Religion in American Film American’s nation-wide did a disbelieving double take when they were heard that Jim Carrey was going to be playing the role of God in Universal Pictures summer 2001 movie Bruce Almighty. Millions of American’s have found themselves near-obsessed with the engrossing epic Lord of the Rings, Dogma has been welcomed into the Cult Films Hall of Fame, and Mel Gibson’s The Passion stirred an overwhelming amount of religious, cultural, and ethnic criticism. When looking at the recent array of films that either present or suggest religious themes – whether it be allegorically, evangelically, or satirically – we find ourselves asking the question “why now?” Is the reason for this upsurge sociological, psychological, philosophical, or historical? Is there perhaps a political or economic reason as to why American’s today are so eagerly consuming films that are looking at the timeless battle between good & evil, questioning organized belief systems, or presenting religion in new and contemporary ways? From critical analysis and research done on this subject, as well as much pondering and theorizing, it could be said that the question of “why now” is more philosophical, and value oriented, than anything else. The religious content that is present in modern American films is indicative of a more general discussion & questioning of values and resonates with the post-modern, religiously pluralistic mindset that American’s have come to embody. It is a common mis-conception that films are merely entertainment, and serve no other purpose than to provide for the viewer a two-hour escape from reality. This is a serious under-estimation of the power, purpose, and potential of film, because film, upon reflection, revea... ... middle of paper ... ...garet R. Seeing and Believing: Religion and Values in the Movies. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996. Johnston, Robert K. Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2000. Stone, Bryan P. Faith and Film: Theological Themes at the Cinema. St.Louis: Chalice Press, 2000. Valenti, F. Miguel. More Than a Movie : Ethics in Entertainment. Colorado: Westview Press, 2000 Detweiler, Craig, and Barry Taylor. A Matrix of Meanings: Finding God in Pop Culture. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003. Putnam, Robert D. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000 http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/bruce_almighty.htm For the purposes of this study, it is helpful to look specifically at the way in which Christ and Christianity are being presented, through the various methods, in contemporary film.
Some works show their true colors right away. Gene Edward Veith’s book, Reading Between The Lines, addresses philosophical ideas, literary sub genres, and reader criticisms in order to ascertain a Christian’s role in literature. He also goes through various historical periods and examines their more prominent works and schools of thought. While a select few of his conclusions about Christianity in relation to the arts have merit, others contain more damaging implications. Specifically, his statements regarding television represent inaccurate and offensive thinking.
Reynolds, David S. Faith in Fiction: The Emergence of Religious Literature in America. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1981.
...unified different race and socioeconomic classes. Lastly Bacon’s Rebellion allowed minorities to expand in Virginia. Ronald Takaki claims, "During the last quarter of the century, the black population of Virginia increased steeply to 9,000 and possibly to even 20,000 out of 63,000 for the entire colony." (60) This growth of African America in the late 1600’s happened after bacon rebellion.
1.H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, Harper Torchbooks, 1951), chap. 1.
Identity theft is a term used for describing criminal that uses individual’s identity without consent. A common crime of identity theft would be identity fraud. Many of the crimes are regularly connected with money-related issues (Reyns, 2013). With technology being commonly used nowadays we are getting more dependent on it for business, financial, medical, and other forms. As a result this became a target for identity thieves as well. The Internet provides us information and accessibility, but information being stored on the Internet eas...
Davis, Edward B. “The Christian Century”. Chicago. Jul 15 – Jul 22. 1998. Vol 115,
I’ve decided to write my research paper on the issue of identity theft. Identity theft has occurred all throughout history in various ways and forms. Today, it is one of the fastest growing crimes occurring all over the world. Data suggests that identity theft accounts for roughly $50 billion stolen each year from citizens and businesses in the U.S. I believe that more attention should be targeted towards identity theft because of the detrimental effects it can have on a single victim and on our nation’s economy. Topics I will discuss include statistics about the crime, laws that protect the victims of the crimes, and what we are doing to prevent future attacks from happening.
