Bryan Aguilera Religious Studies 103

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On June 18, 2013 American songwriter, rapper, and producer Kanye West released his album “Yeezus” worldwide. The title album has the implication that resembles Jesus Christ mixed with his own sort of twist. The picture above is from his Yeezus Tour where even on stage he is greeted and meets Jesus Christ himself. I personally have seen the Yeezus tour and went to his concert and through the whole experience Kanye was strongly portraying an aura that created religious implications. Through his songs and tour he is almost being saved by Jesus Christ and then overcoming all of it and becoming a sort of God-like figure himself.

In his album one of his track titles is “I am a God” and the song ties in current hip-hop culture with religion. The lyrics implies that he is a God and relates the song with both negative and positive connotations about God. In his lyrics he brings up issues that implies feminism such as highlighting a female figure and telling her to give him a massage and and to get his Porsche out of the garage. Kanye is relating his lyrics towards the problem of our culture today where people can feel like they are a God with girls and materialistic things like money. At the same time Kanye is appreciating God where he states that his whole life is in the hands of God and everyone should stop playing with God. Kanye gives a good representation of who God is to him in his life but also relates it to how hip-hop culture resembles God.

I found it super fascinating how in this song he even has small biblical references that has to do with the Snake Handler movement such as snake-like people will bite you for stepping out of their own boundaries as individuals. Kanye was able to clearly represent hip-hop as religion and religion in hip-hop. After our hip-hop and religion lecture I was able to pinpoint different aspects of religion that resides in hip-hop music even from a few years ago.

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Thousands Gather On The National Mall To Show Atheism Isn't A Bad Word

Bill Nye and others say it's time to tackle the stigmatization of nonbelievers.

In this article, thousands of people gather around the National Mall to raise the awareness of the stigmatization of the word “atheist.” About 15,000 people supported the cause and during the rally people were interviewed on their thought about the secular community and the current state that they are in. The rally’s purpose was also to raise political awareness as more than 90% of congress identifies as Christian.

Huffington reporters walked around the rally to ask individuals what word would they use to describe themselves. Famous scientist Bill Nye was also present during the rally and he stated, “well, we are all agnostics.” This highlights his theory that in reality, we are all agnostics in a way that we don’t have any physical proof of a God.

This reminds me of our guest speaker in class where he was too agnostic and stated that there was no physical proof for him to believe in a God. I thought he was a good guy and had good intentions because within the article, it states that people who are atheist are almost seen as “bad guys” and have no sense of good inside of them. This is a stigmatization towards atheist and the rally was for a good cause to show believers and people of this world that it is possible to be a good person even without a God.

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Through stigmatization, Mormons can be seen as people who are intrusive and obnoxious to certain people. With the picture above, our friends Matthew and Luke are on a mission where they are trying to speak to strangers by knocking door to door to spread their beliefs onto others. Matthew states, “I guess we press the one that says “Mormons”” to Luke, however in the picture the doorbell that has Mormons on it, triggers a boxing glove contraption that will hit him if he rings the doorbell. People can be sometimes irritated by Mormons as they go to their doorstep and try to talk to them, but in reality it is their way of spreading their faith to everyone for a better cause.

Mormons are not trying to annoy or harm anyone and I was able to see that through our guest speakers when we were learning about Mormonism. Mormons are on a mission to persuade and guide people to their own beliefs because they believe everyone should have the opportunity to commune with God in the afterlife. People have misconceptions of Mormons through early years when they use to practice polygamy and have different lifestyles. Mormons do go through a 2-year mission, but it is to better themselves and to find fulfillment within their life. I’ve learned that Mormonism is not for everyone, but other should not put others down for their own beliefs. That is why the picture above presents a comical yet serious notion to the Mormon beliefs. They are not trying to do any harm, but instead just spread the word that they believe in.

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Retreats Help LGBT Youth Reconnect With Spirituality

NEW YORK (RNS) Jordyn Garrett left home so he could become Olivia. Lerato “Lee” Mokobe left South Africa to pursue her dreams, but can’t return because o...

This tragic yet heart-warming story revolves around Jordyn Garrett, Lerato Mokobe, and Sarah Silva. Jordyn Garrett left his own home because he wants to change genders and become “Olivia”. Lerato left her own home in South Africa to pursue her dreams and can not go back home to her harsh and dangerous lifestyle. Lastly, Sarah left her own home as well due to sexual abuse and her unhealthy family relationships.

These young teens were all found homeless in New York City by a Non-Profit organization called the “Reciprocity Foundation.” Their goal as an organization is to help New York City’s homeless youth by connecting them spiritually to unlock their full potential through their passions. They support all people of color, the LGBT community, and everyone from different religious backgrounds. Personally for me, I am in love with this organization because it is organizations like these that really make a difference in the world. I know a lot of youth are scared of connected towards a religion because of the hate and negativity that goes towards the LGBT community. These negative thoughts that these youth may face can lead to severe mental illness or even suicide. Reciprocity Foundation is an amazing foundation, and I believe there should be more organizations like this around the world.

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The quote above is from the famous L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology. Within this quote, Hubbard mentions the main principles of Scientology, which to make an individual's life better in their own sense. Within Scientology, a main goal is to provide a clear path that resembles one’s full understanding of their spiritual nature and emphasizes on their relationship with themselves. This quote highlights the significance of Scientology through the essence of self-fulfillment and creating a lifestyle where one can flourish. L. Ron Hubbard states the idea that once you delve into the Church of Scientology that you can soon become immortal and that man is much greater than their physical appearance. When I saw this quote, it reminded me of our guest speaker who was the president of the Church of Scientology here at San Diego and his experiencing working within the church. He mentioned that they did believe in a concept of a God, but instead of it being a single figure, it was leaning towards the concept of existing to infinity. Scientology has been something always fascinating to me, although I do not study under the Church of Scientology. These concepts bring a whole new perspective to our world and almost re-shape religion into a concept that is more modern. Personally, I find scientology a modernized religion that one can study if they do not believe in other religions. I can see why people would convert to this, because to some people it can seem more realistic and have a logical sense of background. I do not see myself ever joining the Church of Scientology but it is intriguing to see how all of this was created.

