To begin, the first example of religion in this episode begins about seven minutes into episode twenty-six, “Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment”. Lisa is sitting in Sunday school and learns of the Ten Commandments and focuses on the eighth commandment, “Thou shalt not steal”, realising her family is breaking this commandment by stealing cable. When the family gets home from church, Homer turns on the TV and Lisa confronts him asking, “Dad, are you sure this isn’t stealing?” when suddenly, Lisa envisions the devil entering her home and setting the place on fire. As he sits down he encourages Lisa, “C’mon Lisa, watch a little cable with us! It won’t cost you a thing, hahaha!” This run-in with the Devil is symbolic of Jesus being tempted by the Devil in the Christian religion just as Lisa was tempted with free cable, seen in the book of Matthew. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.” (Matthew 4:1-2). This passage is parallel to and exemplifies Lisa’s inner struggle. At the beginning of the episode, Lisa had lived with a select amount of channels knowing her family couldn’t afford more, and when she suddenly gets hundreds of them at no cost, she is captivated, correspondent to how Jesus had been starving after forty days and forty nights of fasting and was tempted to eat. However, this all changes when Lisa realises that the only way she is getting these channels is through stealing, and she is turned off by the idea, comparable to how Jesus knew that if he were to eat, he would be giving into the devil. Furthermore, it is obvious that Lisa had taken the commandments so seriously, exemplified while her and ... ... middle of paper ... ...eive God’s help and holy promises, which in this case happens. Furthermore, when this happens, it reflects one of God’s many promises, in the religion of Christianity, from the book of Jeremiah, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you", says the LORD, "thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall you call upon Me, and you shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. And you shall seek Me, and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:11-13). When God says this, he implies that God will be found by those who seek him and will prosper and in this case, Bart turned to faith, the only thing he had left, and went to God in seek of sincere and heartfelt help and God understood his sincerity, thusly, he was able to prosper, at the second he thought he had failed, and passed the fourth grade.
When you sit down to watch Television after a long day you never give a thought to the possible message or real world comparisons within the episode. After watching and analysing an original episode of The Simpsons my eyes were opened to the message that was buried within the cartoon. In Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment, the writer Matt Groening uses the Simpson family to display a natural struggle between the Id, Ego, and Superego. The episode features the internal conflict between pleasure and reality while expanding it to the world around the characters as well.
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31) The manner in which Goodman Brown based his faith is a very good example of how not to base one’s faith. The strength of Goodman Browns faith was based on his wife’s faith, his trust in his neighbors, and his personal experiences. The strength of one’s faith is one of the most important aspects of any person, and it is especially important in the story Young Goodman Brown.
Some talked of God, of his mysterious ways, ...and of their future deliverance. But I had ceased to pray. How I sympathized with Job! I did not deny God’s existence, but I doubted His absolute justice. (42)
At first, the strictly Christian would watch the religious programmes, but over many years, these programmes became less popular. One of the many reasons for this was David Kremer - the programme editor for BBC religious broadcasting, who noticed that the country had become vaguely religious. The term 'vaguely religious' means; the belief in God, but only going to church for a Christening, wedding etc. As a result, BBC religious broadcasting now only deals with big questions of life such as, 'why are we here?
The Simpsons first aired in 1980 as a hilarious, sarcastic, and exaggerated satire of everyday life. With depictions of politics and politicians, bad parenting, greedy industry owners, and the faults in everyday society. The show really brings to life the thoughts and sometimes unrealistic views we have of everyday people.
Race and religion are two concepts in American culture that can really tie people together, or clearly separate them apart. A group forged by strong common roots in both race and religion can be a powerful societal force, if it wants to be. The Nation of Islam is a small but growing religion in America that has become somewhat of a social movement because of its strong and radical ideas on race. In this paper, I will try to explore the beliefs of the Nation of Islam, and the ramifications it could and has had on racial relations in America. The Nation of Islam, or NOI, is a relatively new religion. The first temple of Islam was established in Detroit by Master Fard Muhammed in 1930. Much of the theology was based on the simple facts that: "Allah is god, the white man is the devil, and the so-called Negroes are the Asiatic black people, the cream of the earth."(1) And, in accordance with their bizarre view of creation, involving a mad scientist creating the white race from the black race, the twentieth century represents the time for black people to regain their rightful position as god¹s chosen people. (1) The Nation of Islam was spawned from Orthodox Islam, an age-old religion. However, Orthodox Islam has openly denounced the NOI as a heretic sect for three main reasons: the NOI¹s rejection of the belief in an afterlife, its tendency to view human leaders as deified figures, and its strong racist attitudes. (2) For a brief time, during the seventies, Wallace Deen Muhammed became the leader of the NOI and tried to take it in a new direction, more conforming to "true Islamic beliefs." This group is now called the American Muslim Mission and still exists in small numbers today. (1) ...
