Semantic Appropriation of Religious Vocabulary in Online News Discourse and Its Implications for Religious Education

ABSTRACT

[Objective] This study examines how religious vocabulary in online news discourse is used in association with specific religious semantic networks. It also explores the implications of these patterns of language use for religious literacy and media religious literacy education. [Contents] This study analyzed online news articles classified under “Society > Religion” in Big Kinds from January 1 to December 31, 2025. The analysis covered 15 religious terms organized into four categories: religious subjects, religious practices, spaces and institutions, and core values. Using text mining and social network analysis, the study examined word frequencies and semantic networks among terms. It then conducted an in-depth analysis of four representative terms: “person of faith,” “prayer,” “holy site,” and “compassion.” [Conclusions] The findings showed that religious terms were not used evenly across the full range of their dictionary meanings but were selectively associated with the actors, practices, institutions, and values of particular religions. “Person of faith” and “prayer” were used mainly in relation to Christian actors and practices, while “holy site” was closely associated with Catholic pilgrimage, institutions, and historical memory. This pattern can be understood as semantic appropriation, in which terms applicable to different religions come to function as representative language for a particular religion. By contrast, the network of “compassion” included prominent associations with Buddhist terms, alongside Christian terms and words concerning social relations. These findings suggest that religious education should expand to include media religious literacy education that critically examines how religion is represented in public discourse and how the media selectively make particular religions more visible.