Religion and Pop Culture

Final portfolio project for REL200. Compilation of class presentations on the intersection of religion and pop culture.

[relinpopcult]

Lakewood Baptist Church, located in Houston, Texas and headed by famed pastor Joel Osteen, is the largest church in the US with an estimated average attendance of over 50,000 people per week. Its immense size makes it not just a church, but a megachurch. Osteen's sermons aren't just heard by those in attendance at the megachurch, though, as he is also a noted televangelist; his sermons have been broadcast on TV and radio for years. Hundreds of thousands of people have heard him speak on the gospel, and even if you haven't heard his sermons, you've likely at least heard his name come up in controversy. One of these controversies surrounds his preaching of so-called "prosperity gospel".

In the above video Osteen explains his belief that followers of God will be blessed with wealth and, in fact, that they deserve to be. This is the basis of prosperity gospel: the new-age teachings that Christians should not shun wealth and materialism but expect and embrace it. With this sort of lifestyle one would be encouraged to grow their personal finances and not necessarily be wary of materialism despite the classic view of many religions that a humble life is a holy one. Osteen claims to not preach about money and especially not prosperity gospel, but many critics claim otherwise. By no means is he the only pastor preaching prosperity gospel, and especially not the only megachurch pastor criticized for it based upon their influential nature, but he is certainly one of the more notable examples.

There are a few reasons why Christians may be against these sorts of teachings, the main one being that many believe God would not want His people to cherish wealth and become greedy but rather put it to good use and help others. Others say that expecting God to repay you with wealth for your belief and sacrifice is not the sort of relationship one ought to have with Him; as Cathleen Falsani wrote in an opinion article for The Washington Post, "And if God were so concerned about 401(k)s and Mercedes, why would God's son have been born into poverty?" There is also evidence that faith in prosperity gospel can cause people to take more financial risks due to the belief that they are being blessed by God and deserve the material goods they are acquiring. It's for that reason that there is speculation that the rise in prominence of prosperity gospel across America may have been a contributing factor to the housing crisis and subsequent economic depression in 2009. The shift in American culture that resulted from the economic collapse continues to this day and is especially evident in our politics.

Earlier today a report came out that 500 envelopes were discovered hidden inside the walls of Lakewood Church. The envelopes contained cash and checks of undisclosed amounts, and there are suspicions that these may be connected to the theft of over $600,000 from the church in 2014. The money was discovered by a plumber doing work inside the church. He reportedly will not get any reward money for the discovery if it is found to be connected to the 2014 robbery despite Crimestoppers of Houston offering up $25,000 for any information leading to an arrest. There seems to me to be some sort of irony in this occurring at the country's largest megachurch. Perhaps Osteen's prosperity gospel only applies to the church itself.

[relinpopcult]

The Outlast series has been popular since the release of the first game in 2013. The series thus far consists of two horror games, both based around a character in a survival situation that necessitates the use of a camcorder night vision setting to be able to complete tasks and navigate the dark settings. In the first game, an investigative journalist named Miles gets trapped inside a psychiatric hospital, AKA asylum, being overtaken by deranged and murderous patients of inhumane experiments. One such patient is Father Martin Archimbaud who believes himself to be a prophet and Miles to be an apostle sent to him. It turns out that Father Martin worships an entity inside the asylum known as the Walrider, a horrible creation born of an experiment upon one of the patients. The Walrider, a being composed of nanites controlled by one of the patients, is the primary antagonist of the game. Father Martin, on the other hand, acts as both an ally and a minor antagonist to Miles throughout the game; despite hindering his escape towards the beginning and sedating him at one point, he leaves blood-stained paths throughout the asylum to help Miles find his way around and does not seem to want anything bad to actually happen to his "apostle". In the end though, Father Martin is seen crucified inside a chapel and then sets himself on fire as a sacrifice to the Walrider. Miles kills the patient controlling the Walrider but ends up possessed by it himself. The religious themes of Outlast are pretty evident here, yet it's the game's sequel that offers more controversy regarding religion.

In Outlast 2 you play as a journalist named Blake who, along with his wife Lynn, was flying over the Arizona desert as part of an investigation into the murder of a pregnant teenager. A mysterious flash of light causes their helicopter to crash, and when Blake wakes up he finds Lynn missing and the helicopter pilot horrifically murdered. This begins the chain of events in the story of Outlast 2 which revolves around Blake rescuing his wife from an exiled Christian cult and an offshoot of the cult, as well as a subsect of the cult consisting of those who were exiled once again.

