Chapter fifteen of Pete Ward’s Religion and Popular Culture in America explores the connection between modern-day fandom and the historical worship of religious figures. This analysis of celebrity culture delves into the several different manners in which celebrities and fans interact with one another. The analysis begins by examining Justin Bieber’s reflections on his celebrity status, in which he acknowledges his flaws and warns against the idolization of human beings. Despite his disapproval of idolizing celebrities, his communication with fans often contains religious undertones, highlighting the “worshipping” carried out in fan-celebrity relationships. By drawing from Bieber’s perspective, the writing gains some credibility as well as…show more content… When introducing his concept of parareligion, Ward mentions that there are several ideas that are typically presented in religion: “belief in a supernatural power, the significance of religion to generate community life or some kind of church, or a divine power’s influence on people’s lives” (Ward 322). He remains fully aware of how celebrity worship does not meet each of these criteria, but dives deeper into the parallels between both. He also mentions the ideas of Linda Woodhead and Paul Heelas, who see celebrity worship as “a subjective turn in contemporary religion” (Ward 323). The way that Ward addresses each argument made in his writing gives the impression that he has considered all perspectives to form his own. By including the contradictions of celebrity worship and religion itself, it supports his own idea that parareligion is “an attempt to reconcile [the various elements of religion] by developing a theory of a “sort of” religion (Ward 323). His use of logos solidifies his argument through research from credible sources and self-awareness. Overall, Ward effectively uses rhetorical tools to introduce his concept of
