Religion and Identity in Stand-up Comedy

The Irish comedian Dara O'Briain has, in the past, performed many routines about religion. In his latest show, "This is the show", he makes a point of not making any jokes about religion. Partly, he says, because he has done a lot of those jokes before but also because he had received criticism for making jokes about Christianity but not about Islam. His point is that he doesn't know anything about Islam, and neither do most of his audience members. This raises two points, first the issue of cultural ownership in joke-telling; and second, the idea of using cultural stereotypes to make jokes.

 In his previous shows Dara has mainly told religious jokes about Catholics or the difference between Catholics and Protestants. Because he was raised a Catholic he belongs to that community and so is able to send it up in a way that another comedian could not. It also allows the audience to laugh at the jokes without feeling guilty. If a comedian who was not part of the community made jokes about them it might lead the audience to think the jokes were not good-natured.

In the third video Dara does make a joke about two communities that he does not belong to: Judaism and Chinese. However, his exaggerated use of cultural stereotypes shows that even though he may not know anything about those cultures outside of their media stereotypes he does not mean them any harm. The audience is able to laugh because they share in the consumption of the stereotypes in the media and recognise that he is making fun of the image of the culture, not the reality.

Barbie v. Fulla

In the chapter Mecca Cola and Burquinis: Muslim consumption and religious identities Echchaibi discusses the ways in which American consumer culture has been appropriated by and for the Muslim market. One of the ways this is done is through Fulla, a Muslim Barbie doll. Echchaibi says that some Muslims believe that the American Barbie has destructive social and cultural implications. Fulla is honest, caring and has respect for her parents. Although Fulla is marketed in a western-style consumer industry she is not a progressive character, which means that she represents the struggle for the collective identity of the traditional female subject in a changing world.

Sources:

http://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2012/03/04/00/06/babushka-21758_640.jpg

Echchaibi, N. "Mecca Cola and Burquinis: Muslim consumption and religious identities". 2012. Religion, Media and Culture: A Reader. Ed. Lynch, G; Mitchell, J. London: Routledge. 

Simulacra and Cultural Identity

In his paper The Precession of the Simulacra Jean Baudrillard begins by stating: "the simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth - it is the truth which conceals that there is none". His main point is that due to the proliferation of images in the modern media the image no longer portrays reality, it hides the fact that truth has disappeared; the image is the reality. One of the examples he uses is the mediatisation of history in films and in cultural myth. The only way we can know anything about the past is through images, so that first disguises the reality of history, and then replaces it. We have no image of history that is not from the media, he argues.

The same could be applied to representations of different cultures in the media. The idea that cultural stereotypes are recognised by us is proof that, unless we discover our own reality, the media controls our images, and therefore our perception, of different cultures and religions.

Sources:
http://pixabay.com/en/mask-face-pottery-22849/
Baudrillard, J. "The Precession of the Simulacra". Traverses (10) February, 1978. pp. 3-37

Stephen Fry in America

In his documentary "Stephen Fry in America" Fry travels to all the states in America to discover what is modern America. While travelling through Iowa he stops at the Maharashi Vedic City where they have their own currency, use the constitution of the Universe to achieve order and harmony, and practice a modern form of transcendental yoga. By activating alpha brainwaves the practitioners hope to achieve enlightenment and happiness. Fry says just talking about the practise makes him feel like a "babbling merchant of drivel", but also knows that the pursuit of happiness is an important one. Although he doesn't go into much depth and, apart from a few perplexed looks at the camera, doesn't criticise the practise it is clear that Fry doesn't believe in achieving enlightenment through this new yoga. 

Football as Religion

Chelsea centre foward Didier Drogba appeared on the Graham Norton show on the 4th of May. He dicusses the power that football has in uniting people, he calls it a religion. Graham replies that if football is a religion then Drogba is a god. If a sport can be labelled a religion would the players be gods? Or maybe prophets? Or just practitioners who happen to be the best in the world? The sport is not inherently religious unless the players and the fans make it so. For the people along the Ivory Coast living through civil war football could have been a source of happiness, hope and unity. Even though there are religious elements in the way Drogba describes his experience with football it is still a sport and not a religion.

The Sacred in Cyberspace

Heidi Campbell's article Religious Communities and the Internet (2010) discusses the growing trends in religion online and online religion. One issue she discusses is the nature of sacred texts in an online format. She sees it more as a problem in Judaism than for protestant christians, who she says see technology as a God-given resource for spreading the Word.