The game's cult, called Temple Gate, is led by a man named Sullivan Knoth. Knoth is a self-proclaimed preacher of the Testament of the New Ezekiel, his version of the writings of Ezekiel from the Bible, and believes that as the leader of Temple Gate he alone has full salvation from God. Temple Gate believes that their settlement lies on top of the entrance to Hell and, as a result, Knoth has come to believe that the anti-Christ will be born to someone in the settlement. Where Knoth used to insist upon his followers procreating and having kids, once he determined that a prophecy had told him about the anti-Christ, he resolved to kill any and all children - including fetuses - inside Temple Gate to prevent the anti-Christ being born. It turns out that Knoth and his cult kidnapped Lynn from the crash and they believe her to be pregnant with the anti-Christ despite any initial visual indications of her being pregnant. On the other hand, an offshoot of the cult led by a woman named Val is determined to bring about the birth of the anti-Christ. Throughout the game, Val and her followers are determined to kidnap Lynn themselves and ensure that she carries the baby to term and brings about the end of the world. This is the primary timeline of the game.

The secondary timeline of the game concerns flashbacks of Blake's time in a Catholic school as a child. Throughout these flashbacks, the player learns that Blake's friend Jessica was being sexually abused by a priest in the school; one day inside a stairwell Jessica resisted being taken by the priest, which led to her falling to her death at his hands. In order to cover up his association in her death, the priest staged her body to look like she'd hanged herself. Blake finds her body. Earlier in the storyline he and Jessica had been running around the school after hours when they were caught by the priest, and when the priest threatened to tell Blake's parents, Blake left while Jessica begged him not to leave her alone with the priest. This leads to the final events including her death. This storyline speaks to Blake's experiences and trauma with religion and exemplifies the issue of Catholic guilt that is often instilled from a very young age: we are all sinners.

The religious themes and critiques in Outlast 2 had much heavier tones than its predecessor and left a lot more to be considered. On the one hand, you have a cult leader who seems to be crazy, though by the end of the game you're left wondering if he perhaps was right after all about the baby being the anti-Christ; on the other hand, you have a storyline addressing the all-too-known pedophilic accusations regarding the Catholic church. While many horror games that utilize religious elements do so to make a point more along the lines of, "religion is bad and religious people are crazy" without much of an explanation why, Outlast takes a more nuanced approach to the subject and gives it more depth. One could certainly walk away from these games feeling anti-religious - the games don't send a very pro-Christianity message by any means - but I think it's also important to analyze the religion in these games in the context they're in. How these people and groups ended up with their seemingly delusional beliefs is just as important as what they believe when it comes to understanding the games in their entirety. The examinations you can make on religious extremism and Catholic guilt from Outlast 2 are quite deep.

The Outlast series still remains immensely popular as far as horror games go. The third installment, The Outlast Trials, is set for release in 2022 and already has high anticipation from gaming communities.

[relinpopcult]

During the 2020 election, Joe Biden ran a series of campaign ads that addressed his identity as a Catholic. I remember hearing a lot of people talking about how he'd be only the second Catholic president in the history of the USA, with JFK being the first. This drew a lot of comparisons between the two, especially given the reputation that JFK seems to have as having been an alright president. However, many Americans, both Catholics and non-Catholics alike, expressed concerns about how Biden's religion might influence his decisions in politics. For example, the debate over his decidedly pro-choice stance on abortion becomes a topic of interest over and over again every few months because it goes against the long-held teachings of the Catholic church.

In the aforementioned ads put out during his presidential election campaign, Biden made no attempt to hide his faith or deny that it would influence him in any way. In one ad, Joe is shown speaking about the Bible to a congregation while the narration tells how his faith helped him through the loss of his family members and makes him a loyal and trustworthy leader. In another ad, shown above, Joe Biden explains how his faith and upbringing encourage his principles of dignity, inclusion, and, most notably, not abusing power in any form. His examples of abuse of power are a man physically abusing a woman and the government abusing its power over the states/people. I could see this ad definitely being influential to both Catholics and non-Catholics alike as it could make Catholics feel like his faith maybe does make him a good person while non-Catholics would hear the promises of not abusing power, inclusivity, and dignity which are all usually seen as things people want from a leader.