Identity theft is the stealing and use of someone’s personal information and is one of the fastest growing crimes in the nation (Dole, 2005). According to Federal Trade Commission estimates, identity thieves victimize approximately 10 million Americans every year at a cost of an astonishing $50 billion (2005). Identity theft has been going on for years now and is easily done with the help of today’s technology. According to the Federal Trade Commission, there are six common ways that identity thieves get a hold of personal information. The varieties of methods that are used are dumpster diving, skimming, phishing, changing the victim’s address, stealing, and pretexting (Federal Trade Commission). Once someone’s identity is stolen, accounts can be opened in the victim’s name such as credit cards, loan, and utilities; money can be withdrawn from the victim’s bank accounts and cause financial difficulties or the victim’s personal information may be used for other reasons. While consumers blame credit card companies and credit bureaus for lack of security, credit card companies blame consumers for being too gullible and forthcoming with private information (Shelly, 2010). While the two disagree who is at fault, they both share a deep concern over identity theft. Credit card companies’ refusal to accept that technology is moving too fast for them to keep up and their lack of security with existing accounts provides evidence that it is not the consumer’s fault that identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the nation (Dole, 2005).
Silverman, Kaja. "Suture [Excerpts]." In Narrative, Apparatus, Ideology: A Film Theory Reader, edited by Philip Rosen, 219-235. New York: Columbia University Press, 1986.
American fundamentalism and American evangelicalism seem to go hand in hand. Evangelicalism and fundamentalism both stress life based on the bible, repentance, and a personal relationship with God. No one would deny the massive influence that fundamentalism had on evangelicalism or the similarities between the two. Although some historians would suggest that evangelicalism was experiential and sectarian while fundamentalism was conservative and anti-modernist, it is clear that fundamentalism would never have survived as long as it has if it was not able to adapt to modernity and exist within a pluralist society.
Eastman, Roger. The Ways of Religion: An Introduction to the Major Traditions. Third Edition. Oxford University Press. N.Y. 1999
A rapid upsurge in identity theft has significantly risen. It is enabled by technological advancements and an increase in current internet usage throughout Australia. This has encouraged current debates; resulting in implications for law enforcement bodies, businesses and governments. As the Australian laws are recent, there have been no published decisions that have considered the meaning of a new provision. The Criminal Code Act (Cth), Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988 (Cth) and Migration Act 1958 (Cth) are intended to protect society from practices of identity theft; though these legislations have been unsuccessful in adequately protecting and covering the demands of identity theft in Australia.
But this still does not give them any satisfaction. And most the time, during holiday because of poverty, student have to sells in the street in order to be be able to help their parents to pay for school tuitions, and sometimes most of them have to create a small business to be able to gain money to help their family, brother and sister schools. The government introduced entrepreneurship programs to promote and enhance skills acquisition, the spirit of creativity, self-reliance and self-independence. In other to examined the determinants of entrepreneurial intention amongst university students in Cameroon, the motivations and obstacles, to entrepreneurship among university students in Cameroon, and whether there is any significant difference between entrepreneurial intention and selected demographic variables (gender, entrepreneurship education, and family background). This could be an example to be carried out by other sub-Saharan countries, to reduce the rate of unemployment. The training and support of more qualified teachers is also something not to be disregarded in the improvement of youth unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa. The capacity of having good and well-
In today’s society, identity theft happens more than ever. In 2011, identity theft increased thirteen percent. This affected 11.6 million adults. There were SSIDs and credit card accounts all stolen through social networks (Veen 20+). This proves how unsafe that the internet is for one’s credit card. Identity theft has been happening more and more often. Brigitte Acoca states, “Identity theft is the fastest growing crime of the 21st century” (Stein 68). When a crime is growing that fast that makes the crime a greater marketplace for criminals. The more criminals committing the crime, the greater likeliness of one’s identity being stolen.
Identity theft is a serious growing issue in the United States. Why can’t identity theft be stopped? Too many crimes are being committed and it’s difficult to catch criminals. It would be difficult to handle cases, and over the past 5 years identity theft has increased. Most identity thefts happen over the phone or the Internet, which decreases the likeliness of the criminal being caught.