the r word
6:30 PM |
Listening to: The Con by Tegan and Sara
Feeling: bewildered
What is religion? From what I understood, religion is set of common beliefs and practices held by a group of people. In other words, some might say; religion is faith.
Why am I writing this?
Well, it all started when I was watching a movie yesterday, Cult. It's revolves around 4 college students who uncovered the existence of a supernatural power while they were working on an assignment. The "supernatural power" happens to be Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. For those of you who didn't know, Guan Yin is one of the spiritual saints worshipped by Taoists and Buddhists. And I thought to myself, "Hmm, this should be interesting." The movie started off with a narrator explaining the so-called history and origins of Guan Yin. I was slightly disturbed. They got the facts all wrong. Guan Yin was not killed because she was pregnant out of wedlock. And she was not stabbed in eyes and stomach or whatever they were bullshitting. I wasn't offended because of that alone. I was snubbed by how the story was told. They portrayed Guan Yin as an evil spirit worshipped by cultists. And a kid even called her "an Asian whore". It was preposterous.
Didn't the film makers do a research before they write the script? Ok, maybe they could claim that it's fiction. Or a story based loosely on the history of Guan Yin. But they should know that when such a film touches religious issues, it will automatically be a sensitive subject. Look how The Da Vinci Code generated such heavy criticism. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Cult is a low budget film (seeing how bad the acting was and starring unknown actors). And that's probably the reason why nothing was brought up.
Take this video I watched on Youtube not too long ago. In the video, the girl said that people are gullible to believe things being said to us. She stated that we should find the facts and not believe blindly in what we are told. I didn't quite understand what she was trying to say as the video quality wasn't excellent but after reading the comments posted by Youtubers, I realized that she was talking about - you guessed it - religion. In another video, she was comparing the bible to a Physics textbook. She said that the bible is somewhat like a storybook as it has pictures and articulating that the Noah's Ark is a fairytale. And to make things worse, the way she said it and her expressions were painful to watch. She was trying to be witty and it was aggravating, I would say. The video, of course, triggered a heated argument and comments full of vulgarities.
Sure, we live in democracy. In a free country or whatsoever. But religion is a touchy subject. Why did she condemn a religion to get her message across? Is it because she wants to find fame on Youtube? Or maybe she was just an average tween simply trying to convey her message? I don't know. But I do know that she is terribly insensitive and ignorant as she did not think of the consequences.
I'm not religious. I admit that I do not know much about my own religion. Aaaand I'm not good with words. I wrote all of the above based on my opinions and if you find it offensive, I'm sorry. I think.
I find it awfully odd that I'm even blogging about this. I should stop now.
Feeling: bewildered
What is religion? From what I understood, religion is set of common beliefs and practices held by a group of people. In other words, some might say; religion is faith.
Why am I writing this?
Well, it all started when I was watching a movie yesterday, Cult. It's revolves around 4 college students who uncovered the existence of a supernatural power while they were working on an assignment. The "supernatural power" happens to be Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. For those of you who didn't know, Guan Yin is one of the spiritual saints worshipped by Taoists and Buddhists. And I thought to myself, "Hmm, this should be interesting." The movie started off with a narrator explaining the so-called history and origins of Guan Yin. I was slightly disturbed. They got the facts all wrong. Guan Yin was not killed because she was pregnant out of wedlock. And she was not stabbed in eyes and stomach or whatever they were bullshitting. I wasn't offended because of that alone. I was snubbed by how the story was told. They portrayed Guan Yin as an evil spirit worshipped by cultists. And a kid even called her "an Asian whore". It was preposterous.
Didn't the film makers do a research before they write the script? Ok, maybe they could claim that it's fiction. Or a story based loosely on the history of Guan Yin. But they should know that when such a film touches religious issues, it will automatically be a sensitive subject. Look how The Da Vinci Code generated such heavy criticism. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Cult is a low budget film (seeing how bad the acting was and starring unknown actors). And that's probably the reason why nothing was brought up.
Take this video I watched on Youtube not too long ago. In the video, the girl said that people are gullible to believe things being said to us. She stated that we should find the facts and not believe blindly in what we are told. I didn't quite understand what she was trying to say as the video quality wasn't excellent but after reading the comments posted by Youtubers, I realized that she was talking about - you guessed it - religion. In another video, she was comparing the bible to a Physics textbook. She said that the bible is somewhat like a storybook as it has pictures and articulating that the Noah's Ark is a fairytale. And to make things worse, the way she said it and her expressions were painful to watch. She was trying to be witty and it was aggravating, I would say. The video, of course, triggered a heated argument and comments full of vulgarities.
Sure, we live in democracy. In a free country or whatsoever. But religion is a touchy subject. Why did she condemn a religion to get her message across? Is it because she wants to find fame on Youtube? Or maybe she was just an average tween simply trying to convey her message? I don't know. But I do know that she is terribly insensitive and ignorant as she did not think of the consequences.
I'm not religious. I admit that I do not know much about my own religion. Aaaand I'm not good with words. I wrote all of the above based on my opinions and if you find it offensive, I'm sorry. I think.
I find it awfully odd that I'm even blogging about this. I should stop now.
Do you think it's alright for such movies and videos to depict such messages? Tell me what YOU think.
xoxo
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