As someone who was raised Catholic, I personally like seeing the more liberal takes on it that have come from both Biden and Pope Francis in recent years, and I think it's been interesting to watch public opinion on notable Catholic figures like them develop and change with every new controversial thing they say. I think there are both advantages and disadvantages to Biden using his faith as a part of his election campaign. Despite the advantages listed above from the ad, there is also the potential of alienating the more traditional Catholics who would absolutely not agree with some of his political stances such as being pro-choice.

[relinpopcult]

In research on alternate congregations, I looked up "alternate congregation examples" and found this article talking about some churches around the US that have attempted to recreate the experience of religion without the actual religion. The focus was on the gathering, community, and sharing the experience with others. One point made in the article is that they've largely been unsuccessful because many of these churches are not coming together over a real shared interest or experience. That brought me back to thinking about other conventions where people meet up based on interests. One search led to another that brought me to my topic of choice: the Gathering of the Juggalos (sometimes referred to as the Dark Carnival), an annual event where fans of the band Insane Clown Posse come together for a few days and bond over being fans of the group. This year's took place in August. Everything that I have read so far about the group and the event has been more interesting than I thought, and while I don't believe Juggalos are a religion, they do have some similarities that I'd like to discuss.

The above image is the logo for the 2021 Gathering. The small yellow symbol in the middle is an icon for the band, referred to as Hatchetman; this icon is actually the logo for the band's record label but has been co-opted by fans of ICP as a symbol for the band itself. You can also see in the above logo the phrase, "Luv rises from the ash like the butterfly". Juggalos describe themselves as a very accepting group and anti-hate, with many of them insisting that Juggalos are against racism, homophobia, sexism, fatphobia, etc. For a decade now the band has actually been fighting the notion that Juggalos are a gang; the ACLU has even assisted them in their efforts by filing a lawsuit on their behalf against the FBI, which designated the group as a gang in 2011, and Juggalos continue to protest to this day.

This fanmade website describes some of the "rituals" that take place at the annual Gathering of the Juggalos including getting sprayed by the soda Faygo, a drink popular among fans. This has evidently been an expected part of the event since the very first Dark Carnival. Faygo is a notoriously cheap soda; why has this subculture adopted it as a symbol? It turns out that many Juggalos are members of the lower class, which is part of why the band appeals to them so much. Much of the band's lyrics, while seeming to be just about violence, are apparently more about injustices faced by minorities and the poor in America. The website linked at the beginning of this paragraph links to an explanation of this with an example in their song Chicken Huntin' as well as several videos about the Gathering, other songs from ICP, and explains the use of face paint by Juggalos.

So, this event kind of has it all: fans who dress up in face paint/costumes specific to the group, "sacred" music, origin stories for the band and the term Juggalos, people who gather for a common cause, ideologies and beliefs that can be generally applied to the group as a whole, rituals... Is it not starting to sound sort of like a religion? The articles and websites linked above contain much more information than I can summarize here, and I think they're worthwhile reading if you want to go really in depth with this. The Gathering itself has a website as well with more information, and these two websites (1, 2) have many pictures from this year's Gathering as well (warning: some pictures are NSFW).

[relinpopcult]

Selah House is an eating disorder recovery facility meant for girls and women ages 12 and older. Selah House is in Indiana and calls itself "Christian-based", though they say they accept girls and women of all faiths or no faith as well. The facility offers a few different treatment programs, including one specifically for teens, partial hospitalization, inpatient and residential, and aftercare. Their website, selahhouse.com, has a number of resources on eating disorders and the way they go about treatment as well as a facility tour, information on admission, and commitment to transition and aftercare. Their about page lists equine and art therapy and yoga as offered programs, and you can see the horses and yoga in this video on their home page.

