In case you missed class today, the deadline to submit your ethnography in hardcopy is next Friday, May 16th, at 4pm in the SOC/ANT dept. (Room 4-260). There is a drop-box against the far wall near the department administrator’s desk. You will see a slot labeled “ANT 1001 - Intro - Angelini” in which to leave your paper. The dept. door is locked around 4:30, so do not risk being late.
Since I missed this one, I’ll try my best to remember and reiterate my thoughts on the subject….
While I find it terrible the type of ethics and inhumane decisions that go into a tomato being put onto my Big Mac, I can’t help but think whether anything can be done to change this? A lot of the students during our discussion stated that they would never again touch a tomato after the readings and videos. Their responses were a bit melodramatic to say the least. I apologize if I offend anyone, but the fact of the matter is there are bigger fish to fry (no pun intended). There are so many products that have lives similar to that of the tomato. Yet we can’t help but to live by the “out of sight, out of mind” lifestyle or the “ignorance is bliss.” At the very least tomato’s provide nutritional value, at least much more than a twinkie which we later learned lives comparably to a tomato. What about all the chemicals and toxins that are added to the tomato to keep them plump and appealing? Those are in most other commodities as well. Change from this type of globalization is far from being realized. That said, the tomato should be the least of your worries, if you are going to boycott at least choose something considered to be more of a luxury.
On the gender implications, I have nothing more to say than what’s going on in those tomato fields or in those factories are not atypical of human behavior. The United States was once undeveloped and as a result did not recognize equality and suffrage for all. Until these countries become more developed they will find it hard to recognize those virtues as well.
The second half of the book,Wisdom Sits in Places, Keith H. Basso says ethnography must explore the Western Apache culture. He analyzes Apache culture, he observes and converses with them. Basso sees the glass half-full, going about ethnography that is gradually and not about the place. In Apache culture, language is history. The Apache take pride in their unique history. It is not for everybody, but for those who want to understand its lessons to the fullest.
“The Christian Paradox” by Bill McKibben was an exciting article. In the article, Mckibben actually talked about percentage of people who are christens. I believe in this article he was trying to explain what is the big a part of religion plays in everyday life. There were many people live in the world, and everyone came from different countries, and they have different way to believe their own religion. He argues that Americans considered themselves as more Christians while European considered more conservative Christians. Actually everybody has different view of Christianity as Europeans and Americans. He also mention by comparing the high divorce rates, teen pregnancy, murder and violence in America and Europe countries. In my opinion, people are follow their mind, they do not care what is the religion says. In the article, Welcome to the Conspiracy,” by Cohen, he talked about there are issues or conspiracy behind many historical events and the world is made of conspiracies. He mentioned one of historical facet that 9/11 incident how the truth is missing. There have a lot of memorial story behind the 9/11. In conclusion, Cohen was showing us how the theorists consider their theories as a religion.
To me, the article on “Welcome to the Conspiracy” sounded implausible in many circumstances, especially with the imaginative explanations that are used to describe certain events. For example, Cohen can turn Sept. 11th into a whole conspiracy, with each step of way becoming a part of the conspiracy. He reasoned that it’s possible that the Bush administration knew about the attack ahead of time and that’s why a senator from California did not board his plane to NY that day by linking coincidences with the actual situation. Cohen could twist Bush’s speech when he said he had saw the first plane crash into World Trade Center into a whole conspiracy in which Bush knew ahead of time and had actually witnessed the event. According to Cohen, “a conspiracy theory, like a joke, offers solace, an explanation that confirms an existing worldview. As thought, it’s pre-rational, arising not from fact but from belief. It’s about faith.” This shows that conspiracies were not born out of nowhere, but grows out of people’s fears and beliefs. In order for conspiracy theorists to make sense, it appeals to the events that did happen in real life and play with the loopholes by offering their version of the truth.
