Appropriation of religious discourses: from political power to digital influence

Abstract

The present essay will present a comparative study between The Family, an organization that emerged in the United States in 1935, bringing together leaders from different countries and beliefs, and personalities known as "digital pastors," specifically Pentecostals, with the aim of investigating the contemporary adaptation of fundamentalist religious discourse to the digital environment. In the current context, with changes in social dynamics and the space occupied by digital technologies, this model of symbolic control has been redefined. The article explores how these religious discourses are reconfigured and adapted to the logic of the internet while maintaining their central function of exerting political and social influence over the masses, through certain personalities who appropriate religious discourses, such as prosperity and dominion theology, integrating them into motivational coaching practices. This combination results in what some studies identify as “coaching theology,” an approach that uses faith as a foundation to promote personal and spiritual success, attracting millions of followers on digital platforms. The analysis draws a parallel between the strategies of domination and symbolic control assumed by The Family and those adopted by contemporary figures in the digital environment, demonstrating how symbolic power in the religious field is rearticulated for the current times.