There are many social institutions that have major impacts on society. One of the trickiest social institutions would have to be, religion. Religion seems to have a huge impact on a society even if it’s directly or indirectly. Why is that? Do we need it? Does it let us live a more fulfilled life? What effects does it have on society? Is it necessary for a functioning society? According to Dalton Conley (2013:611) sociology defines religion as being a unified system of beliefs traditions, and practices around sacred things; a set of shared “stories” that guide belief and action. Religion is a way for people to make sense of the world, it keeps society in line with expected behaviors. Without religion people would subside to create their own rules and would deem to follow a path that could harm a society and come to an end. Religion is necessary for a society to function, prosper, and for someone to learn how to be a well moral contributor to society.
high reverence. She feels that the laws of the gods should be obeyed above all others,
There are many branches and different understandings of the Christian faith. Some believe that Jesus is not the son of God, some honor and pray to the Virgin Mary, and some branches of Christianity will go as far as diminishing certain things from their lives to honor God. The American society’s view on religion have changed drastically over the years. The small percentage of North Americans are some of the only types of people that have been staying true to their religious beliefs; that being the Amish. Although the Amish hold such a small percentage in North America, (an estimated 250,784 people identify themselves as Amish in the United States and in Ontario) (Gannon, 2012), they have been one of the numerous religions that encounter negative energy from the outside world. Some of the main stereotypes about the Amish include that they are non-materialistic, very simple, they have no connection to the real world and that they are extremely strict. Although some of these stereotypes are true, it is always wrong to make false assumptions about another group of people. The purpose of this report is to clear all the assumptions made about the Amish. The Amish religion will be further dissected in this report through the understanding of the history, experience of the sacred, sacred writing, beliefs, morality, symbols and traditions and the family and gender roles of this religion.
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.
The world of Neil Gaiman’s novel American Gods is a place where gods are brought into existence by the belief of humankind but also where they fade away into nothingness if that belief dies. All the deities from human myth and religion are able to exist, but only if there are people who are around who truly worship them. In the words of Wednesday, one of the gods of the story, “That’s what it’s like for my kind of people…we feed on belief, on prayers, on love” (Gaiman 225). In American Gods, Gaiman emphasizes America’s position as a place without any unique religious culture to call its own. Instead, it is country filled with the religions and myths of the many ethnic groups who carried their own culture with them when they arrived to the New World. American Gods is not just a novel about gods in America, however. This is also a story about how the gods reflect the best and worst attributes of American society. American Gods explores America’s lack of original religious traditions and analyzes the nature of religious belief in America.
Clifford Geertz has focused more on the symbolic power of religion. He has talked about the fact that it is the symbolic power of religion that has a strong influence on the people. It is the religion, in accordance to Clifford that helps the people in understanding the place that the people have in the world. The actions that are undertaken by the people are also defined by the religion. Based on the arguments that have been given by Clifford, it can be added here that there is a great effect of religion and the religious values on the kind of politics being observed in the nations (Pals 309). When we talk about the religion, it can be added here that we are talking about the set of beliefs as well as the ethical values, which are used in the creation of the world and the ways in which the world is managed. So where does the symbolic state of religion stand in the modern political world. One of the main facts that need to be mentioned here is that politics is related with the development certain motivations in men. These motivations need to be powerful and long lasting. It has been found in the case of the definition of religion by Geertz. He has added that religion provides a set of symbols that develop long lasting, modulations in the people. There is no doubt about the fact that the politics and democracy has more to do with the development of strong states and nations. There needs to be a general order of existence in the nations and states, which leads to strong nations. Nations that are more democratic are the ones having strong order of existence. This is the order that has been mentioned in the definition of a ‘symbolic’ religion by Geertz (Pals 313). Thereby from here, it would not be wrong to add that the religion and ...
Religion, a word shrouded with mystery, confusion and complexity. For some it is the answer to everything, a path to guidance and hope. For others it is the reason for all evil or just a manmade phenomenon for people who refuse to understand that everything happens for a scientific reason. Whatever the case is, it is a topic that is quite controversial and much debated among scientists, cultural theorist and conspiracy theorists. Religion plays a major role in functioning and forming social and psychological behavior of a society. It is connected more towards the emotional side of a person and everyone has their own perspective about it. Therefore religion has become an important part of human identity.
As a Christian, I go to church on Sunday and I believe in heaven as a holy place where I can meet God after my physical body dies. Every day I follow the Holy Spirit inside me, and I know I am forgiven for all of my sins as long as I act by the teachings of God. But besides all of these benefits for my spiritual body, what are some effects on my physical and mental health from religiosity? There are definitely effects on my well being from religiosity according to a study conducted by Yoshiomi Imamura and his colleagues researching the relationship between the belief after death and the well being in a group of elders in rural Japan. Many studies have been done in the Western hemisphere to show the beneficial relationship between religiosity
Religion benefits our society in various ways. In this paper, I will be discussing the importance of religion to the society. Religion provides comfort and quells dissatisfaction, it strengthens human community, religion assures us of comic order, it managed conflict in society, and it teaches us morals that helps we the people in the community to follow.