Similarly in the article on “The Christian Paradox”, these mega churches and pastors seek to spread the words of Jesus and Christianity and yet there’s a paradox in what is preached versus what should be preached. Many pastors wrote successful books on helping individuals improve their relationships to their significant others and to help balance individuals lifestyles. These books/magazines and many church activities all focus on one’s needs, and not reaching out to help the others, which is Jesus’s main message. Americans are hypocrites in that they call themselves Christians but yet act in the most self obsessed manner. We have much higher poverty and divorce rates compared to the European nations. The way I see it, Americans use religion to make themselves feel better. They like to think that what they value and believe in is the right way to live life. But not following the right methods preached by the religion shows how Americans fall into the trap of the mainstream culture, one that is dominated by individuality and selfishness.
Does anyone of us really know the meaning of religion? The answer might be no. Every one of us has created picture in our mind what is religion. No one really knows the meaning of Christianity. We believe in what we learned from our elders. We really don’t know the right way to see Christianity. Religion is very important around the world. Religion plays such big role in society. Why do we follow religion? I think we follow the religion because it satisfies us. We believe that everything is going well in society. For example, when we see other follow religion, it makes us feel good that we are part of that religion. In the article, “The Christian Paradox” we learnt that Europeans really know the real meaning of Christianity. I am not agreeing with that. Europeans might have different view of Christianity. There are many people live in US. Everyone comes from different country and they have different way to view Christianity. I think the important thing we need to know how many of us believe in religion. Everyone sees Christianity different way. There are many types of Christians live in US. They all bring some types of believes with them. Americans have their own way to see Christianity. I think Europeans might follow Christianity traditional way and Americans might be following Christianity modern way because people are more educating now. They learn new things. They think they should believe in their ideas not the old ideas. How many of us really follow their religion? I don’t think we follow 50%. We just can’t fit ourselves into religion way. In the article, “Welcome to the Christianity” by Richard Cohen thinks the world is filled with nothing but conspiracies. People believes in traditional blindly. They don’t want to see the truth. They don’t want to bother themselves. Cohen mentioned in his article that there are many things that every American should know but there are many things that we don’t know about 9/11. No body wants to bother themselves. They don’t want to get change.
In the reading “The Christian Paradox,” McKibben criticizes how 85% of American consider themselves Christians when only 40% of Americans can name more than four of the Ten Commandments or that only 33% manage to go to church every week. McKibben also argues how Americans view and believe in Christianity in their own way or beneficial way. In the 85% of “Christians” in America, there are certain groups that will practice and believe the religion differently from another group. I agree with McKibben when he refers to most believers, which would be 85% of Americans, as hypocrites. He describes the disconnection there is between belief and action. One of the common statement he mentions is “love thy neighbors as yourself,” this being part of the bible, believers in sermons are learning how to discipline their children or how to reduce your debt.
In “Welcome to the Conspiracy,” Cohen discusses how some people believe that that there are conspiracy theories behind every historical event and how history repeats itself because of certain theories. As historical event he mentions is 9/11, he argues how the government knew about the attack but decided to ignore it. He criticizes the government by describing the different levels of conspiracy. Also he discusses how some people believe that this event happen because of Illuminati or aliens. Cohen is showing us how this theorist consider their theoris as a religion.
I apologize for my lateness, I read this article yesterday but then I had to attend a common event that I forgot about, then I almost forgot to do this assignment. Cohen argues that it is not true that conspiracy theorists share a separate belief system that separates them from the mainstream. Actually, their beliefs conform to what everyone else believes, except that theorists think and interpret information differently. Cohen’s article shows that people and aspects of life are more connected to each other than we may think. In the end, everyone feeds into the book that summarizes the culture of that era. It is not like people get their information from different sources; we all get our information from the newspapers and the media. Instead of having different beliefs, we have different opinions so we interpret some information differently. For conspiracy theorists, their thinking just seems to be accusations, saying that every event has to be intentional; nothing can be coincidental. Theorists interpret everything as if they are in code or symbolic form. That is not so much a belief system as is it a system of thinking.
