ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores popular culture as a central aspect of generations X and Y' s religious/spiritual works. Differentiation between Xers and Yers seems to be stronger in the mass media and popular literature than in social reality. The book explains one's move from modernity to postmodernity and more specifically to the rise of consumerism and individualism. It discusses the secularisation debate as a backdrop, which uses Eisenstadt's theory of multiple modernities. The book brings the classical analysis of Weber on re-enchantment to contemporary analyses. It explains the new phenomenon of the McDonaldisation of society, which paradoxically re-enchants our world through consumer society. The book argues that Christianity is faced with issues that it needs to address in this post-Christian world. Then it highlights how the use of the Internet can impact on the structure and practices of this religion.