However, for all of the benefits and testimonials that the website provides, it may not be a complete picture. Many Google reviews give the facility a one-star rating and say that they regret going there or sending their loved ones for treatment. Several people talk about how they felt the staff were unprofessional or untrained; others said they felt like they were doing all the religious work themselves or made no true progress in battling their disorders, potentially even falling further. One thing I noticed in many reviews was that the length of stay varied between one week to a few months, but no one seemed to stay longer than that. The facility has a 3.5 star rating on Google. Facebook reviews show a bit more positivity with an overall rating of 4.6 stars; one woman even admits to naming her daughter Selah after the facility. One thing that stood out to me though was the mention in several reviews and comments about girls having multiple stays at the facility. It seems to me that if their treatments were truly working and their aftercare programs effective, no one would need to come back, right?

It's difficult for me to make any sort of comment on whether or not Selah House is actually a good place for treatment of eating disorders in girls and women. With no personal experience in either eating disorders or staying there, I can only rely on the mixed testimonies of the patients and their loved ones. I would certainly expect a place that claims to be faith-based to have more Christian aspects involved though, which doesn't seem to necessarily be the case; on the other hand, it does make sense that not everything would be religious when they accept girls of other/no faiths.

Selah House is by no means the only faith-based treatment center for eating disorders. First-page Google results for "faith-based recovery programs for eating disorders" include Timberline Knolls in Illinois, The Center - A Place of HOPE in Washington, and Canopy Cove in Florida. There are faith-based recovery programs out there for other things besides eating disorders, too, Alcoholics Anonymous being perhaps the most famous example. I think it's nice that people can find ways to really incorporate their faith in their attempts at recovery for various disorders, but I think it can also set a dangerous precedent when programs like Alcoholics Anonymous make it seem like the only way to recover is through God. It can set up a lot of guilt and fear in the minds of people who already feel bad enough, not to mention the low success rates of traditional 12-step programs. Places like Selah House that offer options for everyone, Christian or not, may be a good way to bridge that gap and provide the comfort of religion to those who seek it rather than those who feel pushed into it.

[relinpopcult]

If you use social medias like Reddit and Twitter, there's a good chance you saw the above picture making the rounds during this summer's Olympics. The picture shows an athlete from Egypt's women's volleyball team and an athlete from Germany's women's volleyball team both jumping up to the net for the ball. This picture became a source of both unity and controversy, depending on who you asked. Many people said it shows how the Olympics brings people of all cultures and kinds together and shows anyone can be a great athlete; many other people were discriminatory about Egypt's team being allowed to modify the typical volleyball outfit for religious purposes. The debate over the allowance of religious exceptions to sports uniform standards has been a long one, and while the most well-known parts regard Muslim women and hijabs, the ban affects Sikh men with turbans and Jewish wearers of yarmulkes as well.

Up until 2021, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) had a ban on any headwear exceeding a 5cm width measurement which, in most cases, would exclude religious headwear. The ban was apparently enacted as a precaution due to the possibility of harm to the player or other players. This meant that elite collegiate players such as Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, who wears a head scarf, and Darsh Preet Singh, who wears a turban, could not enter the professional basketball world without sacrificing a part of their religion. While this ban did not exist in all other sports - for example, Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad was allowed to compete in hijab and full cover - it has been fairly common in most major sports, including boxing and judo. When Nike released their first official sports hijab in 2017 it seemed to open not just more possibilities for Muslim women in sports but also more conversation regarding the headgear ban. 2017 marked a turn point in FIBA's consideration of changing the rule, and in 2021 the ban was officially lifted. This change is even being seen in competitions at the high school level as young athletes have been campaigning to be allowed to play with their religious garments.

Not many people have questioned displays of Christianity in games, like kneeling or praying, so why should we question a Sikh basketball player wearing a turban, or a Jewish man running track in a yarmulke, or a female athlete competing in hijab? After all, your religion doesn't define how well you can play a sport, and with religious headwear being modified to become more suitable for athletic use the danger of someone getting harmed is less and less present. It makes sense then that these rules and bans are being changed and lifted to allow inclusivity for all.