One common theme that Cohen notices is that conspiracy theories arise out of times of stress. Theories are often complicated and intricate. They offer an answer for some truth that seems all too simple. Cohen describes conspiracy theory as just a “branch of literary criticism.” This makes sense because criticism is defined as disapproval based on perceived faults or mistakes. Theorists see faults in how people perceive information presented to them by the media, which Cohen calls “misread the test”, so they analyze current knowledge and show a different perspective to it. Ultimately, they contribute to the pessimistic view of authorities. Cohen talked to many theorists and it seems that in the end, they just follow this formula, as people who want to be different but eventually blends into the mainstream.
The article “The Christian Paradox” by Bill McKibben was a very interesting read. He opens his article by stating that more than 4/5 or roughly 85% of Americans identify themselves as Christians. However, only 40% can name more than 4 of the 10 Commandments. I think in this article is trying to expose how big a part religion plays in everyday life, even for non-religious people. He also shows the hypocrisy of religion, by comparing the high divorce rates, teen pregnancy, murder/violence etc. rates of America to those of the other Christian European countries. I believe he is trying to show that though religion is not a bad thing, there are some people who would distort its true meanings to meet their own needs.
The Rich Cohen article “Welcome to the Conspiracy” I also found to be very interesting. I think in his article he is trying to show that conspiracy theorists are almost like another religion. I found some of the “conspiracy theories” he explained very funny, but they all seem to stem from the same points. Like many religions, conspiracy theories are created to explain the unknown it is out of desperate times that conspiracy theories need to be created to explain things that are too complex or too simple. And also like religion, Cohen says that conspiracies are less about fact but more about faith.
As for, “How far down the rabbit hole I’m willing to go?” I’m not really sure, I guess I believe in things which there is evidence for. But then again, like these two articles have shown, evidence can be interpreted anyway to support anything.
InMany think that religion is the only way to God and to gain faith, also many beleive it’s all made up, it’s a way for people to use their own beleifs to please their needs also try to dragged the rest after them. In the article “The Christian Paradox” we learn that even though everybody consider themself critians it varies between individuals, societies, and countries. Americans do not stick to the the point, americans only go to church on sunday, barely pray and read the bible yet they consider themselves cristians. He shows how the European seem to be more conservative while the Americans are more modern. Like my classmate said in his blog the reason why is because the United States is made of people from around the world so each invidual bring their own aspects into Christianity which lead american to such diverse cristian religion.
“Welcome to the Conspiracy ” Cohen argue that a lot historical events that occured in the world are made up conspiracies. The government, the news most of the time hide the truth from the public in order to make themself look good. One of the conspiracy he mentioned is the 9/11 incident how the real truth is missing, there is a lot of misteries behind what happend, why it happend and how it happend.
Yes it cannot be denied that most Americans qualify themselves as Christians yet as McKibben so eagerly points out we are very far from a nation that holds true Christian ideals. Are most Americans hypocrites? Yes and no. While we are 85 percent Christian in terms of population the government that leads us is supposed to be secular. It was even defined by our forefathers that there should exist a separation of church and state. So when we say America is among the worst in federal aid for the needy and in war and killing for the most part its not a christian individual calling the shots, although we do vote. It is also very easy to point to our capitalist culture trumping that of christian culture in many cases. All I can say to this is that people try to immigrate to America both legally and illegally everyday for a reason. Once they’re in, if they are lucky to have made it that far, it becomes extremly easy to adapt to an American-Capitalist way of life and put your past traditions aside.
I have very little positive things to say towards the Cohen article. The bottom line for me is that people can think what they want. They can find answers in the strangest places. They can come up with an answer for everything. Not to say that I agree with them, just that they have every right to ASSume what they want to ASSume. Nevertheless, more often than not they are only justifying the use of the cliche that is often told regarding the word “assume”, but thats only due to their inflammatory means of providing their thoughts to the general public. The truth is, many religious leaders and followers do the exact same thing. All faith is, is wishful thinking. That is to say that there is an answer to a question that could not previously be answered. That there are reasons for everything.