This phenomenon raises some questions; can text on the internet be sacred? or does the 'Word' simply join the billions of other words that flood the internet everyday? Is the sacred inherently sacred? Can the sacred remain sacred when it is translated onto a non-sacred space? Does the message of the religion become lost in the novelty of the internet? Can spirituality be found online among the celebrity gossip, online shopping and pictures of cats?

Former press secretary to the archbishop of Canterbury, Reverend George Pitcher, and Vice President of the British Humanist Society, Dr Evan Harris ("the bishop of nothing"), discuss whether Britain is a religious country and the treatment of religions and religious people in the media.

Private Religion

In his Philosophical Investigations (1953) Ludwig Wittgenstein expands on what is commonly called his private language argument. Although there are many ways of interpreting Wittgenstein's work it can be argued that he does not believe a private language could exist, the main purpose of language being communication. One of the questions raised by this argument is how we communicate our inner experiences, which we alone feel, such as pain, colours, feelings, etc.

For me this question also relates to religion and spirituality; to what extent can two or more people share the same spiritual experience? How do they know whether they do feel the same? Does this make the idea of a religious community based on a shared spiritual experience somehow false? People know the language to use in order to talk meaningfully about their experience so does it even matter if their experience is private or different to everyone else? Is this perhaps the future, the purpose of religion online or more private, commodified spirituality? "The sacrilisation of utilitarian individualism"? (Carrette and King).

Sources:

http://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2012/03/01/00/57/private-19858_640.jpg
Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1953/2001). Philosophical Investigations. Blackwell Publishing.

Carrette J and R King. 2102. Spirituality and the Re-branding of Religion. In Lynch G. and J. Mitchell with A. Strhan. Eds., Religion, Media and Culture: A Reader. 59-70. London and New York: Routledge.

Jesus Christ Superstar

In the 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice Judas sings:

Ev'ry time I look at you

I don't understand

Why you let the things you did

Get so out of hand

You'd have managed better

If you'd had it planned

Now why'd you choose such a backward time

And such a strange land?

If you'd come today

You could have reached a whole nation

Isreal in 4 BC

Had no mass communication

Of course, as technology has progressed it is easier than ever to reach the whole world or become an internet sensation through mass communication. But I wonder if Jesus would have success today, even with the help of the internet. It is true that it is easier than ever to create a global phenomenon but, perhaps as a consequence of our post-enlightenment ideals, people in the west have become at times cynical and/or apathetic towards organised religion. The availability and freedom of ideas and beliefs on the web means that someone who was heralded as the Messiah by one group probably wouldn't gain as much of a following as Jesus and Christianity has in the last 2000 years.

Having said that, the prevalence of religion and spirituality online has meant that it is easier than ever to hear a genuine Christian message; but is it as sacred as the original message? Or does it not even matter?

Popular Music, Affective Space and Meaning

In the article Popular Music, Affective Space and Meaning (2012) Partridge explores how music creates identity, meaning and emotion beyond the lyrics and the authorial intent of the song. A large portion of the article discusses the different meanings of the bass guitar; how in some cultures it signifies a masculine, warlike element in the song and other times it can be a feminine sound, feeling as though it comes from the earth itself. This works for many other instruments and sounds: a Gregorian choir instantly conjures image of monks in a cathedral while a sitar signifies ethnicity. Another example is the snake charmer; the sound is very distinctive but in reality the snakes actually follow the movement of the charmer himself, regardless of whether the music plays or not. However, the image of a snake charmer would not be complete without the musical element.

Sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gScBzmKXTE

Partidge C. 2012. Popular Music, Affective Space and Meaning. In Lynch G. and J Mitchell with A Strhan. Eds., Religion, Media and Culture: A Reader. 182-193. London and New York: Routledge.

Spirituality and the Re-branding of Religion

Carrette and King's article Spirituality and the Re-branding of Religion (2012) describes the changes that have occurred in the common view of religion and spirituality. They say that in contemporary society spirituality has replaced institutionalised religion as people pick and choose the elements they want. They say the change in attitudes began in the enlightenment period where science began to replace theology and in more recent times economics has replaced science. This has led to what they call capitalist spirituality and prosperity religion. This type of commodification and sacrilisation of utilitarian individualism can be seen in many places in modern society. Massages are sold as a spiritual experience, statues of Buddha are sold at market stalls, crystals with healing properties are sold in jewellery shops which is nothing beside the commodity that is televangelism.

