Jesus in Disneyland: Religion in Postmodern Times

Sociologists from Karl Marx onwards have written off religion as a curious yet fading public institution. After all, science can now answer our questions about life, the universe and everything… and if that fails, there’s always the opium.

David Lyon, professor of sociology at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, argues that times have changed. Contemporary society, in fact, has a great appetite for spirituality, though within consumer culture we’re venerating celebrities instead of deities. Meanwhile, the church tries to get hip by taking its worship to the cathedrals of post modernity: the theme parks.

Lyon’s metaphor of “Jesus in Disneyland” comes from a massed Christian rally he attended at Disney’s HQ in Anaheim. It is, for him, an apt symbol of the way faith–and life itself–has become commodified. As he unpacks the nuances between the “Disneyfication” and “Disneyisation” of religion (this is a sociological textbook), Lyon sets out a context in which Jesus might mean more to the West than its cartoon heroes.

“Jesus in Disneyland. A bizarre sounding collaboration,” he writes. Yet it all begins to make sense. There has seldom been a more critical commentary on our times by a Christian. And rarely has a sociologist seemed so inspired. If you thought that Christianity was Mickey Mouse, this book won’t fail to make you think. —Brian Draper

‘This is an excellent book. I can’t believe that anyone would want to teach about contemporary religion or about postmodernity without recommending this book and using it as a springboard for their own discussions.’ Alan Bryman, Professor of Social Research, Loughborough University

‘Readers familiar with David Lyon’s previous work will find in Jesus in Disneyland the same combination of theoretical awareness, perceptive comment and accessibility that makes his writing so valuable to all those interested in the nature of religion in the modern world. The book elucidates the subtle shift in the world of religion from obligation to consumption – a state of affairs that we need to know more about.’ Grace Davie, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Exeter

‘The writing is clear and filled with a number of engaging illustrations … there is a great deal that I very much enjoyed within this book.’ LJK, Regent’s Reviews

‘This interesting book explores the implications of postmodernity on religion. At the same time it questions the centrality of the secularization thesis in sociology of religion as well as calling for reflexivity as a more central aspect of sociological endeavour.’ British Journal of Sociology

‘The book is engaging and well-written – that academic rarity, a “good read”.’ Theology Today

‘This is a beautifully written, imaginative and stimulating account of the place of religion in postmodernity … a work laden with richness, a freshness of insight and a sense of immediacy.’ Journal of Contemporary Religion

“Jesus in Disneyland:Religion in Postmodern Times is a highly distinctive and fresh commentary on contemporary religion and late modernity by David Lyon, a writer able to embrace the postmodern cultural turn with gusto and panache.” European Journal of Social Theory

“This work provides the most insightful understanding of the contemporary context for this field of study” Daryl Healea, Religious Studies Review“This book will provide a fruitful way of grasping some of the fortunes of religion in this postmodern era.” Stimulus