Gary M. Laderman, chairman of Emory University’s religion department, on the myth of Steve Jobs:
Make no mistake about it, the veneration we are seeing in the aftermath of Jobs’ death is religious through and through – not “kinda” religious, or “pseudo” religious,” or “mistakenly” religious, but a genuine expression for many of heartfelt sacred sentiments of loss and glorification.
It is not tied to any institution like a church or to any discrete tradition like Buddhism; it is, instead, tied to a religious culture that will only grow in significance and influence in the years ahead: the cult of celebrity.
As more and more people move away from conventional religions and identify as “nones” (those who choose to claim “no religion” in polls and surveys), celebrity worship and other cultural forms of sacred commitment and meaning will assume an even greater market share of the spiritual marketplace.
October 26th, 2011 | 3:19 pm
Joe – So celebrity is “just there”, ontologically fundamental?
October 26th, 2011 | 3:24 pm
So celebrity is “just there”, ontologically fundamental?
More like an epistemological construct, I’d say.
October 26th, 2011 | 3:40 pm
I have the new biography, and while I haven’t read it yet, I am anticipating not liking or admiring Jobs as a person, but appreciating him as a genius regarding creation and marketing of technology. I doubt that I would have wanted to know him or work for him. (This may turn out not to be true once I read the book, to be fair to Jobs.) I am somewhat in awe of him, but I do not regard it in any way as a religious feeling.
The iPod, iPhone, and iPad were not really inventions of his. He was not Alexander Graham Bell or Thomas Edison. The devices were, however brilliantly designed and marketed, implementations of existing technology. And he didn’t even do the design work himself. He just made great demands on others to do it. Still, he was a genius.
October 26th, 2011 | 4:18 pm
Joe, I just figured you’d disagree with Laderman, given the definition of ‘religion’ you quoted to me before.
October 26th, 2011 | 6:18 pm
People have been worshipping Elvis for many years. He is a far more powerful god than Jobs.
October 26th, 2011 | 6:30 pm
I don’t think it’s mere “celebrity”.
Steve Jobs is a humanist religious icon – a prophet – revered for his oracle-like “vision”.
October 27th, 2011 | 12:16 am
I just love how all his groupies completely gloss over the fact that he only recognized his first child after a lawsuit (if I remember correctly) and DNA test (which I remember correctly), given that he completely shunned the baby (and had never married the mother in the first place anyways), leaving them in unfavorable conditions, to put it mildly.
Apparently, he did rebuild the relationship with this first abandoned daughter later, but, nevertheless, the fact that he was a slime of a father to begin with is nicely omitted in every sainthood eulogies pouring out about Jobs now.
Liberals and their disgusting world views and values.
October 27th, 2011 | 12:06 pm
“Liberals and their disgusting worldviews and values.”
Contemptuous a bit?
October 27th, 2011 | 6:44 pm
I thought we are all saints. The official list are just the standouts. Let’s see if any miracles can be attributed to Jobs. Apple is just a company.
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