This week in class I’m sure everyone noticed my intolerance towards scientology and the way Thom let me know how I was wrong. At first I was a little pissed off, I’m an emotional guy. Then I thought about it, and as much as I have been trying to be more tolerant, religions or cults like scientology that do not make sense to me, I seem to cast aside with haste and disbelief. I think it’s important to understand that some religions though silly to first glance, can teach messages of love and teach valuable lessons to which we can live our lives. It is easy to belittle, make fun, or laugh at other religions or “cults” or “new religions” but it is even harder to attempt to see the point of the religion or the benefits.
This point that I am trying to make is made very clear in an episode of “South Park” of all things. Those in class who know me, know how much I love “South Park” and references the quirky little messages on life that are displayed subliminally in almost every episode. The twelfth episode of the seventh season of “South Park” is all about the Mormon religion. The entire episode displays a summarized version of the way the Mormon faith was started and how Joseph Smith did so. When the episode shows the flashbacks of the religion being born it does so with mockery, even having a chorus of “dumb’s” in the background during the entire flashback. Meanwhile back at “South Park” the kids and even the parents insult this religion and make jokes at the Mormon’s expense. The entire episode seemingly made to make fun of people of the Mormon religion. This thought however, vanquishes quickly as the creators of South Park throw a curveball in with the last couple lines of the show. The main Mormon kid in the episode says this quote “Look, maybe us Mormons do believe in crazy stories that make absolutely no sense, and maybe Joseph Smith did make it all up, but I have a great life and a great family, and I have the Book of Mormon to thank for that. The truth is, I don't care if Joseph Smith made it all up, because what the church teaches now is loving your family, being nice and helping people. And even though people in this town might think that's stupid, I still choose to believe in it. All I ever did was try to be your friend, Stan, but you're so high and mighty you couldn't look past my religion and just be my friend back. You've got a lot of growing up to do, buddy. Suck my balls.” An entire making you believe one thing is so quickly changed. The first time I watched the show I really felt like a jerk for feeling animosity towards the Mormon religion all show just to have the main Mormon kid lecture Stan on pretty much the way I was feeling.
In conclusion I think the episode of South Park is actually really important because we as a society shelter ourselves from things we don’t deem as normal or acceptable. This kid and his family were nice to everyone in town the entire episode but since they had different beliefs no one accepted them. This is also evident in the reading we did on “new religion” the non-acceptance of the Mormon religion by people, even going as far as to criticize them because their message was about peace and they didn’t want to go to war. I know the episode made me think a lot about my intolerance. I guess I have a lot of growing up to do.
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I guess there's a southpark episode for almost everything. I didn't know anything about scientology before,it wasn't a big hit where I lived, but thanks to southpark, now I know,despite it's unseriousness.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm on the same page as you are regarding society's view on certain things. In my opinion people always just look at new beliefs or religions or cults as threatening. Maybe some are, but it's people's right to believe what they want to. Why can't we just see the good side to everything first, and take that,instead of bashing the bad side, and stereotyping people and their beliefs based on that?
I felt so ignorant in religious studies and journalism because I guess I 'm the only one who doesn't know much about new religions like Scientology and Mormonism, and the holocaust, or even a religion as big as Christianity. And intolerant because I was afraid of those new religions simply because of people's voiced prejudices.
I guess we all have a lot of growing up to do.