[relinpopcult]

For this presentation I decided to dive into the world of Islamic rap. The main thing that surprised me was that there are several rappers I've heard of who identify as Muslim. Busta Rhymes, Ice Cube, T-Pain, Swizz Beats, Akon, NBA Youngboy, Lupe Fiasco, Sheck Wes, Kevin Gates, and French Montana apparently all fall under that category (sources: 1 [see references 6, 14, 15, 17, and 18], 2). However, there are plenty of other artists who are more obvious in their music about their beliefs (see last.fm's database of some Islamic rappers). I found this list of 7 Muslim rappers as well and one of the artists caught my eye: Poetic Pilgrimage. I always think it's refreshing to see female rappers get positive attention, so Islamic women getting specific mention in this list was cool to me. The music video for their song Land Far Away is the first result when you search their name on YouTube; the video was posted in 2010, and the song has obvious reggae influences. A few other songs that I found on YouTube by other artists are Holy Quran by Stalley, Forgive Me by Brother Abdullah, and PROPHET MUHAMMAD by Shadi Akhi ft. Jae Deen. The featured artist in the last song is part of a Muslim rap duo called Deen Squad, and it's a BBC interview with Jae Deen that I most wanted to feature for this presentation.

As stated in the video, Deen Squad is known for taking popular rap songs and changing the words to be more Muslim. They show a few comparisons in the video for the originals versus their Islam versions. I personally enjoyed the way they parodied the songs. You can just tell how much fun they're having with what they're doing! The things that I most liked about this interview though were the mentions of how they have non-Muslim fans and how they've received praise from their Muslim fans saying that they felt more connected to their faith because of the duo's work. (For anyone else wondering about his 51:56 hat, it is this quote from the Qur'an: "I did not create the jinn and the humans except that they may worship Me.")

I also found this short video on the rap group Mecca2Medina interesting. The video was filmed in 2007 and posted on the YouTube channel TrueTube with the title "Islam and Rap" on April 27th, 2020. You can see many different Muslim men and women enjoying their shows and hear from the group a bit about why they decided to start making Islamic rap.

I am not and have never been Muslim, so I can't speak personally on how respectful I think this music is or whether it should be allowed in the religion. The YouTube comments in the videos linked above seem generally positive though, and to me that’s wonderful. As times change I think it can be very important for religious establishments to find new and creative ways to interact with people and keep up with modern society, and this is a perfect example of doing that. Obviously not everyone will agree with the methods, but the fact that so many people respond with joy to it is a pretty good sign that it's working. As Muslim people get more and more famous, I wonder if Islamic rap could become more mainstream, especially given the prevalence of rap in today's culture already.

[relinpopcult]

The above picture comes from this Amazon listing. The item being sold is a set of temporary tattoos, and the description includes this bullet point: "This package includes 20 sexy tribal lower back temporary tattoos for women." When someone says the words "tribal tattoo", this is probably not what you think of. Hearts, butterflies, and flowers applied to a woman's lower back are almost certainly not the image you conjured up in your head; you can even see a Hindu Om near the upper right corner of the image. What does Hinduism have to do with "tribal tattoos"? (The answer is nothing.) However, this image is only an extreme example of a very real cultural appropriation problem with actual tribal tattoos.

It's not uncommon to see people, especially men, walking around with dark patterns of swirls and lines on their arms, shoulders, or legs. Interspersed throughout these lines are often dots, artistic depictions of animals or gods, arrows, or other symbols. These tattoos are inspired by the ones created by and given to various Native cultures around the world, particularly Pacific Islanders. The difference is that in Native and Indigenous tribes, the tattoos are designed with very specific meanings to their culture and often include elements of spirituality or even that person's role within the tribe as well. The symbols and patterns picked have a purpose and can tell a duty or story that is significant. These tattoos are often given as part of a ritual that accompanies the meaning of the tattoo, and it is an incredibly detailed process to receive them the traditional way. If you've seen the Disney movie Moana then you have somewhat of an idea of how painstaking that process can be as well as how important tattoos are. The movie has a brief interaction between Moana and a man getting his back tattoo as another man hammers the ink into him, and also includes Maui's explanation of his tattoos being his life story and showing everything important that's happened to him, both good and bad. Getting these tattoos is a big deal for people of these tribes; it is less so for people who simply get them because they "look cool". Often these people do not understand what their tattoo could mean or why it was drawn that way, if they're copying a design. If they make up a design, it may very well look meaningless and odd to any tribe who sees it. (Sort of like when people get "Asian character tattoos" that are supposed to say something inspirational but are actually nonsense.)