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Why Madalyn Murray O’Hair was the most hated woman in America

A new Netflix biopic portrays the woman who got prayer out of U.S. schools and her volatile life as a pioneer in atheism.

This article revolves around “The most hated woman in America” Madalyn Murray O’Hair. She was considered a pioneer in Atheism and raised a suit against the Baltimore Public School System to officially remove any practice of prayer towards all public schools. During lecture based off of O’Hair, this was something that was brought up and recognized. However, this article help explain into more detail other instances to why America hated her. O’Hair also challenged the act of American astronauts reciting scriptures during space launches as well as sued to remove “In God We Trust” from the U.S currency. Also O’Hair tried to remove the saying “under God” from the pledge of allegiance. She was hated by most Americans because during that time especially, the United States was a predominantly Christian country. This article mentions the ideas of why people hated her and brought it to specifics. Although O’Hair was seen as the most hated woman in America, her acts exemplified great strength in the Atheist and the female community. Having a leading female figure notion against all of these things, showed empowerment to women and created a stepping stone into reducing the gap between men and women. She is a figure that gained much attention from everyone and I find it actually inspiring that a woman at this time stood her ground and fought for what she believed. Although it did not seem like the best position for her to be in, she was able to fully express her beliefs and gained recognition from her actions. People like O’Hair helped shaped the female community and brought awareness to America about Atheism as well as the empowerment of women.

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This little cartoon stood out to me a lot and gave me a good laugh. I found this picture ironic because as modernization takes place into America, many people look down upon Amish people and their traditions. The amish are people who have an old-fashioned lifestyle and they do not use electricity. The way that they live their lives is based on their literal interpretation of the Bible, and also the Amish Ordnung where they base their behavior, culture, and lifestyle on. This is their lifestyle and their belief on how life should be lived.

Why this cartoon brings significance to me is because it highlights the idea of perspective and plays an impactful role towards stereotypes. Although the Amish live a different lifestyle compared to most people on the world, this picture signifies how the Amish must feel when people look down upon them. The picture reverses the roles between the two and puts the other in a lower position. Perspective and acceptance is a big key towards having a healthier and peaceful world. We should down look down upon others with certain beliefs and instead focus on yourself and your beliefs.

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“The Time Is Always Right To Do What Is Right.” A famous quote by the one and only Martin Luther King Jr. MLK wanted to better the world in many different aspects and develop an environment that changes perspectives towards the forgotten. MLK embellished leadership towards all and stuck to his main theology and ethics. Through this quote he believed that if there was ever a time where someone could step in and do what is right, that action should always take place.

King’s triple evils was considered to be poverty, racism, and militarism. Still to this day, I believe these are considered to be some our world’s biggest problems. We are able to see these problems still occur and sometimes we can only help to much. Personally, it raises the question that how can we ultimately stop these three evils in our world?  Religion also plays a huge role with MLK because he was part of the Black Church and considered himself to be a reverend first before all things. This was inspiring to me to see someone who acknowledges all of these worldwide issues, that he sees himself as a reverend first before all others.  

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Above is a bible verse from Luke chapter 10 stating that these men have encountered their view of demons and that they obeyed them under Jesus’ name. Jesus is implying that his and God’s power of word will give them strength and these snakes and scorpions also known as the demons, will obey them and cause no harm towards them.

There are many verses in the bible that contain different sorts of snakes or serpents and they are treated as demons, however the word of God is strong enough to force out the demons within the snake and those who would drink their poison or grab the snakes will be safe from them. I have always heard of the religious practice that is snake handling, however after taking this class I did not realize how actually insane the practice was. I had no clue that people actually held and danced with very poisonous snakes during their mass. Snake Handlers resembles pentecostal fundamentalists and that they take the bible verses literally word for word. I personally do not agree or support with this religious practice because I believe it is really dangerous to those people practicing it and those around them.

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Why Islam Gets Second-Class Status in Germany

There are 4.3 million Muslims in the country, yet their faith is legally nonexistent.

Within Germany, the government takes into account religious communities as public institutions and encourages those who are religious to participate within them. Anyone who lives in Germany and registers themselves into the state as Roman Catholics, Protestants, or Jews must pay a “religious tax.” With the money that government gains from these taxes, they then distribute it towards each respective religious institution.

Having a religion within Germany is not second-nature and these different religions benefit greatly by having their religion taught in public institutions as well as receiving funding from the government. However, a problem occurs where those who fall under Islam dissent, are considered “second class” and are not able to receive benefits like the other religions. Germany’s government resisted Muslims because within Muslim communities, they are separated along ethnic lines between the Shiites, Sunnis, and Alawites.

After reading this article, I was shocked at how Germany is more Christian than we actually know and it shows how some countries favor certain set of religious beliefs more than others. Germany felt that Islam did meet their own standard requirements and criteria of religion to be seen as a privileged status religion. Delegitimization is the root for these problems as countries are starting to have biases towards certain religions over others and categorize them into different social groups that are excluded from the society as a whole.

This whole situation reminds me of class when we discussed how some businesses and companies in the United States would look down upon applicants if they put Atheist on their job application, that some companies would deny their application on the spot or not even consider the applicant at all.