Sources:
http://pixabay.com/en/photos/get_image/17508/?t=1333773827&c=9c4ea099a3c9de7c08aa&ext=jpg

Carrette J and R King. 2012. Spirituality and the Re-branding of Religion. In Lynch G. and J. Mitchell with A. Strhan. Eds., Religion, Media and Culture: A Reader. 59-70. London and New York: Routledge.

To Be

Is to be, to be alone?
Is to feel, to feel pain?
Is to want, to want answers?
Is to know, to know doubt?

Is to be, to be together?
Is to feel, to feel love?
Is to want, to want laughter?
Is to know, to know faith?





Picture:
http://pixabay.com/en/traenendes-heart-plant-red-22334/

Religion, Media and Culture

In her article Religious Sensations: media, aesthetics, and the study of contemporary religion (2012) Birgit Meyer discusses how the aesthetics of mediated religion affect the way people experience religion. She posits that the growing trend in charismatic Pentecostalism is due to the fact that they "not only generate but also heat up and intensify religious feelings" through an immediate connection to the Holy Spirit.  She states that the "phenomenological reality of religious experience is grounded in bodily sensations" which "evoke and perpetuate shared experiences, emotions, and affects that are anchored in a taken-for-granted sense of self and community". 

This clip from the 2006 documentary Jesus Camp shows how ritual charismatic services encourage an experiential connection with the Holy Spirit. Pastor Becky Fisher talks about how 'usable' children are in Christianity because they are so open. I think her success in converting children to Pentecostal christianity is related to what Meyer talks about in her article. In her sermons Fisher makes the children feel guilty for not believing enough or for reading Harry Potter before the ritual of speaking in tongues begins. The children are so emotional by this point that many of them end up crying, prostrate on the floor, filled with the Holy Spirit. 

Sources:

Jesus Camp. Dirs. Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. Loki Films. 2006.

Meyer, Birgit. "Religious Sensations: Media, aesthetics, and the study of contemporary religion." Religion, Media and Culture. Ed. Gordon Lynch and Jolyon Mitchell. New York, 2012.

Collective Poem

Nestled in the clover, sleeping, dreaming,

A tangle of bodies, sharing,

soft and gentle, resting, playing.

Friendship forever found in a brother,

dreaming, sharing, love, forever.

Reflection: "Once Upon a Time"

   In her collection of fairy tales Angela Carter says that "the content of the fairy tale may record the real lives of the anonymous poor with sometimes uncomfortable fidelity - the poverty, the hunger, the shaky family relationships, the all-pervasive cruelty and also, sometimes, the good humour, the vigour, the straightforward consolations of a warm fire and a full belly" and that "for most of human history, 'literature', both fiction and poetry, has been narrated, not written - heard, not read. So fairy tales, folk tales, stories from the oral tradition, are all of them the most vital connection we have with the imaginations of the ordinary men and women whose labour created our world". Fairy tales not only connect us with the people who helped create the stories but also with times and experiences throughout our own lives, whether it be a memory of listening to a story as a small child or watching a Disney animated adaptation of famous fairy tales. The countless film and book adaptations of fairy tales surely shows that fairy tales speak to something inside us, something that connects us with people and places of many times.      

         Once upon a time there was a beautiful lake, shielded from the world by a copse of trees; and on this lake there lived two birds who were the best of friends despite being very different. One bird was very brave and dreamt of flying away from all he knew to have adventures and learn about the world outside the lake. His friend wished for nothing more than a quiet and safe life beside the lake. 
          One sunny day the brave bird said farewell to his friend and flew off into the trees that shielded the lake from the unknown. He flew for hours, searching for another lake, but all he saw were tall buildings; he looked for a friendly face, but all other animals he saw were hungry and tired. He searched for so long that by the time the sun went down he had forgotten the way home. He missed his friend and wished he had never left the lake. 
         Months passed and the brave bird became cold, tired and hungry, like those he had seen on his first day away from the lake. He spent every day searching for his lost home and lost friend; he never gave up hope of one day flying through the trees and finding the beautiful lake waiting, exactly as he remembered, to welcome him home. 






Source:

Carter, Angela. Angela Carter's Book of Fairy Tales. London: Virago Press, 2010.

