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American Religious Diversity
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This article focuses on why the recent presidential election has divided the Evangelical church even more so than before. There was an effort to integrate church previously, although not completely successful. Many Christian churches have remained dominantly white despite their efforts to become more racially diverse, and the article begins with a specific example of an African American woman who formerly felt comfortable in her church. Before the election, black members chose to join white majority churches because of the convient times of the services and in hopes of finding “a personal connection with God”. Before the election, pastors failed to mention the shootings of African Americans which made their members skeptical and uneasy. But following the election of Trump, many Black members disconnected from the church altogether. This article mentions how evangelical whites voted for Trump in larger numbers than for any other president. No matter the policies that the members of color did agree with, there were too many negative and racist actions that Trump took that created internal conflict for African Americans.
The Evangelical church, having four branches ranging from fundamentalist to left, leaves room for discrimination and exclusion. Their beliefs in general can naturally contradict with the basic rights of minority races. For example, members of the Evangelical Church who support of Trump coincides with their agreeance in deporting Mexican immigrants and opposition of NFL player protests. This does not appeal to the African American population for obvious reasons of discrimination, so it makes sense why black members have been facing controversy with there church following the election. The article mentions how they hoped this racial problem of the church originated from “obliviousness rather than some deeper disconnect” but as we see in the following paragraphs, this is not the case.
I had some underlying thoughts about if African American Christians, specifically Evangelicals, ever ran into conflict between their religion and their race. This article pointed out some of the key issues that have arose for African Americans, especially following the election of Trump. I agree with this article completely and it has pointed out aspects that I never considered would be conflicting to black members of the church.
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This article about Elisabeth Moss sparked my eye because I am a fan of ‘The Handmaid's Tale” and wanted to know more about her decision to join the Church of Scientology. The first point the author makes is about the television shows and movies that Moss appears in, and how the majority of them are progressive as well as advocate for women’s rights. Scientology has a reputation for abusing members, and the article claims that Moss is “too sane for that”. Joining the church apparently helped her through her divorce with Fred Armisen, and she shied away from discussing the topic, saying scientology was misunderstood. I relate to the curiosity people have about her decision to join Scientology, and Moss voices her annoyance with the constant questioning. The practice has a known reputation for breaking up families and secretly monitoring members, and this article suggests that Moss might be unaware of these claims. She defends the church, saying that it supports equal rights and religious freedom. The article goes on to question why Elisabeth Moss filmed a show with Nicole Kidman who is unwelcomed in the church of Scientology. Her children supposedly shunned Nicole because she didn’t accept her husband, Tom Cruise’s support of the church. Moss seems to be choosing only the positive aspects of the practice and ignoring many of the controversial aspects. This is the opinion of the article, but it is clear where the author’s ideas about Moss are stemming from. She is a well-known actress with multiple awards; a valuable addition to the church. This article demonstrates how Scientology can appeal to a variety of people, even those we wouldn’t expect.
I knew previously that Moss practiced Scientology but I was clueless as to why. I was surprised that she was a supporter because of the roles she plays in many of her films, and this article taught me that there isn’t much of an explanation because of her reluctance to discuss the subject. It is clear however that she tends to ignore the negative aspects of Scientology and only focus on the good.
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The Times article, Why Amish People Stay So Healthy In Old Age begins by debunking the idea that the Amish people are less fortunate than the rest of Americans. They do have fewer material possessions, but what they do have is good physical health. The author mentions a study that shows the daily activity of the Amish; they produce all their food by hand, which results in a good amount of manual labor and walking every day. Cancer and obesity rates are low in the Amish community due to their regular exercise, and the only aspect they don’t beat the rest of American society in is heart disease. This is due to their diet mostly consisting of potatoes, meat, pancakes, and bread. Because they only marry within their community, their genes come from their ancestors that migrated to the Americas a long time ago. The Amish got lucky and seem to have good genes for living a long life, specifically 10 percent longer than those without the Amish gene. Typically we assume that the Amish sacrifice virtually everything for their religion, but we don’t consider the benefits that their lifestyle might have. America is known for having many kinds of freedom, but this freedom is not always good for our health. The restrictions that the Amish have on consumption of food has proven to benefit their health and overall longevity.
Another benefit of the Amish community that most Americans lack is the in-home care of the elderly. Relatives of the elderly almost always take care of them in their old age; we often cannot say the same for the elderly population of the United States. Many situations arise where families do not have the time or cannot afford to take care of members of their family so they send them to a home for the remainder of their life. This is conflicting on the family members’ morals and wishes, and most people want to be the caretaker during their last years. This could be another contributor of why Amish people tend to live longer lives - people are typically unhappy in care homes, resulting in less motivation to continue the fight to live. Having the security of being cared for by your family would lead to an increased desire to stay healthy and less reasons to give up on life.
