Why might it be harder to convince people of the legitimacy of your religious communication via the media than it would be in person?
How does the existence of religious communication in the media affect interpersonal religious communication and vice versa?
How do religious mass media messages serve an informative function? An entertaining function? An educational function? An orientating function?
QUESTIONS
FOR HEALTH & Jehovah’s Witness:
1. Why is healthcare such a hotbed for potential issues when it comes to communication and religious/ spiritual beliefs?
2. At the end of the day, is the responsibility for effective healthcare communication on the shoulders of the patient, who must be willing to volunteer accurate information and voice concerns, or on the shoulders of the doctor, who is perceived as having the power in the situation?
3. In a situation like the one presented, is persuasion and communication all about knowledge and/ or perceived knowledge? For example, if you are the doctor, is your ability to be persuasive and have good communication based on how knowledgeable you are about the patient’s religion? If you are the patient, is your ability to be a good communicator and persuasive based on how knowledgeable you are about your condition and treatment options? Or can you have a good communication without knowledge of the other side?
QUESTIONS FOR STENGER ADVOCACY
1. Why do we see so much political persuasion coming from religious entities in a culture that is ostensibly for the separation of church and state?
2. Why is persuasion from religious left/ liberal advocacy groups less effective than persuasion from religious right/ conservative advocacy groups? In what ways are the messages by the religious right more well-constructed than those by the religious left?
3. How does the nature of “unbiased journalism” lead to a difficulty in message dissemination for the religious left?
