Hollywood Jesus

When I went to China last summer I bought a metal Buddha figurine to put on my desk. There are others like it, but this one is mine. Religion in today’s modern society is becoming more of a commodity. The smiling Buddha is a symbol of Buddhism, but when I look at his copper grin I feel no more inclined to become Buddhist than any other religious sect. I am sure that this mentality is vastly different than years during the Lower or Upper Mississippian where the societies had very limited contacts with other cultures, therefore being influenced by less ideologies. Just walking down a street in Shanghai there were more ideas thrown at me than the Ho-Chunk ever experienced … perhaps … until colonists settled America and pressed westward.

Advertising floods our attentions and influences our thoughts in an extreme way. There are so many religions to choose: Which one would suite me? Which one is my friend a member of? Which one is ‘right?’

It is easy for individuals to become religious. We buy into religion, secure sacred places with money, and (most popularly) purchase experiences of religion. The big screen is a popular and wide-ranging medium for inducing religious conversions. Remember Passion of the Christ? The story-line is very blatantly scriptural, but with a subliminal message. Christian and Jewish beliefs are strengthened and a slight pressure for unreligious viewers to choose a religious side is promoted. The movie provides ‘evidence’ to favor one way of faithful thinking over another and to question what faith is “true.” People buy copies of Mel Gibson’s controversial film to show their friends and spread the word. You’ve probably seen it, even if you are an Atheist, to satisfy a burning curiosity and possibly to strengthen your belief that there is no God. Movies are just another way that religion is now in Hollywood and Jesus is a Star!