In recent years I have seen on social media an increase in Native and Indigenous peoples proudly showing off their tattoos. One that I've noticed gaining popularity is ancestral chin tattoos, designs that have been passed down through generations and hold incredible significance to the families they belong to. I've also seen more of an appreciation of genuine Maori tattoos. I'm not of authority to make the call on whether people should or shouldn't imitate these tattoos, or what suggestions and requirements they should have before getting one, but it's come to a point where we end up with cases like the above image that take the term "tribal tattoo" and clearly misuse it. I think we owe and can afford to give Native cultures more respect than that.

[relinpopcult]

The above YouTube video "Hardcore Crying Fans Meet Justin Bieber in Shanghai", posted in 2013 by the channel The More We Know, shows fans of the singer Justin Bieber - known as "Beliebers" - freaking out over getting to see him in person. The news report talks about and shows how these fans, who appear to be almost entirely teen girls, were screaming and crying in the crowd. The reaction of these girls and the way that they idolize Bieber is very reminiscent of the reaction that Jesus was said to get at the height of his work in faith. When he would visit towns, crowds would form just to see him, and people would consider themselves so lucky just to hear him speak or to be one of the select few to meet him and potentially receive a lesson or miracle. Fan idolatry for musicians is an incredibly prevalent part of today's pop culture, with many fanbases becoming so large and intense that the group gets a name; Beliebers, Selenators (Selena Gomez fans), Rihanna Navy, BTS ARMY, Barbz (Nicki Minaj fans), Lovatics (Demi Lovato fans), the Beyhive (Beyonce fans), and Arianators (Ariana Grande fans) are just a few of the most notable examples. These fanbases can go so far as to seem like they worship the musician(s) that they are obsessed with. Often these fans - or stans, as you might see them called, owing a reference to an Eminem song - will have entire social media accounts dedicated to the artist, building entire communities based solely around a shared love for them. While this obsession over musicians is certainly nothing new - ever heard of Beatlemania, for example? - modern stan culture and social media can take it to new heights with fans having direct access to their idols, ease of communication among the fanbase, immediate access to on-the-spot updates of their idols, portable media in the form of phones, exclusive content for fansite registration, and more. The obsession starts to seem more and more like religion the longer and deeper it runs. You could even make an argument towards the 4 C's in the extreme cases. There is obviously community in being part of the fanbase; cultuses could consist of things such as attending concerts, imitating dance routines from the artists, and retweeting their Tweets; creed could be how the artist became a musical success as an origin story, with the overall meaning being supporting this musician and what they do and say; and codes could be the messages that the musician puts out through their music, interviews, and social media posts regarding their opinions and what they do and don't support as their fans are likely to adopt and boost those views as well. With the number of Americans who identify as religious declining in recent years, it's not exactly surprising to see that many have moved on from worshipping God(s) and spirits to worshipping tangible people. After all, it can sometimes be hard to see celebrities as only human.

[relinpopcult]

In trying to think of religious movies that aren't Christian, I found that I had difficulty thinking of notable examples for American pop culture. Sure, there are Bollywood movies that have Hindu or Islamic themes, but Bollywood isn't mainstream in America. There's the animated movie The Breadwinner on Netflix, a tale about an Islamic girl living under Taliban rule. It was nominated for best animated feature at the Academy Awards, which makes the case for American pop culture, but it's only one example. Christianity has dozens, if not hundreds, of movies about it. So why is there such a seeming lack of movies discussing other religions? Then I realized that there is indeed a whole film genre that discusses a religion that isn't Christianity, though these movies tend to be on a heavy topic.

Above is one of the most famous stills from the movie Schindler's List (1993), one of many movies about the Holocaust (image provided by The Guardian). There are plenty of notable examples besides Schindler's List: The Pianist (2002), The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008), Sophie's Choice (1982), Life is Beautiful (1997), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), The Devil's Arithmetic (1999), The Book Thief (2013), Sarah's Key (2010), and Jojo Rabbit (2019) are all pretty well-known movies that deal with Jewish people going through the Holocaust or World War II. These are by no means the only ones though; in fact, Wikipedia's "List of Holocaust films" article lists over 200 fictional films and nearly 250 documentaries from the 1940s to today.

