Transforming traditions: Taking popular culture seriously in religious education

Making traditions "accessible" and making the connections between traditions and transformation "manifest" (this is Boys's definition of religious education), is a challenging endeavor in mass mediated popular culture contexts. Although definitions of "tradition" may differ from community to community, there is generally a sustained pattern of practice over time that shapes the religious identities of the people in question. Religious educators need to engage this pattern in multiple ways, some of which may extensively if not completely rework it. This essay illustrates such engagement by considering two examples of the televisual mediation of rituals following September 11, 2001, as well suggesting useful digital resources for religious educators in this context.