A World Without Religion

Reading through blogs about Christianity and popular culture made me realize that we have all thought about the presence of religion in the media further influencing society, but has a world without religion ever crossed your mind? 

Without religion fulfilling us with personal beliefs and hope, can one still obtain the fulfillment of happiness and morality?

If religion never ceased to exist, how would we know the definition of what we assume to be “evil”? Our understanding of what is known to be “evil” exists from theological knowledge and beliefs constructed by religious foundations. If there was no religion, there would be no harassment of Jews held responsible for the blood of Christ on their hands, or any other persecutions such as this [1]. There would be no war between culture and hypothetically, we would all be one. 

Take time to review the lyrics to John Lennon’s song, Imagine:

“Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people living life in peace

You, you may say 

I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

I hope some day you'll join us

And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people sharing all the world

You, you may say 

I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

I hope some day you'll join us

And the world will live as one”

The lyrics to his song imply that religion is the cause of corruption in humanity. If religion is meant to set rational behaviour and propose humane morality, how is it so, that the clash between different religions and cultures are the cause of destruction in humanity? Ironic, isn’t it? 

In my opinion, religion has become a way of recruiting people into divided groups who share similar beliefs and hopes. This gives the satisfaction of being “included”; a yearning that everyone wants. The one’s who are left out are the non-religious. Without any realization, this has caused war between religious cults striving to prove what is right and wrong. I think religion was also made to set certain principles for the inadequate who entail a rationalized structure for construction of the base of humanity. If there were no heaven and hell for people to believe in, then that would affect the way in which people behave. The question is, would people act more humane, or less? 




Reference: 


1. http://richarddawkins.net/articles/1-imagine-no-religion

Have you heard the saying “Sport is My Religion”?

They say that everyone is looking for transcendence. Self-transcendence is a spiritual uplifting of self into a euphoric state of complete happiness. Some find it in religion, some find it when they become one with their conscious, while others (like me) find it through uplifting music. All these different ways of finding transcendence is shared between people of similar interests, further leading to a grouping of individuals. These groups take on shared interests and turn them into a way of life. 

As an example, lets talk about sports as a way of finding self-transcendence. Like religion, sports bring people together under a sharing of common interest. In sports, there are divided sectors of this- there are those groups of screaming fans who cheer for their team, and then there are the players on the team working to win. This is an idea referring to Trothen's article Holy Acceptable Violence.There are always talks of players feeling euphoria once they step onto the game field while getting a rush of adrenaline that is felt from feedback by the energy of the audience. This is an effect of human experience and creates the quality of transcendence. In my opinion, I support the fact that religion was brought to group individuals who share common interests together. What does this lead to you may ask? This leads to a grouping of society. But lets not get carried away in this philosophical concept. Like Religion, sports, also create a grouping of individuals who share a similar taste in categories of sports. Therefore, one can think of their favourite sport as their religion. One’s interest and everything in their surroundings could be solely decorated in honour of their team. 

Having a passion for something that makes one happy gives an uplifting human experience. A person’s experience felt from a particular sport can be solely connected through their recollection of past events and interests, whether being a religious experience or not. A parallel between sports and the religious figure- Jesus Christ, can be seen through violence projected in teams when they are seen sacrificing their body through physical violence for the sake of making their team win.  This is much similar to the symbolism of the crucification of Jesus Christ sacrificing his life for the people. This parallel can be seen as a theological perspective, further implying that sports can be seen as a way of religion.

So start finding your own personal interests, allow yourself to engage deeply and find a passion. Whether it be the choice of sports, or the love for music, maybe you too, can experience transcendence. 



References:


Trothen, Tracy. "Holy Acceptable Violence?" Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 21 (2009). 

Can Television Play the Same Role as the Church?

Television has been taking over. Society is depending on television more than ever and this fact just continues to grow. Interpretations depicted from television affect our theological perspectives. One who does not attend Church every Sunday can endulge in religious viewings simply through watching television. Tv shows like Touched by An Angel, and 7th Heaven, portray Christian values that one can learn from. There are positive and negative aspects one can receive through messages from television, but these are what mould our culture and allow us to relate to the divine.

Television acts as a mirror of humanity[1]. Television adds to the aid of creating connection between individuals by allowing one to share common interests depicted from television shows and such. The choice of one’s favourite television show makes them return to the television every week and engage contact with others who share similar interests as a kind of commitment and routine. This is very similar to the concept of what Church services imply- the reinforcement of connecting people. Therefore, a metaphoric concept of Church services can be seen in television. So as you can see, popular culture intertwines with Christian theology through different sources of medium. In church we learn about love and other morals, while at the same time television also portrays these learnings. 

One who is not religious and who does not engage in Church services every week can manipulate the same teachings through television in a different sense. The expression “God is everywhere” can freakishly be true, it just depends on how one interprets messages given to them and how they reflect it back the their own theological views. 

References:
1. Detweiler, Craig and Barry Taylor. "Television." In A Matrix of Means, 185-219. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003


Further links of television shows that incorporate Christian theology context: 


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108968/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115083/

Does the Mass Media Affect Us, or Do We Affect The Mass Media?

There is no doubt that society especially, the younger generation are influence and affected by mass media. However, there has become a turning point in which the evolution of societal networks have caused a change. Mass media is mainly directed towards the younger generation because they feel as if their minds are easier to manipulate and brainwash stereotypical messages about gender and sexuality into their mind. Young people follow these misinterpretations presented by the media because they feel obligated to fit in with the rest of society. The mass media tries to form the future generation by presenting them with distorted values supplying them with false facts about how one should view the opposite gender as what is portrayed in today’s society. Therefore, the media displays a distorted image of our lives about sexuality and gender.  All forms of popular culture use restrictive labels to define us. These labels hold titles of racial appearance, status quo, etc. This makes society categorize themselves under certain labels and creates grouping. This is exactly what the mass media wants! Categorizing yourself under a certain group of shared interests gives the opportunity for the mass media to base assumptions about the needs and wants of society. Younger females have been heavily influenced by the media because they have been outnumbered by representations of male figures in popular culture and have been constantly portrayed as sex objects where the value of their beauty is most important. These are ways by the media to create a preferred identity for all genders. However, social networks; a growing mechanism of social media- are allowing us to be free of these instructed representations of formed identity. Social networks such as facebook, twitter and myspace, allow us to create our own identity. These networks give us the option to mould our own identities while at the same time they allow us to connect with people based on our own interest, no longer relying on media companies to do this [1].

The mass media knows that we are the products of their future and therefore monitor the things we do and the interests we are following. It’s freaky to know that they have access to viewing our monitor! This being said, there has seemed to be a turn in the leading role of the mass media. It seems to be, that the mass media is becoming more and more influenced by our changing identities and interests depicted by our own selves. This is because the mass media wants to know more about us so that they can create new ways of influential marketing products.  So suddenly, our interests have become respected by the media in a way none other than before. This being said, the growth of social networking is enabling the change of portrayals in gender and sexuality in popular culture. We are becoming the change! 


Here is an interesting video for reference:
1. http://www.ted.com/talks/johanna_blakley_social_media_and_the_end_of_gender.html