There are certainly other stories being told involving Jewish people - take, for example, 1989's Driving Miss Daisy, 1971's Fiddler on the Roof, 1986's An American Tail, or 2020's An American Pickle - so why is it that stories of their extreme suffering and genocide are the ones we immediately think of for "Jewish movies"? Even movies depicting early Biblical stories, such as Exodus (1960) and The Ten Commandments (1956), can be considered Jewish movies as these stories - typically thought of as Christian due to being in the Old Testament - are in the Jewish Torah and do, indeed, center on Jewish protagonists. Yet Holocaust movies persist as the most memorable, the most popular, and likely the most profitable. It's a sad reality. Christian characters get films in every genre; Bruce and Evan Almighty (2003 and 2007, respectively), Sister Act (1992), The Exorcist (1973), Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), and I Can Only Imagine (2018) span multiple genres. Comedy, drama, horror, musical, and biopics are all fair game for Christian characters and gain mainstream support and recognition. Jewish films and experiences should be given the same treatment and opportunities.

However, this shouldn't be limited to just Jewish movies. As stated in the first paragraph, I could only think of one well-known Muslim movie for American pop culture, and even that was a story about suffering under a brutal regime. Certainly there is room for improvement there. Non-Christian movies exist and they have interesting stories that deserve to be shared beyond the pain of those people. Perhaps as America becomes even more diverse we'll see these types of characters and films get their chances to shine.

(Interested in finding some more Jewish movies to watch? These four lists have got you covered. There is some overlap between them, and of course some Holocaust movies, but for the most part have lots of great recommendations. [10 Great Jewish Films | BFI] [What to Watch in Quarantine: 10 Great Jewish Films, Selected by AJC] [10 Movies Showcasing the Best of American Jewish Life] [10 Best Jewish-Themed Movies Like The Vigil])

[relinpopcult]

In season seven of the adult animation show Bob's Burgers, the Belcher kids - specifically Louise - decide to help the local aquarium stay open and commit tax fraud by making up a new religion. They call it Aquaticism. Things take a turn when an IRS agent comes out to observe the "religion" and they have to actually make it look real. The clip above, posted to YouTube by "Animation Domination on Fox", shows the moment in the episode when Louise conceives her plan and convinces the owner of the aquarium to go with it. I picked this clip in particular to show because the character Mort brings up the fact that churches don't pay taxes, a fact that seems to have caught a lot of negative attention recently. It's not necessarily an uncommon opinion anymore to say that churches should be paying taxes. While this isn't a point of contention in the episode, Louise does use the fact to her advantage for the aquarium because they haven't been making enough money to pay their taxes to remain open.

I did a rewatch of this episode to see how well Aquaticism lines up with the four C's of religion. I can't say there's really anything about creed as we're never given any stories or explanations on life. The community, while fake, is composed of Judy (the aquarium owner), the Belcher family, and a few other adults that they pull in for a fake Single's Mixer event. An example for a cultus comes later in the episode when Louise, in an attempt to get the IRS agent to abandon the "religion", says that their baptism takes place in the jellyfish tank. For code, you could make a case for the following quote in their discussion about sea cucumbers:

Tina: "So basically, these ugly-slash-beautiful creatures just go along, constantly making things better than when they found it."

Judy: "I think we could all learn from the sea cucumber."

This conversation doesn't provide any specific rules, per se, but it does give the implication that a person following Aquaticism should constantly strive to make the world a better place.

Again, this show does not touch on actual religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, etc. but what it does have to say about religion - even a fake one - is kind of nice. I can certainly understand why they may want to avoid taking any particular stance on religions, given the negative responses shows like South Park and Lucifer have received in their portrayals of religions and religious figures. I think that by addressing religion in this way, they were able to be respectful of why people may seek out a higher power to believe in and ask questions to while also making a point about the number of religions these days that seem to just be taking advantage of people (and tax exemption). I also appreciate that it has a pretty accurate portrayal for what organizations have to do to be legally considered a religion in the USA.

[relinpopcult]

Religion and advertising can be related in a few different ways. You can use religion in ads for religious groups, services, and products. You can also use religious iconography or themes to advertise secular, or non-religious, products/groups/services. Religious groups can advertise themselves using secular methods. There are multiple ways to use each of these, but for an example, let's discuss the second one.

