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Between Inclusion and Exclusion: Devotional Fitness in Its Environments

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Devotional Fitness

Part of the book series: Popular Culture, Religion and Society. A Social-Scientific Approach ((POPCULT,volume 2))

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Abstract

This chapter demonstrates how programs of devotional fitness construct their identities by inclusion and exclusion of communicative elements, ideas, and practices from their various environments. Based on Cohen’s notion of “community” as grounded in similarity and difference, I suggest approaching the discursive negotiations of devotional fitness programs in a similar way. I assume that there are several counterparts to devotional fitness, discourses that interact in one way or the other, and that are represented here as the environments of devotional fitness: (evangelical) Christianity, ‘secular’ society, medicine, the non-Christian dieting and fitness world, and yoga.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The concept of the “discursive contact zone” was inspired by the “cultural contact zones” as introduced by Wilke and Moebus (2011, 1017, 1024; see also Wilke 2013) who, in turn, work with Pratt (1991, 34; see also Pratt [1992] 2008). As Nehring (2012, 116–17) points out, the concept is related to Homi Bhabha’s “third space” and refers to places of (post-)colonial encounter which are characterized by processes of acculturation, imitation, adaptation, and conflict. While Pratt and Wilke refer to localized spaces of encounter, I ‘de-spatialize’ the concept, referring to non-local discursive contact zones.

  2. 2.

    Book of Psalms 149:3: “Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp” (New International Version, 2011).

  3. 3.

    This observation is confirmed in the influential study by Ferraro and Cline: “From Sunday School donuts to church pot-luck dinners, food, especially high-fat foods, are key to the social organization of many U.S. religions” (Cline and Ferraro 2006, 271). It triggered Daniel Sack’s study on Whitebread Protestants (2001) that starts from the assumption that “food is a central part of Protestant church life” (Sack 2001, 7).

  4. 4.

    Wolfe follows Robert Wuthnow’s argument in The Restructuring of American Religion (1989, 97). Thomas Luckmann observed an alignment of denominations already in the 1960s (Luckmann [1967] 1991, 69).

  5. 5.

    Another noteworthy study on Bible studies comes from Malley (2004).

  6. 6.

    Seid makes a similar point, stressing that the all-encompassing goal of fitness and dieting culture is an unattainable one, though for different reasons. “We are never thin enough to believe we are not fat. We are never taut enough to believe we are not flabby. We can never diet and exercise enough to believe we do not have to diet and exercise more” (Seid 1989, 257).

  7. 7.

    The world hunger problem was an issue in Protestant churches in America in the 1970s, too. Ron Sider, in his 1977 Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, pleads for a moderate and responsible lifestyle and suggests, among other things, to eat more healthily and hold regular fasts (Sider [1977] 1980, 159–172, esp. 168; here quoted from the German edition). Although the 1970s were a first heyday of evangelical dieting programs (page 112 ff), these discourses do not seem to overlap.

  8. 8.

    From the myriad examples I could quote in this context, a trend referred to as “sweatworking ” deserves mentioning here. In New York City, Courtney Rubin reports for The New York Times, it is becoming increasingly popular for business partners to schedule their meetings not in restaurants but in gyms, networking and sweating at the same time (Rubin 2011, ST 8).

  9. 9.

    On the similarity between fitness conversions and religious conversions, see also Lelwica (2000, 187).

  10. 10.

    Proverbs 3:6: “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (New International Version, 1984).

  11. 11.

    The authors define “religious media practice” as practicing religion from home “using religious television or radio programs or reading religious books or magazines” (Cline and Ferraro 2006, 271).

  12. 12.

    Another study emphasizing the positive effects of religious participation and faith on health comes from Luhrmann (2012, esp. xvi).

  13. 13.

    The study is referenced, e.g., by Bloom (2011), and Mainse on Full Circle (Mainse et al. 2011d). Reynolds mentioned it in an interview, too.

  14. 14.

    Christopher G. White (Unsettled Minds, 2009) has recently argued for an analysis of science and religion not as antagonists but as complementary discourses. His book introduces a “countersecularization narrative” that especially attends to the ways religion and psychology “flourished together” (White 2009, 7).

  15. 15.

    This kind of ‘medical disclaimer’ has a long tradition in the genre; see, e.g., the “Medical Warning” in C. S. Lovett’s 1977 “Help Lord: The Devil Wants Me Fat!” (Lovett [1977] 1982, 90). Charlie Shedd also counts on the physician. “Healing by this program is accomplished through faith and the physician’s help” (Shedd 1957, 22).

  16. 16.

    See, e.g., the story of First Place 4 Health participant Amy Gray who reports, “People always ask me ‘how did you do it?’” (First Place 4 Health 2011).

  17. 17.

    The Biggest Loser is a joint venture production of Reveille, 25/7 Productions and 3 Ball Productions; the executive producers are Ben Silverman, Dave Broome, JD Roth, Todd A. Nelson, and Todd Lubin (Sweeney, Harper, and Quince 2012).

  18. 18.

    The authors work with Florence R. Kluckhohn’s and Fred L. Strodtbeck’s seminal Variations in Value Orientations (1961).

  19. 19.

    See, e.g., Losing to Live (Reynolds 2009, 79), the Lord’s Gym (Schippert 2003, 5).

  20. 20.

    Isaiah 42:3: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice” (New International Version, 2011).

  21. 21.

    Daniel 12:3: “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever” (New International Version, 2011).

  22. 22.

    James 5:16: “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (New International Version, 2011).

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  1. Center for Religious Studies (CERES), Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany

    Martin Radermacher

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Radermacher, M. (2017). Between Inclusion and Exclusion: Devotional Fitness in Its Environments. In: Devotional Fitness. Popular Culture, Religion and Society. A Social-Scientific Approach, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49823-2_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49823-2_7

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