imperfect, which causes us to grant grace to others when relating to them.

4. Commitment – All relationships have ups and downs. Intimate relationships require commitment of both parties to rejoice in the ups and support through the downs of each other.

5. Forgiveness – Kelley & Waldron’s study “supports the idea that the communicative act of seeking forgiveness has at least partially restorative effects on romantic relationships…. In particular, explicit acknowledgment of the harm caused by one’s behavior and the use of appropriate nonverbal displays are starting points for the repair effort” (2005, p. 356).

Merolla’s study shows the need for direct or indirect, rather than conditional, forgiveness. “As predicted, ONA [ongoing negative affect] was linked to the manner in which forgiveness was communicated, such that conditional forgivers reported higher ONA than did direct or indirect forgivers (2008, p. 129).

What I find most interesting about this research is that indirect and direct forgiveness were used equally depending on the situation. They also both resulted in approximately an equal amount of ongoing negative affect. The study found that indirect forgiveness was used when the infraction was more severe and the person forgiving wanted to downplay the infraction’s effects. Direct forgiveness was used when the infraction was small and easier to face head on.

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Kelley, D. L., & Waldron, V. R. (2005). An investigation of forgiveness-seeking communication and  relational outcomes. Communication Quarterly, 53(3), 339-358. doi:10.1080/01463370500101097

Merolla, A. J. (2008). Communicating forgiveness in friendships and dating relationships. Communication Studies, 59(2), 114-131. doi:10.1080/10510970802062428

This week I have been reminded of other ways that having a clean, healthy, and safe home is a “paid” position. Strom writes of the influence that environment has on mood relating a study done. The study showed that subjects viewed pictures of people as generally more attractive if they were seated in a beautiful room. The study also found that an “ugly room created a sense of monotony, fatigue, headache, discontent, sleepiness, irritability, and hostility” (2009, p. 80).

My husband and I have sleep apnea, but seem more tired than we should be since we are receiving treatment. Is our messy, cluttered home our problem? It does seem likely.

Another conversation that I had with my daughter’s teacher, brought this issue up. Mrs. Burrows said that Ella’s main issue in school is social skills and that having friends over would be the best solution to this problem. At this very moment, there is no way that I would allow Ella’s friends in my house.

Strom writes “how we keep our homes and build our churches may not only reflect our values, but nurture them as well” (2009, p. 80). “Cleanliness and aesthetics nurture a positive spirit” (2009, p. 81).

My housekeeping skills are important for many reasons including health, mental happiness, the ability to be hospitable at a moment’s notice, the social health of my children, and the ability to be alert and awake during the day. The messages that I send my children by giving them a clean home are invaluable.

My home needs some serious de-cluttering and cleaning. Chris and I have decided to take advantage of the kids’ spring break to do some spring cleaning with them!

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Strom, B. (2009). More than talk: Communication studies and the Christian faith. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

It is hard for me to knowingly use language wrongly, but when speaking to people in my area, I could improve by not just understanding their quirks, but joining in to foster identification. I don’t feel that I fit in with my community very well because I am educated, professional and white-collar while they are blue-collar working poor. Is there a way to find a happy medium between speaking correctly and culturally in this situation?

“Covergence is a strategy of communication accommodation theory by  which you adapt your communication behavior in such a way to become more similar to a person” (Griffin, 2009, p. 388).

That does sound like what I am suggesting that I do. There have been times when I will repeat a person’s question in my answer and use the correct words. They tend to just stare at me. Now that I read these ideas of speaking culturally and convergence, I must sound very stuck-up to them! I am not likely to change anything they say, either.

I still struggle with the idea of speaking wrongly to identify with them, though.

Humility is key to being approachable, isn’t it? I do believe that I do my best at listening humbly.

“Humble listening is the beginning of all real leadership.” and then Schultze refers to Jms 1:19 (p. 101)

I’ve been told that I am very teachable and so I work to continue to be so. It’s so easy to get defensive when someone is really just trying to help you. I liked what Dr. Woods wrote about mirroring:

In the counseling and psychology literature, these concepts are taught as a way to help you connect with your counselee/client. So, when I was doing my skill training for my degree in counseling, we were taught to lean forward when the counselee leaned forward, for instance. Conversely, if we wanted to calm the counselee down (who may have been in an anxious or nervous state), we would slow down our speech, sit back in the chair, and seem more relaxed. (2011).

These concepts could also be useful when someone who is upset with something I’ve done (or not done) comes to me in a huff.

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Woods, R. (2011, March 31). “Taking on” others’ nonverbal communication, mirroring [msg 1]. Posted to http://sauonline.arbor.edu

The nonverbal behaviors that were involved in my experiment were the eye behavior, facial expression and appearance. I chose this group of people in the first place because of appearance. It was actually an unconscious choice. They were all dressed nicely and were very pretty people. I found Strom’s statements about this very interesting. He said “the beauty bias extends to how we treat and talk with attractive and unattractive people….we are more likely to self-disclose to, reward, help, pay attention to, give in to, and date attractive people” (2009, p.73).

I used eye location and duration against the norm. When the mother seemed to be getting worried, I used specific facial expressions (and words) to calm her by complimenting her and her children.