If you live in America, you probably know about PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). You've also probably heard about their many controversial ads and exploits. Among these ads is a set featuring Angela Simmons. In an article about Simmons' campaign for the group, PETA says about her, "Angela—a devout Christian, the daughter of Rev. Run, and the star of the hit MTV shows Run’s House and Daddy’s Girls—was inspired by her uncle Russell Simmons to adopt a vegetarian diet." The ads themselves are provocative - Simmons poses naked, though strategic body positions and poses prevent her actually showing anything deemed inappropriate. This is coupled with her holding an apple and vines being in the pictures, whether placed on her body or added as a border graphic. The tagline for the campaign is "Eating Meat Is a Sin: Go Vegetarian". Everything about these ads is a reference to Christianity and the story of Adam and Eve, with Simmons herself representing the figure of Eve. Simmons, the star of the ads, is a self-professed Christian; Adam and Eve were created naked and, after learning of sin, used leaves (or vines) to cover themselves; Eve ate the apple that revealed sin to them; and, most obvious of all, the tagline directly stating that eating meat is a sin. PETA is not known to be a religious group, being one mostly concerned with animal rights/cruelty and vegetarianism/veganism, so this would be an example of using religious themes or iconography to advertise secular products/services/groups. Below is a picture from the campaign that was featured on the website for PETA2, PETA's project to target younger audiences. The article on the campaign can be found here. (If you are interested in reading more on whether eating meat is considered a sin, this resource from Million Dollar Vegan may be useful.)

But why use religion at all as a secular company? It's possible that in cases like this, it was a decision on the part of the campaign's star. As said above, Simmons is a Christian, and it seems to be a large part of her life. She could very well have made the decision to have her campaign be themed around an important story from Christianity. Or perhaps it was the idea of the art director, designed for someone who is Christian. While her religious belief likely influenced the creative direction, maybe it was neither. Plenty of secular companies use religious themes and iconography to advertise without centering a Christian person. The fact is that whether good or bad, ads like these tend to get people talking and increase brand recognition. If you agree with the message, you'll probably want to spread it; if you disagree and want to make that known, you're still spreading the ad. No matter which side you're on you are likely to increase the amount of attention on the ad and the company, ensuring that their ad did exactly what it's meant to. Religion can be an incredibly divisive topic, and many companies are willing to capitalize on that divisiveness.

[relinpopcult]

Good and evil in popular media aren't usually just concepts. Often they are whole characters in themselves; we see this in the clear divide between heroes and villains. The heroes, the "good guys", get white or bright clothing/features - think Luke Skywalker, Superman, or Optimus Prime. Villains get dark clothing or features - think Darth Vader, Lex Luthor, or Megatron. Animation is especially fond of this distinction. Sleeping Beauty (or Princess Aurora) and Maleficent, Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Ozai, and Simba and Scar are some clear examples. But sometimes it goes even further, and good and evil are personified within a single character's internal struggle to pick what they should do. We've seen the trope in plenty of shows and movies: a little angel and a little devil on someone's shoulders or to their sides, arguing over which action the character should take, each trying to sway them to their side. The angel and devil are the classic Christian representations of good and evil, given their respective allegiance to God and fall from grace, so they make for recognizable symbols of the conflicting decisions presented to the character. This has appeared in lots of TV shows and movies, from the show How I Met Your Mother and The Muppets movie to The Simpsons and Tom and Jerry. In fact, the tvtropes website has an entire page dedicated to this trope, called the Good Angel/Bad Angel, and examples of it. One of the most famous examples though is from the Disney movie The Emperor's New Groove. Kronk, the villain Yzma's henchman, is faced with a moral dilemma when he throws Kuzco in a bag and into a waterway racing towards a deadly drop. His little angel and devil appear on his shoulders, briefly arguing about saving Kuzco or letting him fall.

The use of or reference to "angels = good" and "devils = bad" is found in plenty of other facets of pop culture as well. There's a good chance you've seen someone dressed up as an angel, devil, or half angel/half devil for Halloween almost every single year. The Elvis Presley song Devil in Disguise begins with this comparison in its chorus ("You look like an angel/Walk like an angel/Talk like an angel/But I got wise/You're the devil in disguise"). Even Lil Nas X's music video for his song Montero (Call Me By Your Name) contains appearances of angel and devil figures. Using an angel and devil to symbolize the concepts of good and evil in pop culture is not a new phenomenon, nor does it seem to be one going out of use anytime soon.