How far down the “rabbit hole” am I willing to go? I am not really sure how to answer this. Throughout my life I have grown up a devout Roman-Catholic. I am among the percentages who would answer yes to going to church every week and praying everyday. This, however, does not mean that I do not question what is presented to me by my church. I am often very skeptical and am able to see the sense in opposing theories about our existence. I can even fully appreciate an anti-Catholic novel like “The DaVinci Code”. I think I can be convinced that parts of my relgion or its practices are wrong, though nobody has been able to propose a strong enough argument to me.
In “The Christian Paradox”, Mckibben talks about the percentage of people who are Christian. Even though, each Christian does and thinks about their religion differently. Yet, it is all the same religion. It is just that people practice it differently. I think Mckibben is trying to explain that nowadays people take religion and shape it into something it isn’t or it is used for excuses. But, it shouldn’t be like that because it makes the religion seem like something its not. There are still those that practice it correctly but then there are others who are taking religion and using it for granted. I am not all that religious but I have seen people use religion to justify things they do and I believe it’s wrong.
In “Welcome to the Conspiracy”, Cohen talks about the conspiracy theory and how people try to explain situations that have occurred by them. I don’t necessarily agree with Cohen because I believe people are allowed to believe and think what they want as long as they aren’t harming others. I don’t think people should just take what they’re told and accept it. I am the type to question and to always consider different reasoning’s. I know that a lot of people are the same way which is why I think that Cohen is a little wrong about the conspiracy theory. I do believe though that some people can take conspiracies to another level and that’s when things can get out of hand. Just like religion can.
Religion is the one thing that people stand by and look to for guidance and acceptance. The only problem seems to be that people are all different in their own ways and view and interpret these religions in different ways as well. Evolution throughout the centuries attributes to this, as well as worldwide immigration to America. As Americans change their way of seeing religion, religion itself is changed to comfort those that want it. Many Americans do not live their life as they are supposed to under their religions, most likely because it takes “too much work” or it “inconveniences them” in any way. Religion has not been what it was created for for a very long time because humans, not only Americans, are able to change it into whatever they want. These two articles discussed the fakeness that is represented by people because of their lack of effort to attend chruch or pray on a daily basis, and that t is done solely for people’s personal gain. Being part of a religion is kind of like being in a club now, its just something to be part of- to fit in with others for some, and for others its to have somewhere to look to and believe in because they are incapable of doing so themselves. I don’t mean to sound like I’m mocking religions, but it is demonstrated in the novel/movie “The Mist” by Stephen King…
Religion is important around the world. People follow religion because it sets moral standards for us to follow in society. In the article “The Christian Paradox,” McKibben argues that even though Americans considered themselves Christians, we seem to less Christians than our fellow European Christians. America tops the list that the Bible strong declarations against: most violent nation, execute our own citizens, highest divorce rate and highest teen pregnancy rate. Even compared with those European nations who don’t consider themselves religious (the Dutch), were still way on top. We act like the most self-righteous nation and are quick to recognize the faults in others. In the article “Welcome to the Conspiracy,” Cohen thinks the world is filled with nothing but conspiracies. We have to questions the genuineness of history or facts and find the truth. He article mentions that people just believe in Jesus because as he quotes Stephanie Kelley-Romano : “No matter how it manifests itself, it seems we are hardwired for faith.” People will follow and believe blindly. You have to believe in something that gives you hope in this cruel world.
