When Religious Content Is Popular In Secular Contexts

I recently saw some people discussing the phenomenon of religious content being well received on a YouTube channel, television show, or some other context that's generally secular. And that raises the question of why religious content is so much less popular when it's placed in a more religious setting (e.g., a religious YouTube channel). I think the situation is multifaceted, and I'm not going to try to explain everything that's going on, but I want to mention a few of the factors that seem likely to be involved.

If people are accustomed to watching a certain television program, following a particular YouTube channel, listening to a certain radio show, or whatever, they'll often go along with whatever is put in front of them. If they're given some religious material on a particular day or week, they'll passively take it in, but that doesn't mean they're willing to take much initiative, if any, to seek that sort of information. The fact that a popular secular program remains popular when it occasionally includes religious content doesn't suggest that the audience has much interest in religious issues. It just means they're continuing with their pattern of following a popular program when it includes religious material. Whatever value that has, it isn't much. It's better than nothing, but that isn't saying a lot. If the show in question started having religious content more often, the show probably would become less popular.

And it's unlikely that these programs are only getting their typical audience when they air religious programming. It's probably mostly their usual audience, but also some people interested in religious issues who don't normally watch or listen to the program. So, we shouldn't think that the popularity of the program reflects the normal interests of the program's normal audience.

Furthermore, to whatever extent the usual audience has some religious interests, those interests probably are largely constrained by peer pressure. They wouldn't want their relatives, friends, or other people to see them watching a religious television channel, going to a religious web site, or some such thing. In our culture, it doesn't take much religiosity in a person's life for that person to be perceived as overly religious. And having that sort of reputation will lower an individual's social status. I suspect that a lot of people won't do something like watch a religious television show, go to a religious web site, or read a religious book because of concerns over what other people would think if they found out about it. On the other hand, if a respected secular television show, YouTube channel, or whatever happens to be covering a religious topic on a given day, it's considered much less shameful to passively take that in. The people who produce the secular program in question are the ones who took the initiative to cover some religious material on their show, which normally isn't so religious.

So, though there's some significance to the occasional popularity of religious material in secular contexts, I don't think it's much significance. To get a better idea of where the culture is on matters like these, look at data like the Pew Research Center's polling on where Americans find the most meaning in life and the Department of Labor's research on how much time Americans spend on religious activities.