Blog 5: Considering the Relationship between Online & Offline Authority in Shaping Meme Messages

Considering the Relationship between Online & Offline Authority in Shaping Meme Messages

https://countercreationist.wordpress.com/2016/04/23/atheist-memes-2/

This meme speaks to issues about religious authority by calling into question God's legitimacy. The meme makes fun of the logic behind this particular teaching and undermines God's authority by mocking him. 

https://aminoapps.com/page/atheist-amino/4111879/some-memes

This meme calls into question the religious authority of members who do not condone homosexuality. It uses examples of other "unnatural" events within the Bible to show the incongruities in their argument. 

The Internet meme genres that appear in my meme sample are primarily reaction memes that use stock characters to portray a particular reaction. Mainly, the memes are reacting to dominant Christian beliefs that Atheists find incorrect and attempt to debunk certain aspects of Christian dogma. The frames used are mocking and questioning frames. Many of the memes mock other religions for believing in something that cannot be "proven". Also, the memes will pose sarcastic questions that make the reader question something about the religion highlighted in the meme.

Pretty much every aspect of religious actors/issues/community are being undermined by Atheist memes. No topic is off limits and the meme creators spare no part of religious culture in their mockery. This tells us that Atheists view themselves as superior and don't believe their authority can be questioned because they can back their claims with science.

Because there is no true authority structure in Atheism due to their lack of belief system, aspects of religious authority don't really inform how someone would read this collection of Internet memes. However, cultural hierarchies and established interpretive systems do influence their digital culture messages.