McKibben clearly argues against the idea that Christians in America are an isolated group that adheres to traditional principles as they try to protect themselves from the divergent ways of the mainstream. Unlike the Amish living on the fringe of American society, the typical American Christian, most likely a Protestant, is smack in the middle of the same consumer-oriented, individualistic culture we are all a part of. Christians make up 85% of all Americans, and far from reflecting the original teachings of Jesus Christ (charity for the poor, self control against gluttony, peace etc.), they champion the ideas that characterize America itself. Most Americans, and therefore Christians, incorrectly believe that “God helps those that help themselves” is a phrase from the bible rather than the words of Benjamin Franklin. McKibben does not contest the ideas purported by American Christians; he just wishes that they did not present their ideas as such. For example, McKibben refers to the large collection of self-help books written by religious leaders of megachurches such as Joel Osteen. While he finds nothing wrong with the advice they offer about self-improvement or self-esteem, he does find it absurd that all this talk of the self is being presented as Christian-inspired. Ironically, “godless” European nations provide more services for the poor, have lower homicide rates and do not execute prisoners; meanwhile, states with the highest percentage of Christians are those that overwhelmingly support the death penalty or have enduring records of regressive taxation.
Cohen’s writing on conspiracy theorists enlightens McKibben’s discussion on American Christianity. As Cohen describes conspiracy theories throughout history, themes of “turning points”, apocalypses, end-of-the-world events emerge. Similarly, McKibben offers the example of a US Senator who stands up in church to affirm the words of a pastor who claims that the US-Iraq war is the apocalypse. Cohen points out that conspiracy theories are like jokes. They are created in desperate times when the offered solutions are seemingly too simple to explain the disorder and the confusion people face. While conspiracy theories offer solace (yet another parallel to religion), Cohen points out that they are less about fact and more about faith. This faith is feverish and irrational. Almost anything can be interpreted as evidence supporting the conspiracy. One can not help but notice, that Christianity (among other religions) also has the strange power of taking un-holy events and explaining them in terms of Christianity taking its course.
Both readings attest to the wild, fanatical imagination humans possess. Logically, it makes sense to see religion and conspiracy theories as ways in which we make sense of our worlds. But, because there is so much emotion invested in these ideologies, coming to the conclusion that ones religion or world view is just a perception or some sort of defense mechanism is difficult, probably impossible!
In the article “The Christian Paradox,” Bill McKibben argues that the Christian religion that Americans believe in has been altered from what it truly represents. Americans have modified the religion to fit into their everyday lifestyle. McKibben mentions the hypocrisy that exists in the religion today. Religion also comes in handy in today’s world in terms of politics, something that should not be tied to religion at all in my opinion. The uses of religion to Americans today have transformed to one main purpose: to make Americans feel better about what they do, whether they are right or wrong. McKibben has a point about the hypocrisy that he criticizes in his article, but his opinions and statistics have approached too strongly and have made his whole argument seem biased.
Richard Cohen’s article “Welcome to the Conspiracy” appears to me as contradictory. The article comments on conspiracy theories and speaks about how the media has set up a point of view for Americans during the September 11th tragedy. Cohen mentions that the media released only some of the information they had on hand that they thought of as appropriate for American viewers and the government was also concealing some facts that American citizens ought to know about. Sometimes I think fellow citizens need that kind of reports just to stay calm and not to make the matter worse. But of course, there should be a line drawn which divides what the public should and should not know.
All of these conspiracy ideas seem to have been made up by a bunch of middle aged losers that kept dying in ‘world of warcraft’ or some other computer game they were playing in their bedroom located on the second story of their parents house. These no named people didn’t have much to lose, and not being cool enough to do drugs started making up ideas and, being well versed in the Internet, quickly had their ideas all over the web. Similar to the kids that shoot up schools and nut cases that attack presidents these guys were looking for attention. Seems like they were successful.
Some of these ideas may appeal to the general population as they provide explanations, but more importantly scapegoats. When things don’t go the way people want them to or when people can’t explain why things are the way they are, a reason seems to have a need of being provided. Given our culture, a traditional religion seems to no longer be an effective means as there are too many rules and restrictions, but believing that aliens really run the world seems perfectly fine. Among the countless problems with that theory, one can ask why it is that no one claims to have actually seen one. If they are so much more advanced as we are why can’t they come in and attack us. But why would they? What is it about the inhabitants of earth that they desire?
