How Memes Compliment Religion
Sometimes internet memes can be used to keep religion relevant and in time with the online era. Religious people can use memes as a way of self-representation and in kind depict their religious beliefs in a lighthearted and humorous way. In her 2015 article, Aya Yadlin-Segal discusses internet memes related to the Jewish faith posted on a Facebook group "Tweeting Orthodoxies". Nearly all the memes on this page are in Hebrew, but the examples in her article do offer translations.
​
Here is an example from her article:
​
​
"Oops, wrong house"
As we read on the page about how memes criticize -religion, Vexen Crabtree also mentions the ways in which the internet benefits religion. Religious people have access to many online resources, there are many diverse religious teachings available, and new religions have a better chance at global exposure. 1
​
Another way that internet memes can be used for the benefit of religion is that they can be a modern and accessible way of teaching. It can allow someone to teach a concept in a modern way and students can use memes to express their knowledge on a topic. 2 When we use religion as the topic, it can make what is stereotypically old fashioned idea become relevant.
The only small issue is finding a way to represent and mediate the portrayals of religion online. 3
1 Crabtree, Vexen. “The Internet and Religion.” Www.humanreligions.info, 2013, www.humanreligions.info/internet.html.
2 Scardina, Ciro. “Through the Lens of Popular Culture.” Teacher Librarian, vol. 45, no. 2, 2017, pp. 13–16.
3 Dawson, Lorne L., and Douglas E. Cowan. Religion Online : Finding Faith on the Internet. New York: Routledge, 2004. pp. 37