Heaven and Hell

As neither of my parents are nondenominational, I was raised without a religion. I wouldn't say we are Atheist, but we simply do not follow a religion.  That being said, I respect and am open minded to those who follow a belief, and the choices they make based on their beliefs. Being in a class about Christianity is probably the most I will ever be exposed to religion. I'm interested in learning more about Christianity, as well as it's connection with popular culture.

At the beginning of class, we watched the music video to Kanye West's song, 'Jesus Walks'. When this song came out, I was about 14 years old. I remember the impact the song and video had on everyone. It was a very in-your-face song about religion, but in a good way. At first, I was surprised that a song about religion became such a great hit, especially being a rap song. Rap music generally deals with lyrics about sex, drugs, money, women, and the such. It's a powerful song that speaks out to a lot of people and to not to be afraid of religion.

The video has a few different stories going on, but they all evidently have a separation of black and white. For example, all of the prisoners are black, while the guards are white. Something else I noticed in the video was in one scene at the beginning, Kanye is rapping in what seems to be a narrow, wooden room. Behind him are flames shooting forward, perhaps representing hell. Above his head is a flickering light in the shape of a circle, perhaps to represent a halo. This to me seems like a representation of heaven and hell, and as he raps the lyrics "God show me the way because the Devil trying to break me down," the halo disappears and the flames shoot forward.

The Simpsons has long been one of my favorite TV shows, ever since I was in middle school. I remember watching it after school, before eating dinner.

In the episode we watched in class, 'Homer the Heretic', Homer decides not to go to Church one Sunday and has, what he says, is the best day of his life. His decision to stop attending Church bothers his wife, Marge, and soon he is paying the consequences as he begins having dreams about God and how angry God is at him for not attending Church.



Later in the episode, Homer falls asleep and a cigarette falls out of his mouth onto a pile of magazines, causing a fire. He is in such deep sleep he does not realize the house is ablaze, and Ned Flanders, his devout Christian neighbour, has to rush in and save Homer. The fire being set off could easily be a depiction of Homer being sent to hell as a punishment for not going to Church. Ned saving Homer from the fire proves that being religious is a positive thing, and he decides to start attending Church again.

This episode of the Simpsons is definitely trying to show viewers the importance of attending Church, and the consequences if you do not. However, as I am nondenominational, the message has little impact on me. I do understand the importance of attending Church when you are religious, and if I was, I definitely would remain faithful to my religion and try my best to attend every week.