The claim about the secret society is no better. Although their ‘goals’ have been listed it is irrational to assume that the earlier members were willing to sacrifice their lives for their descendant’s benefit. Especially goals that don’t seem all too useful. Unless of course that is what they want us to believe…
Believing in conspiracy theories lead to myriads of problems. What is real and what is fake is never definite – for all you know this article could’ve been written by someone that was actually ‘in’ on it and was trying to convince us the readers otherwise. Perhaps everyone is not what he or she seems. In the extreme case perhaps you are playing the role of Jim Carry in the Truman Show. Maybe we are all actors and live to see what you will do with your ‘life’.
Another issue that seems to dismiss the claims is that the author himself spent time researching the ideas and was still not swayed. He said that he was willing to check the sources and accept them if found valid, but he didn’t – will you claim that he was lying?
Why can’t people just accept that things are a certain way and move on? In the worst case scenario, wouldn’t not knowing end up being no worse than knowing – assuming there was nothing you could do about it. The world seems to be running relatively fine as is. Why change it?
But if you feel a strong need to believe this stuff I have a friend that can get you some tin foil really cheap. And I think he offers free pocket protectors for you and your buddies with each purchase.
Religion has always been an important part in human life. One reason is because it represents the moral standards of the way we are supposed to behave in our society. In the article “The Christian Paradox,” Mckibben argues that although, according to article, 85 percent of Americans call ourselves Christians, most of the time we only say this from the mouth forward. What I mean by this is that it is very easy for many of us to say that we are Christians but it is not as easy to act like a Christian is suppose to act. One of the Tenth Commandments states “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” and I dare to say 85 percent of the time we do not follow this. The article mentions many other Commandments that we as country violate. On pg 32, Mckibben states “America is the most violent rich nation on earth with the murder rate four or five times that of our European peer.” As a Christian myself, I think we live in a city and in a country that makes it very difficult for you to follow any type of religion. Individual rights are very promoted in the United States and in a way this encourages us to be a bit selfish. This can be seen in the phrase “God helps those who helps themselves.” I think it is important not only to say that we belong to a particular religious group but also to show it thorough good actions.
Another way to look at it is that many times it is very hard for you to know the real way a Christian person, a Jewish Person, a Catholic person is suppose to act. Over the years, we have seen how certain religious doctrines had been change in order to benefit certain people. Like the professor mentioned in class, religions are not the same everywhere because societies are not the same everywhere. There is no uniform religion. Because of this it is important for us to be open minded about this topic because although we may belong to a particular religion or favor a particular religious belief we have to understand that there are times when people manipulate certain things about the Bible’s teachings.
The other article “Welcome to the Conspiracy,” by Rich Cohen talks about conspiracy theorist. According to Cohen, “A conspiracy theory works like a joke, it appears at times of great stress, in the aftermath of a disaster,” Pg 111. Cohen focuses on the 9/11 terrorist attacks and all the different conspiracy theories that surfaced after the attacks. I have to admit that there were many things about the attacks that were not totally clear and this made many of us believe that there was a “hidden motive” behind the 9/11 attacks. On pg 112, Cohen sustains “A conspiracy theory, like a joke, offers solace, an explanation that confirms an existing worldview. As a thought it’s pre-rational, arising not from fact but from belief.” After the attacks we could not understand how the United States, who is supposedly the most powerful country in the world, was attacked like that. For a moment, our country looked so vulnerable that in a way it was better to think that The U.S. government and the elites prepared this “conspiracy” instead of thinking that we were just an easy target. There is no denying that the U.S. government took advantage of what happened in 9/11 but it’s hard to belief that they had something to do with these attacks. I don’t want to belief that the government who is supposed to protect us had something to do with these terrible attacks.
