Religion in the Media

Religion is one of the most controversial topics in our society today. It has forced people to view religion in variety of different perspectives. For some, religion has become a way of life, and for others it is used as weapon to harm people. Thus, the importance of religion is gradually fading away. The Media plays an important role in our lives by predominately portraying religion in a negative manner. Rarely does it illustrate religion in a positive light. Media depicts religion as a poison that engulfs a person from the inside. It illustrates religion as an “iron curtain” that divides people, a weapon used to persecute people, and finally as a source to stereotype people, at times, media portrays religion as a binding factor that encourages human fellowship and togetherness. Ultimately, the media predominantly exemplifies religion as factor that divides and hinders humanity rather than uniting and aiding the society.

In the media, religion is demonstrated as an “iron curtain” that divides people. Religion is illustrated as something that has had more to do with human greed and selfishness than compassion and spirituality. This is evident in the Christianity newspaper article, “The Greeks objected the march without one of their monks present, fearing that otherwise, the procession would subvert their own claim to the Edicule- the ancient structure built on what is believed to be the tomb of Jesus- and give the Armenians a claim to the site”. (Friedman, “Monks in punch-up near Jesus’ tomb”) Here, the two sects of Christian followers are fighting over the Edicule. The two groups just want to own it for their own greed and show the other sects that they are superior, and the “ultimate” followers of God. The article also portra...

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...hose God is the best -which ultimately ignites conflict between religions, persecutes people by using the name of God and Holy Scriptures - Holy scriptures are used to justify their unorthodox behaviors, and finally uses it as a source to categorize people through extremists attacks. Media plays an important role in peoples’ lives and therefore the images it depicts could change peoples’ perception about a particular individual and a religion. Despite the fact that media portrays religion in a positive manner, for the most part, it depicts religion as a force that creates chaos, segregates people, and as a factor that hinders the humanity by grabbing the true essence of peace and harmony. Since the media depicts religion as something that poisons the inner soul through segregation and chaos it can be concluded that religion has become a hindrance to the humanity.