Thursday, April 30, 2009
Rowan Atkinson on Religion
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the hilarious british comedian Rowan Atkinson has a few monologues on youtube related to religion that were pretty funny/offensive/significant to our class discussions.
The first, when he is welcoming people to hell, gains its humor from the french, germans and lawyers getting named as the wicked. But it also caused me to think about how hell is used in specifically Christianity and other religions. I didn't learn until recently that hell is a controversial topic. A debate rages whether or not hell exists, and if the bible passages some think speak of hell, really do.
The second video likens Jesus to a magician (sorry if this offends anyone). I think it's interesting that he sees a resemblance between magic tricks and miracles. What is the difference though? I think this ultimately pertains to what an individual believes. Rowan Atkinson clearly is not a Christian, or he would believe that Jesus gained his powers from God, not Penn and Teller. A non-believer sees them as David Blaine-like street tricks. A Christian would see them as miracles from God.
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That is kind of interesting to think about. I suppose that's true; the difference between magic and miracles is God. Only God can make miracles, while any common person could do magic tricks.
ReplyDeleteI think that's really insightful. There are plenty of people who make religion a comedic base and I find that it is helpful to some people, even if it isn't serious. And I definitely know that it does offend people, but those that it offends are so used to their strict view of believing that anything that seems remotely close to bashing is unacceptable. We live in a world where accepting somethings is just going to have to be accepted or tolerated.
ReplyDeleteNice videos. :)