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This article discusses Trump and his support for the Prosperity Gospel Movement. Being a self-made business man and already extremely wealthy, he demonstrates many of the Prosperity Gospel Movement’s themes in his political career. Some people admire him for his fame and wealth along with the fact that he has never given up. Trump practices positive thinking, one example being his presidential inauguration. He was aware that the amount of people who came to his inauguration was not more than any other president, most likely less. But this article points out that Trump might have said these things in hopes of them actually happening. Positive thinking is encouraged by preachers of this religion, and it aims to create a positive mindset in order to achieve your goals. Trump has also consulted with prosperity gospel advisors before, bring more attention to the practice. One major belief of this religion is that God intends for you to be wealthy and prosperous; it is against His will to be in poverty. Some of the members of the movement that Trump brought to the White House were given an opportunity they never would have had, and the author subsequently points out that these people must be placing there thanks on God. They may also assume they are favored by God because of the opportunities they were granted by Trump. Another discussion point this article makes is how Protestantism “provided a kind of civic glue for our country” during a long portion of U.S. History. Now, we are trying to find something multicultural to replace that, and the Prosperity Gospel Movement is one example. It mostly fails to unite people, considering the way the practice looks down on the poor and advocates for the wealthy. The author of this article examines how the movement is not only for the poor who want to become wealthy, but for the already wealthy, such as Trump. These people might credit all their success to God, and utilize the practice to get more and more rich. This is a common occurrence among preachers who become wealthy under the practice.
I was unaware Trump was a supporter of the Prosperity Gospel Movement, but it makes plenty of sense considering his values and status in America. He is a religious man as most people can tell by his policies and beliefs, and he has no shame of his wealth. Many prosperity gospel preachers have similar views of successful businessmen and Trump is a perfect example of this.
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This clip from the comedy TV show Family Guy shows Peter asking God questions in an elevator. Peter represents the views of most Americans; he believes in God but mostly because he doesn’t know what else to believe in. He asks God, “do atheists go to hell?” and God replies no. Then he asks if people who don’t believe in God but say they are spiritual go to hell, and God replies, “Straight to hell. All the way to the bottom.” This joke is making fun of the idea that Americans hate uncertainty, and people would rather you were atheist than spiritual. The unaffiliated group in America is a minority group, but it is unsettling to some people because there is a constant need to categorize people in our society. That is why this clip makes the joke that Atheists don’t go to hell but people who say they are spiritual but don’t believe in God, do. Later in the video clip, Peter says he believes in god because he wants to believe there is something bigger than himself. God replies that different people believe different things. This could apply to the many branches of Christianity such as Baptist and Evangelical, or it could mean that everyone has their own interpretation of the bible, or even God himself. There are sects of Christianity that have a specific image of God, for example the Evangelicals believe Jesus was created (not born) and aided God in creating the Earth. Other religions, such as the Quakers, allow members to create their own interpretation in their mind of God. This is what Peter’s character has done, and he says he just wants something to believe in. Taking this stance in society is more acceptable than saying you are spiritual, according to this episode of Family Guy. Statistically, Atheists are the most hated group in the U.S., but this clip is making the point that some Americans are extremely uncomfortable with the concept of being spiritual and not believing in God.
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The article Atheism Has a Suicide Problem published by the HuffPost discusses the high rates of suicide within the Atheist community in the United States. It stresses the point that suicide is brought out by the domination of other religions and hatred aimed towards Atheists, rather than the belief itself causing people harm. Several concepts surrounding Atheism that we learned in class are expressed in this article, specifically how organic atheism doesn’t lead to societal health. This is especially pertinent in the U.S. because of our mainly Christian society and the disclusion of minority religions, especially “non-believers”. The author mentions how Atheists are typically people that don’t conform with the common ideas of society, and this can lead to isolation. Especially if an individual grew up in a Christian household then came to a realization that there is no God, they are left in the dark wondering about what really exists. This confusion and doubt on top of any hate aimed at them by society can often lead to depression and sometimes suicide. Considering the statistics we read in class, it is not hard to believe that this is happening. Another aspect that this article doesn’t mention about Atheism is the fact that they lack a strong community which could be a huge contributor to depression among Atheists. Living in a country where most people depend on a single god to answer their problems or guide them through life can be discouraging when you don’t believe in that god. Madeline O’Haire is a good example of America’s animosity towards atheists, and the extent it can go. She and her family received death threats, and she was named “the most hated woman in America” at one point. This article also talks about all the other possibilities that Atheists can consider and how they can be overwhelming, but wonderful at the same time. The author is strongly opinionated, considering he is an atheist himself, but he makes a persuasive and valid argument. His concluding statement calls for unity among the atheist community and more outreach to one another to provide means for support. He adds that not all atheists are going to agree on everything, but that goes for any religious group; there are always multiple ways something can be interpreted. As we learned in class, there are the two categories of negative and positive atheism, as well as a broad and narrow sense. This is not a bad thing, but just something to consider when thinking about the atheist group as a whole and the diversity of their beliefs.
