MURICA-FOOBALL (Sumblog 11)

So this past week we took a look at religion and social change. One of the things that caught my attention we read by Yamane was religiosity and sports. Though a good portion of that part of the article was cut off (which was a shame by the way Prof Barry) it intrigued me nonetheless. The first person who pops into my mind (and probably most peoples) is Tim Tebow, a white, male football player for the Denver Broncos. He became highly beloved by many people when we began to have a prayer after getting a touchdown. He was praised by Christians around the nation, and people respected his love and dedication to his devotion to live a God filled life. So, there was a win for Christians everywhere. Now let’s take a look at the opposite end of the spectrum.

Husain Abdullah, a black, male footballer who players for the Kansas City Chiefs was penalized for saying a Muslim prayer called a Sajdah. He got to his knees in celebration of getting a touchdown and was so thankful he said a prayer in gratitude. But unlike Tim Tebow, he was not acknowledged as a religious phenomenon or someone to look up to. He was penalized, and luckily thanks to a social media uproar, his record was fixed. But amazing how much privilege was extended to Tim Tebow versus Husain Abdullah? It’s both disgusting and frightening how differently they were treated. Amazing how one religion is found to be more socially acceptable. People can say this was a legitimate penalty all they want, but if they choose to ignore the discrimination involved in the decision process, then shame on them. 

Ba da ba ba ba i'm lovin it (Sumblog 10)

This week in class we discussed the relationship between globalization and religion. I was truly fascinated when the video we watched in class discussed that missionaries come to Western countries to bring back faith in religion. I guess when I think of mission trips I think of all the people who head to Africa with bibles. (I’m not too familiar with the process, but hopefully they bring more than the word of god to those places sine they seem to pick destitute countries and areas.)

I think the term I liked discussing the best was glocalization (the fact that it sounds hilarious is only eighty percent of the reason as to why I deem it the best.) I tried to think of other areas in which I have seen this concept at play. In my personal experience, having travelled to only two countries outside of the  United States of America, I first thought of soda pop, more specifically, Fanta. Both Costa Rica and their own flavours that were available in those countries. (The special flavour in Costa Rica was horrid tasting.)

               But then what ways can glocalization be applied to religion? I’m going to be completely honest and say I am not going to research this, but more think and question the idea of Christianity and glocalization. Are sects and denominations the effect of glocalization? Were they created as a way to make religion more approachable in different areas of the world, or different cultures? Much like McDonalds, are there local traits that can be taken in a religion in each different area? Kinda boggles my mind, but at the same time, I think of how many non-denominational or catholic services I have been forced to attend in the past, and how each of them gave similar but completely different values and morals. 

One thing I do know: they need to bring that McDonalds poutine here. Stop hogging it Canada!

I mean, just look at that sexy gravy goodness. 

America...do you even lift? (Sumblog 9)

This week in class we discussed nationalism and Heclo’s findings on whether or not the USA is a Christian nation. To be honest, this topic did not really catch my interest as much as I thought it would. Likely it was Heclo’s insanely boring writing style. (To be fair I hate academic writing, so it’s me, not him.) I did however agree with some of his points. Such as while many people say the USA is a Christian nation, we sure don’t act like one! Jesus was all about loving everyone, acceptance, forgiveness, caring for the sick and poor. Heck, he was the guy who brought booze to the party! He was a rebel! He went against the norm to help people even when higher powers tried bringing him down.

None of those cool and kind hearted deeds sound like the religion politicians throw in our faces during their attempts to get elected. It’s all “SCREW THE POOR. WE DON’T NEED PEOPLE SPONGING OFF THE SYSTEM!” “HELL NO GAY PEOPLE SHOULDN’T BE GETTING MARRIED!” “WE SHOULD HATE WOMEN AND MUST FORCE OURSELVES INTO THEIR VAGINAS BECAUSE THEY COULDN’T KEEP THEIR LEGS CLOSED. NO BIRTH CONTROL FOR YOU.” Seriously, it’s like they just sit there and try to find ways to oppress people. It’s all about who deserves more rights and privilege. Pretty sure if I was Jesus I would come back to slap some of these politicians silly for using my goodness and name to oppress the poor and minorities.

Now feel free to tell me we live in a Christian nation. Tell me how a country that thrives on capitalism and stepping on the poor shows any of Jesus’s teachings. That’s what I thought. 

The Ultimate Trollers (Sumblog 8)

                So this last week’s topics we covered secularization and de-secularization, which have probably been the topics to intrigue me the most. In this week’s rant (because I realized that is what my sumblogs have turned into) I would like to complain about de-secularization and corporate America. I am particularly angry about the fact that corporations are given more humanization and religious freedom that many of its workers (especially of the female variety.)

                In case you haven’t picked up what I’m hinting at, I’m thinking of the bullshit with Hobby Lobby that gave a non-human corporation more rights than the human beings that work for them. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard what went on; but basically what happened is that it was determined that giving women specific types of birth control (including the one I personally use) would not be covered by their insurance because the people of hobby lobby began claiming the plan B pill and certain types of birth control as a form of abortion. And despite those being very personal medical decisions that should only be held between a patient and doctor: hobby lobby was able to vouch as a person with religious issues and overturn the law that would have provided affordable family planning care to its workers.