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Strom, B. (2009). More than talk: Communication studies and the Christian faith (3rd ed.). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing.

The objectivist believes “one can study human behavior free from personal bias through experimentation and surveys” (2009, p. 316). They believe that they can objectively find truth through human research means.

Subjectivists seem to be more realistic in that they know that they are flawed as humans and therefore what they find to be truth is flawed in some ways. Strom writes that the subjectivist’s reality is “influenced by sensory limitations, brainpower glitches, and sin” (2009, p.316).

Constructivists believe that people have the power to construct reality. This makes them relativists.

I have to say that I am a subjectivist. Strom’s explanation of subjectivist Christians fits me very well. I believe that there is one truth, that we cannot fully know it, and that we need the Holy Spirit to guide us.

However, I do see the benefit of scientific inquiry and research. God made us as inquisitive, creative images of himself. I believe that God expects us to not only navigate our world, but to learn about it extensively. I don’t believe that God would have created in such detail or put us over the Earth and all that is in it, if God did not want us to enjoy and learn from it. “Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground” (Genesis 1:26, NIV).

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Strom, B. (2009). More than talk: Communication studies and the Christian faith (3rd ed.). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing.

Communication focuses on how people use messages to generate meaning within and across all kinds of contexts, cultures, channels and media (Association for Communication Administration, 1995).

Communication is learned. Most people are born with the physical ability to talk, but we must learn to speak well and communicate effectively. Speaking, listening, and our ability to understand verbal and nonverbal meanings are skills we develop in various ways.

Communication relates to all the ways we communicate, so it embraces a large body of knowledge. Communication includes both verbal and nonverbal messages as well as messages that are sent through electronic means like the phone, computer, radio and television.

Communication is a large and diverse field that includes inquiry by humanists, social scientists and critical and cultural studies scholars. A body of scholarship and theory, about all forms of human communication, is presented and explained in textbooks, electronic publications, and academic journals. In the journals, researchers report the results of studies that are the basis for an ever-expanding understanding of how we all communicate.

This definition is inclusive as it speaks broadly of how messages are sent verbally, nonverbally and using various means of communicating. The definition includes judgment in how it states we must learn to communicate. This definition does not include intentionality.

I do believe that communication requires intentionality. I believe that whether we realize it or not, everything that we communicate has an intention. It is like Postman’s belief that “embedded in every tool is an ideological bias, a predisposition to construct the world as one thing rather than another, to value one thing over another, to amplify one sense or skill or attitude more loudly than another” (Postman, 1992, p. 13).

The message needs to be received in order for communication to occur. I don’t believe that everyone a message is intended for needs to receive it, but at least one must in order for it to be communication.

Christian communication should be different in that it should always be spoken in love. 1 Corinthians 13:1 says, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” (NIV)

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National Communication Association. (n.d.) Communication defined. Retrieved from http://www.natcom.org/Default.aspx?id=546

Postman, Neil. (1992). Technopoly: The surrender of culture to technology. New York, NY: Vintage.

I noticed this week, in regards to my iPod use, that as I got sicker (with a cold), I cared less about using my iPod. I was tired of it being in my face.

Some of the apps that I feel contribute good to my life are the calendar, calculator, and Bible apps. It’s nice not having to carry any of these items in my purse separately, which I used to do.

The Bible app is very handy and I use it frequently. It also has many religious e-books, commentaries and other study tools. The downside to using my iPod as my Bible is that some people do not understand that I am really reading from the Bible. How does this affect them? I do not know.

That would be interesting to find out.

McKibben, Bill. (2006). The age of missing information. New York, NY: Random House

“If we are able to disconnect ourselves from the stream of noise transmitted by most information and communication technologies, then we should be positioned to receive the gifts of pause, perspective, people, peace, and prayer from God and others (Miller, 2004).” (Lawson, 2011a)
“Technology promises to enrich our lives, as well as to liberate us from tedious labor, but it often leads to relational disintegration, the denial of traditional religious world and life views, and increasing levels of boredom, even in our culture of entertainment (Hogue, 2007).” (Lawson, 2011a)
“Knowing—being intimate—inherently requires duration.” (Schultze, 2002, p. 57)
“Moderation admits that both excessive and insufficient messaging lack virtue.” (Schultze, 2002, p.55)
“When we message too much, we begin to lose intimacy with others, the nature world, the Creator, and even ourselves” (Schultze, 2002, p. 48).
“ Richard Winter… states that our technology use may be a contributing cause of boredom (Still Bored in a Culture of Entertainment, 2002)…. He also argues that boredom often leads to a condition known as the “deadness of the soul,” that is, a lack of passion for life.” (Lawson, 2011b)

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I am also including sources cited by others for later research.
Hogue, M. S. (2007). Theological ethics and technological culture: A biocultural approach. Zygon 42(1), pp. 77-95.
Lawson, K. (2011, March 4). Kevin’s Learning Summary [Msg 1]. Message posted to https://sauonline.arbor.edu
Lawson, K. (2011, March 5). RE: Learning Summary [Msg 1]. Message posted to https://sauonline.arbor.edu
Miller, K. A. (2004). Surviving information overload. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Schultze, Q. J. (2002).  Habits of the high-tech heart: Living virtuously in the information age. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.