Images: 

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1215912

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1336944

Reflection: The Idea of the Holy

Although I have never as intense an experience as Otto describes in his book I think the same kind of spiritual awareness can come from non-religious experiences and objects. Appreciating the beauty of nature, art, music and literature can awaken something inside us that cannot be explained. Having played in an orchestra for many years my idea of a shared spiritual connection is the joy that can be felt during a piece of music both within the orchestra and the audience. I was always taught that the longer an audience held off applauding the more they felt during the music, and I have always found this to be true. In the few seconds silence between the last note and the first clap the music echoes through and there seems to be a collective sigh throughout the room.  

In his novel Starbook (2007) Ben Okri gives a description of the reaction to a statue in an African tribe. I think the emotions he evokes and describes echo the sentiments Otto refers to in his book:    

         "The whole tribe was troubled by the new revelation in the square: the great wooden sculpture of three men and a woman bound together by chains at the ankles, in positions of intolerable lamentation and humiliation, and yet rendered with stoic dignity, as if gods had been made the slaves of fools...
            So profound was its effect that this sculpture seemed to come alive, seemed to appear in the midst of those who talked about it. Words seemed to make it materialise. Slowly, quickly, suddenly, the sculpture was everywhere, in the tribe's mind, in their dreams, in the work, in their play. The sculpture accompanied and haunted their every activity, like a spirit desperately trying to draw attention to its reality, or like a dream or nightmare that can't be shaken off...
            The sculpture accused, haunted, frightened, soothed, troubled, perplexed, annoyed, paralysed, trapped and engulfed them. It was like a curse, an anathema. It was stronger in the mind than in reality. To see it at first is to perceive it, to encompass it merely with the eyes. But afterwards its horror and its mystery grows, like a dreadful infection deep in the body where the hands cannot reach. It grows so in the mind, horrible and mighty, and the monstrous sublimity of it is such that those who have seen it do not know what to do with their heads afterwards... The world changes for them. They feel the need to die, or do something awful, or make a long journey, or undertake a great spiritual pilgrimage, or, better still, find the cause of the sculpture, why it came into being, understand what it is saying, and do something about it. 
            But unable to do this the elders began to whisper the unthinkable. They felt the sculpture, in its mysterious power, was becoming so powerful and obsessive and soul-sapping to the tribe that maybe it should be hidden away as a dangerous object, or destroyed, before it destroyed the psychic fabric and spiritual cohesion of the tribe." 




Reference:

Okri, Ben. Starbook. London: Random House, 2007.

Week 1 The Sacred and the Profane

McDannell's article "Scrambling the sacred and the profane" (2012) led me to question the link between religion and capitalism. I agree with McDannell when she states: "if we immediately assume that whenever money is exchanged religion is debased, then we will miss the subtle ways that people create and maintain spiritual ideals through the exchange of goods and the construction of spaces".

The emergence of evangelical and charismatic Pentecostal 'megachurches', particularly in the USA, could be an example of the creation and maintenance of spiritual ideals. People are expected to give money to the church and in some of the larger congregations they give away cars and other gifts along with spiritual gratification.

Despite the scepticism that these churches face from their critics attendees seem to genuinely find spiritual awakening and comfort from them.

Source:
McDannell, Colleen. "Scrambling the sacred and the profane." Lynch, Gordon, Jolyon Mitchell and Anna Strhan. Religion, Media and Culture: A Reader. Oxon: Routledge, 2012.

Secular Religion

I recently read Alain de Botton's latest book, "Religion for Atheists" and did not find it quite as 'inspiring' as Amazon.com assured me I would. The main tag-line for the book, "even if religion isn't true, can't we enjoy the best bits?", sums up de Botton's main argument. As an atheist he begins with the presupposition that the supernatural elements of religion are false but argues that some religious ideas and rituals would be useful in secular society.

He believes that the moral ideas and community spirit that religion offers should be adopted into secular society. Some of his ideas include Agape restaurants, a day of atonement, and the reinstatement of the Feast of Fools (an annual week of debauchery to make it easier to stay faithful to your partner).

While I think that de Botton makes some compelling arguments for adopting religious rites in secular society I feel that he is making a mistake in rejecting the supernatural from the start. The spirituality that emerges from the supernatural, being able to feel something beyond the secular world, being part of a spiritual community as well as a moral one is important for a person's well-being.

Spirituality is more than just communing with a higher power; I think it would be hard to adopt religious rituals and ideas into society without being able to feel what they mean spiritually. People are not compassionate or  forgiving or social because they have to be according to society's laws; they are because they feel something that compels them to act, a communal spirituality.

Reference:

de Botton, Alain. (2012).Religion for Atheists: A non-believers Guide to the Uses of Religion. Switzerland: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.