In this country, religion bashing has become the norm in the media and Hollywood. Whether it’s a biased news story or a jab by a lowly comedian such as Sarah Silvercunt, religion is constantly sneered at and looked down upon by elitist liberals.
However, what is meant by “religion bashing”? Are these people bashing random religions for humor? The answer is no. Religious bashing in America seems to only include Christianity. Jesus is the constant butt of every joke and Bible believing Christians are ostracized daily by the likes of Bill Maher, Larry David, and Sarah Silvercunt. (Sarah Silvercunt, the comedian that relies on her Jewish heritage to garner laughs. Sarah Silvercunt, the lanky woman with no body to speak of.)
What is this fascination with Christianity? Why not Islam? Why not bash Hindus? It is well known that this country was founded upon Judaea-Christian values. Christianity can be observed everywhere in the heart of America, from the homes of the citizens to the constitution.
The vast majority of this country identifies as Christian. Yet, when one turns on the television, all they see is Christians being depicted as dunces and fools. The atheists are apparently smarter than any believer. Anyone who is an atheist is accepted as smart and reasoned; anyone who has faith believes the earth is flat.
It is socially acceptable to attack Christians in this country. It is now part of our culture.
The latest example of this was in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Larry David, the main character of his own show, urinates on a portrait of Jesus. Even worse, the Christians, meant to look like chimps, are led to believe it’s a miracle because Jesus appeared to have a tear coming out of his eye.
I like Larry David. He is a funny comedian and his show is one of the best on television. But urinating on Jesus is over the top. It is highly offensive, yet he does not seem to care. HBO claims that the material was simply “playful” in a recent statement released by the company.
Or maybe one of the recent episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher, where the terrible female comedian bashes Catholics yet again. That video is below.
3 comments:
well what really pisses me off is that the word 'religion' is synonymous with Christianity. People generalise all religions based on the fact that Christianity is missing a lot of information about certain topics. Fact is people know very little about the concept of theism and world religions in general. Most religions weren't invented to address scientific questions. In fact modern science was originally invented to exemplify the superiority of Christianity. And while it has been a bit of a run away train in that respect it still carries some of the underlying basic assumptions, prejudices and biases of Christianity. This is similar to the Laws in western countries. Most atheists think that they came up with their own set of moral principles, however all our morals are really derived from the bible that the laws were originally based on. For example in some cultures hating on your neighbour might be completely acceptable and killing him may be a legitimate cause under certain circumstances... lol
But yeah my real opinion lastly is that fundamental Christianity is infuriating. The heaven/hell dichotomy is over simplified and unrealistic. You have to get Christians to open up a bit, let's face it the bible belt is a scary place for anyone who wants to question it. Perhaps you should break into the vatican and release all the original christian documents that were supressed for thousands of years by the Roman senate. Find out why they really persecuted the original Christian sects into extinction and supressed many of the original teachings of Jesus Christ. hmmmmm....
I work in computers.
There are about 1000 times more attacks on windows computers than linux computers. It's not that one is more vulnerable that the other, its just that one is a much bigger target.
Christianity is the butt of the jokes because 85% of americans claim it, not because its special. Its just the best target of oppertunity. You will find that people make fun of scientology a proportional amount of the time..
Agreed.
The images of Christianity are often used as fodder for comedians and college-aged kids who like to sneer at religion simply because they can conceptualize the flying sphagetti monster and can indulge in hedonism and thumb their noses at people, and it often leads them to irrationality and relativism which allows them to feel as though they can act without consequence.
You're right; what about other religions? If these people were so bent against religion because of their "rationality", why are they reaching out and attacking the religion they usually grew up with? Is it because of a psychological conflict because they FEEL it's true and it's their way to break from it? I don't know, but I've often asked religion bashers why they have to reach out and attack it so much. If you don't give any creedence to what is being said, why not just move on? If a point has to be made against religion, why not make it in a rational manner and then move on?
I'm not saying people must respect, agree with, or follow a religion; I'm pointing out why people only attack the possible absurdities of one religion and not other religions, and that if they want to disagree with religion, they can make points against the religion in a rational, non-theatrical manner.
Atheism can be an intellectually respectable position, just as theism can be one. Making one or the other the butt of jokes only seems to point to an insecurity about one's beliefs.
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