Authority and how the world wide web influences its potency

This meme is a parody of people's' attempt to navigate a secular world while adhering to religious beliefs. Within in the Catholic faith, they believe that their worldview of Catholicism should affect every area of their lives. With the introduction of the internet and social media, they pose problems by compromising believers. If you really believe, you cannot just stop acting like it the second you leave mass even if it's just so easy to do. This image can be viewed as both a seriousness for the necessity to avoid areas that could cause you to sin and fall away and a silly representation of a rigid idea. This meme would be more impactful if the creator cold find a way to put potential pitfalls on the lasers to give examples especially because those outside the faith have no idea what they may be. 

 For those who do not watch Parks and Rec, this is a character, Ron Swanson. He knows a lot about a lot, especially in terms of fixing and creating useful things. Here, he is fixing his friend's house, while a Halloween party is going on, and when he shops for parts, when someone tries to help him. He responds with the above quote: "I know more than you".
Practising Catholics should find this meme amusing while those outside the faith especially in similar religions on the Protestant side might find it slightly annoying.  Not that Catholics necessarily know more or less, but because they have more practices and rituals that go allowing with their faith, they might view that as "knowing more". This comes out through their view as an authority of belief and how that plays out in a daily sense. People (Jehovah's Witness, Mormons, etc) don't come door-to-door like they used to. They email, comment, or post about wanting to invite others into their faith. Catholics have to fight within the same realm which is turning ever more from reality to virtual reality.

In light of Aguilar et.al’s work describe in detail which Internet meme GENRES AND religion FRAMES are evidenced in your sample?
Religious Spoof Memes; Memes utilizing the playful frame - Top meme (lasers)
Implicit Religious Memes; Memes utilizing the Religious Trope frame - Bottom meme (Ron)
(Aguilar, p. 8-20)

What specific religious issues/actors/community are being undermined or affirmed? What does this tell us about how the authority of this religious group is being interpreted? (Provide concrete evidence to support these claims)
The top meme is affirming their authority because it is showing how hard they work to hold themselves to a higher standard. Upon further investigation, this belief is backed up by their sacred text, the Bible. An understanding that they are sinful creatures, but striving to be better is always the goal.
The bottom meme is undermining their authority. Initially, you'd say it affirms is because it shows that they "know more than you". But it is arrogant and rude to others both inside and outside the faith, since Protestantism has many similarities in beliefs. In a Huffington Post article, they mention how the Catholic church views itself above others and is therefore unquestionable in authority and leadership.

How might aspects of religious authority discussed in this week’s readings and in the class lecture, inform the way someone would read your collection religious internet memes or understand the influence their messages may have within digital culture?
I feel Catholicism is a religion best practiced in "real life". That is doesn't necessarily translate well into the digital media, including memes. The Catholic church has been around for 2000+ years. It has survived through many, many ages, but memes and the digital age are proving to be a very difficult hurdle. Even those more lax and social media-savvy Catholics, are showing how hard it is to know what you believe, articulate it well, and be relatable. Catholic memes should be viewed with a grain of salt, knowing that the Catholic faith and church are so much bigger.