Thursday, February 19, 2015
Comparing satirical and practiced religions
For my research topic I plan to compare multiple religions. As of right now the religions I am considering are Christianity, Scientology, and Pastafarianism. Comparing these three is important because Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in the world, Scientology is often considered somewhat of a joke, and Pastafarianism is completely satirical. I find it interesting that Christianity has so much more merit than the other two even though they all have extremely similar beliefs and the same amount of credibility. The creation stories of all three do not differ as much as one would think and I would like to explore why people find it acceptable to declare Scientology and Pastafarianism complete jokes while they do not examine the doctrines of Christianity further to find how alike they really are. Obviously Scientology was written by a science-fiction writer, and Pastafarianism was created as a light-hearted take on today's religions, but they are not so far off from Christianity. I plan to do research on the start, histories, rituals, ceremonies, and beliefs of all three religions. This is a hot topic so that is definitely a reason that I want to research this.
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Gabe
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful topic choice! I have also looked into this, although not as in depth as you probably have and will, and I have also noticed how strikingly similar Christianity is to Scientology and Pastafarianism, especially Scientology. I first became interested in this topic when I was investigating Tom Cruise for a project sophomore year and came across Scientology, of which he is a devoted member (his devotion to the religion is actually thought to have cost him at least one of his marriages). Upon deeper research, I discovered that a startling percentage of Scientologists are actually celebrities, and nearly all of them are quite wealthy. Scientology requires not only a major time investment, but also a huge financial responsibility, for, as they call it, "further research" in the religion. If this topic proves too broad, you could always focus on a celebrity (or group of celebrities) and their beliefs. You could also try addressing the question that I have always asked: If Scientology and Christianity are so similar, then why do so many people pour so much time, money, and energy into Scientology, especially when Christians brag about how welcoming they are of newcomers to their religion? Whatever approach you choose to take, good luck!