                David Greene, the guy in charge of Hobby Lobby basically stated that his religious beliefs over-rode those of his workers, and lucky for him, we live in a capitalistic and patriarchal society that agreed with him. In this case, this was de-secularization at its worst. With this in mind, with an employer being able to deny coverage for certain medical procedures and medications, would that then make it possible for Jehovah’s witnesses to deny blood transfusions? Would another religious group be able to deny a lifesaving procedure because it was against their beliefs? Isn’t that a terrifying idea? I sure as heck think so given how terrible some of my previous employers have been.

 

And now to leave you with some of the best meme responses ever.

U MAD BRO!? YES I AM. (Sumblog 7)

                So in this week’s sumblog I wanted to write a response to the discussion we had in class on the movie watched in class about the Muslim community center they wanted to build in New York City. This topic makes me extremely baffled on so many levels. It legitimately infuriates me that anyone can blame an ENTIRE religion based on the acts of a terrorist organization. I don’t see anyone condemning Christians after the Spanish inquisition (during which somewhere around 300,000 people were killed according to google.) No one condemns Christians after they murder doctors who help women get abortions. No one condemns Christians for murdering and torturing people for being gay, for being sexist towards women. And while these examples may not include every Christian on the planet, they certainly make up a significantly higher number of people than the few terrorists who took over the planes of September 11^th.

                So then why the fuck are people okay with condemning an entire religion they barely understand based off one terrible act? What is the difference? At one point will these surviving family members and citizens stop blaming and taking their rage out on Muslim people who work every day to make our country great. People who want to create a sanctuary and safe place for them to gather and practice. People who pray and live to follow the Koran, which is a book of peace? It frustrates me to hear people in our own class that want to take away the rights of these people, but would likely be enraged if their own rights were taken away or suppressed. How dare you condemn good people? Seriously?  What makes you more deserving than them to practice your beliefs wherever you want? Absolutely freakin nothing.   I will always work and fight to help people like this, as a good sociologist, activist, and citizen should.

What's Satan got to do, got to do with it? Sumblog 6

I actually was incredibly intrigued by the discussions and topics we covered in class on Tuesday. Going over sect, denomination, and cult seemed like a very thin line to me, as shown in class when we discussed the differences for a bit. The few that stuck out that though we did go over in class a bit, were the briefly mentioned Satanists. I’m fascinated with knowing whether or not what they would be categorized. I mean reading online in different forums such did reveal that some believe it has branched off from Christianity, some say it predates Christianity, and other say it is completely its own thing.

After doing a little more research (you know, googling Wikipedia…I’m mostly kidding) I was finding there was a lot more to Satanism than from what I assumed in my angst ridden teenage years. Not to mention my only interaction with a so called Satanist a few years ago was a total tool who I think had more anger issues than legitimate religiosity. OK! Back on topic! In a really cool article about a satanic group in Michigan on USA today, they describe Satanism as a sect:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/06/detroit-satanists-say-theyre-peaceful-sect/15219129/

               However, given the little ties to Christianity and a majority of society’s declination of Satanism, I think that it’s most likely to be labelled as a cult. Though it technically has no real charismatic leader, a man named Anton LaVey did create the church of Satan and is credited for bringing Satanism mainstream. Also much like the Cult status, Satanism has no relationship with society or the government, despite gaining grounds in now being allowed to worship Satanism in the military. Much like Christianity though, Satanism has its own denominations despite having such a small following, all of which appears to be slightly different to the individual, once again showing that religion is a highly personal and individualistic thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanism (ok...fine. Most of this I knew beforehand or wikipedia’d.) 

ALL THE RATIONAL CHOICES (Sumbog 5)

I found the rational choice theory (also known as surplus and exchange theory) to actually be extremely straightforward and sensible. Supposedly with this theory you take a look at one religion at a time and make a pros and cons list, debating on whether or not that will fit your lifestyle. I find this idea to be absolutely fascinating, and a big contributor as to why there are just so many denominations of Christianity. This definitely plays into some of the ideas we've discussed in class about religion being very personal. We pick a religion that benefits us the most, and find others whose beliefs are the most similar to ours.

Let’s put this into action and based off the rational choice theory decide which religion to pick, given the limited information. Take for instance Jehovah’s Witnesses. They don’t believe in hell, that’s pretty great right? They also don’t celebrate birthdays, saving you money not having to buy a pesky gift! On the other hand, those who leave the group are then shunned, thus a con. Now let’s make a short pro and cons list for the Westboro Baptist Church. Pro, they are a very tight knit community. Cons, they are sexist, racist, homophobic, and all around terrible. Also, they are exclusive to those who don’t share their exact beliefs. Assuming these are the only two options, using the rational choice theory, nearly everyone would likely choose to be a Jehovah’s Witness.

Given the vast amount of choices in religion, and the personal interpretation of religion, rational choice theory makes sense, but can be difficult. You are not supposed to compare the two religions with this theory, but once you have multiple pro and con lists, you have to compare them in order to make a decision. I feel that makes it slightly contradictory. But here is one thing we can hopefully all agree on! 

Digital image. Zerobs.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.