In Welcome to the Conspiracy, Cohen discusses conspiracy theory in a way that links it to religion. One part of the article compares conspiracy theory to a joke: “a conspiracy theory is strange and intricate and involved and ornate and complex. It comes from nowhere and travels everywhere… A conspiracy theory, like a joke, offers solace, an explanation that confirms an existing worldview. As thought, it’s pre-rational, arising not from fact but from belief. It’s about faith.” (Cohen 141-142) This description of conspiracy theory can also apply to religion. Religion is based on faith and provides explanations for many events in the world. Faith plays a large role in both conspiracy theory and religion, and Cohen plays with the notion that perhaps society cannot function without faith in something. “Alien abductions are similar to religion in many ways. And why is it less rational to believe in aliens than to believe in Jesus?… No matter how it manifests itself, it seems we are hard wired for faith.” (151) Perhaps conspiracy theory can be considered as a type of religion.
In The Christian Paradox, McKibben analyzes (and criticizes) the way society has changed as a result of religion and the way society has changed religion. McKibben discusses several examples of the way a megachurch in America has turned its attention to helping people help themselves: “sermons about ‘how to discipline your children, how to reach your professional goals, how to invest your money, how to reduce your debt” (33-34) This focus on individual needs has created and established a population of self-centered people. McKibben argues that by focusing on the individual, people lose sight of helping others, which is what Jesus wanted when he said, “love your neighbor as yourself.” But perhaps this emphasis on individual needs was created by an already selfish society. “It coincides with what we want to believe. How nice it would be if Jesus had declared that our income was ours to keep, instead of insisting that we had to share. How satisfying it would be if we were supposed to hate our enemies.” (37) McKibben points out that it is easier to be selfish than to be altruistic, but there is also a problem when people choose which neighbor to love. Earlier in the article, he criticizes Americans for giving so little foreign aid and not donating enough to charities. “If the theology makes it harder to love the neighbor a little farther away–particularly the poor and the weak–then it’s a problem. And the dominant theologies of the moment do just that. They undercut Jesus, muffle his hard words, deaden his call, and in the end silence him.” (36)
From the readings we learn that religious teaching can vary for different individuals, societies, and countries. In the article “The Christians Paradox,” we learn that Europeans have different view on Christianity, while Americans have their own even though everyone considers themselves Christians. European can be considered more conservative Christians, while Americans as more modern Christians. The reason why Christianity is more tailored in U.S. is because U.S. itself is made up of people from around the world. Each person brings their on aspects of Christianity leading American to have such diverse Christian religion. In addition, meaning of religion also changes over time. People are becoming more adaptive to new ideas and change their point of view on religion as they learn new things over time. In the article “Welcome to the Conspiracy,” by Richard Cohen we learn that the world is filled with nothing be conspiracies. Cohen mentioned September 11 in regards to conspiracies. There are some things that every American knows about 9/11 event, however, there are still many other things that are still a secret or mystery for many Americans….This is what the Conspiracy theorist are trying to unpuzzle by raising thought provoking questions.
One common theme that Cohen identifies across conspiracy theories is the way in which they start. Cohen says that these theories appear “at times of great stress, in the aftermath of a disaster” (111). Many of the odd or unexplainable things happening in the world (Cohen cites 9/11, Iraq, and Bin Laden) become “fertilizer for conspiracy theory” (111). Another theme that Cohen identifies that begins to reveal his comparison of conspiracy theory to religion is that these theories are based on beliefs and faith, not on fact. On page 131, Cohen quotes Stephanie Kelley-Romano: “And why is it less rational to believe in aliens than to believe in Jesus…No matter how it manifests itself, it seems we are hardwired for faith.” This is another comparison of conspiracy theory to religion similar to Cohen’s comparison stated above—that faith is required to believe in something.