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The Guardian recently wrote an article about Tom Cruise and his role in the film “Mission: Impossible - Fallout”, which was released earlier this year. The author compares James Bond’s character to Tom Cruise’s role in fallout, as well as his high status within Scientology. Cruise has taken part in numerous risky stunts during his acting career, and put his life on the line multiple times in real life. He has been described as a “Jesus-like figure” by scientologists, and they have named him their official messiah according to this article. There is a short one minute video included within the text which shows Tom Cruise holding on to the outside of a plane for a stunt, which he repeated eight times for the movie Fallout. This was just one example shown of his intense and dangerous stunts on camera. This case of Tom Cruise having such a high status within Scientology goes to show how they tend to amplify their celebrity supporters as much as possible. Scientologists view their founder L. Ron Hubbard as a Jesus-like figure, and although not as highly ranked, celebrity members like Cruise are put on a similar pedestal. Another belief of Scientologists is the idea of resurrection, and we can see in this article that Tom Cruise’s close encounters with death contribute to the belief that he is a “messiah” of some sort. His roles in several movies including “The Edge of Tomorrow”, “Jack Reacher”, and “The Mummy”, all include his character’s resurrection or close encounter with death. Scientologists believe in the immortal soul and past life experiences carrying over into the next life, which Tom Cruise and the characters he plays could be an example of.
Another aspect of Scientology that we learned in the lesson was the ways in which they advertise their practice. Recruiting celebrities is a way to draw people in and present a familiar face to their audience. Tom Cruise made a well-known Scientology promo, which had the soundtrack to “Mission: Impossible” playing behind it the whole time. In the publicity for his films, which the article states are produced by Cruise, the viewers are told about the risky stunts he participates in. Tom Cruise’s fame as well as his known reputation of highly dangerous movie stunts makes him a perfect candidate for Scientology’s spokesperson. Showing his face to represent Scientology might be a tactic of theirs to give people the idea that if they join Scientology, they will have the power to survive close encounters with death as well.
I was unaware that Tom Cruise did some of these stunts in real life before reading this article. It taught me more about the way Tom Cruise’s movie publicity is similar to Scientology’s publicity in the way that they put forward their most intriguing or eye catching aspect to reel people in. However, this is not the best tactic if you want to have credibility, and I think that is one reason why there is so much skepticism over Scientology.
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One of our recent lectures in class was on the Amish community and way of life. I chose a New York Times article about growing technology in Amish culture and multiple perspectives on the influence it has over their lives. Many common arguments against technology were made by the Amish people interviewed in the article, such as too much dependence on technology’s quick and easy solutions, and how it diminishes the value of human interaction. Traditionally, the Amish are against forms of technology in their day to day lives and discourage most of the things American society has become accustomed to. Their growing population in America was a main point of the article, and the Amish are travelling to bigger areas and relying more on technology for work. This article debunks some common beliefs of the Amish and explains the way their lifestyles are adjusting to new technologies. Their traditional rules are still in place, but the Amish are realizing that they cannot live the way they did in the years before. This article points out the issue of technology connecting people to the outside world, which is avoided in Amish culture. Parents are worried about their children losing work ethic, being exposed to pornography, and dating those outside of the Amish community. In class we learned about these concerns, but what I was unaware of was the way they are also currently accepting technology. Some Amish make the point that it is necessary to make a living, especially considering their growing population. They own successful businesses in big cities, and come home to a community that denounces computers and cellphones; which are essential for running a business. There are some blurred lines when it comes to dealing with issues such as this, and the Amish have ways of keeping up with the pace of the outside world without violating the rules of their religion.
I chose this article because I found the lecture of the Amish in class intriguing, but I had some remaining questions about their lives on a daily basis. The double lifestyle many Amish people live today is what interested me the most, because their work environment can be the polar opposite of their home and family life in most cases. Especially with the rapid growth of technology in America, Amish societies are faced with the decision of whether or not to incorporate things like cell phones and credit cards. This New York Times article addresses how they have been using more technology because of the new opportunities it can create for them. I see how this can be conflicting because of their conservative religious lifestyle, but the article helped me to understand the ways that they make their decisions.
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