McKibben’s article deals with religion with the paradox of American religion: “America is simultaneously the most professedly Christian of the developed nations and the least Christian in its behavior” (32). McKibbin firsts suggests that instead of being an actual percentage, the statistic that 85 percent of Americans are Christian might represent an “aspiration” (32). I draw a connection between McKibben’s article and Cohen’s when McKibben states that “we’re made for mission. What that mission is never becomes clear, but the thirst for it is real” (37). I think that the author is asserting that people want to feel like they have a purpose in life or something for which to live. Conspiracy theorists become so subsumed in their beliefs and theories that their theories start to give their lives meaning.
As far as how far down the rabbit hole I go: In Cohen’s article, he starts writing the levels of theories that can exist (first being that the refs are fixing the game, second that the players are fixing the game, etc.). If I stretch my mind, I can believe up to the third level, where both sides are involved. I think that the fourth level (when Cohen starts to go into Matrix-like explanations) is very hard to believe, and as much as the third, second and first levels may be hard to believe, I could see people finding truth in them.
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“The Christian Paradox” is about how many Americans say that they are Christians yet do not find the time to go to church, pray, or read the bible daily. But who set these standards for becoming a Christian? It is humans themselves. They have changed the “words of God” in the bible in a way that is best compatible to them. In the beginning the message is God love those who love all of those around them. Then the message is “God will love those who love themselves” which is basically giving Americans an excuse to do what is considered “sin”. Humans can then use the bible as their backup by saying it was what god told me to do. Just like past historical events where the westerners go to other countries and try to Christianized the natives by force. They made them slaves and told them it was what god wanted. Religion is just what humans made it to be. Whether there was once a god or not, humans have changed his words to what best suits the human life style now.
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“Welcome to the Conspiracy “is about the theories people make up to reason certain historical events, government and politics are usually the ones doing this when they try to hide the truth from the society. They start making up things like god’s plan or UFO /alien planning. Whenever an extreme negative crisis happens, politics try to make it unrelated to them. To keep their image as a model for citizens, they relate it to god’s words to make us, whom they think are gullible; believe that we’re the ones who have done something wrong. For example I remember seeing photos of the smoke and ashes rushing down the side of the twin tower during the attack. They specifically focused on one picture which they believe to be a face of a devil. Media starts relating the attack to religious terms. I am pretty sure that image was just a coincident that the smoke looked like a face. But because the media is portraying it we are force to accept that it might be god’s work or other alien conspiracy.
“The Christian Paradox” discusses the hypocrisy within the American Christian population. Although people claim themselves to be devout religious followers, most of them are frauds. For example, they cannot find the time to attend church weekly, they twist Jesus’s teachings to suit their own lifestyles, and they aren’t well versed in the religious texts. They have strayed away from the fundamentals of Christianity, blurring their responsibilities as Christians with those as capitalists. A perfect example is from the president of the Christian Coalition of Alabama, John Giles, who said, “You’ll find most Alabamians have got a charitable heart. They just don’t want it coming out of their pockets.” Over and over again, McKibben shows the contradictions between the teachings of the Bible and the way Americans really act. The fact that 75% of people believe the phrase, “God helps those who help themselves,” is in the Bible is hilarious to me. It seems that religion is more of an identity for Americans enabling them to proudly say, “Hey, I’m a Christian,” than a belief system to truly find solace and help the less fortunate. As much as I agree with McKibben, I think the article was a bit too cynical and over generalized. He completely overlooked the Christians who are truly devoted to the teachings of the Bible and to helping others.
A conspiracy theory is just an attempt of people to explain certain events and phenomena that goes against popular faith. People believe these ideas because they’re skeptical of the mainstream belief. I disagree with Cohen that conspiracies spring from the aftermath of a disaster. I think there will always be “non-believers” and people who like to contradict and question the conventional ideas. I think these conspiracy theories boomed during the 60’s and 70’s when people first started distrusting the President and the government due to events like the Vietnam War and the Watergate Scandal. I had a history teacher once who kept telling the class that history is a set of lies agreed upon. He always criticized the school’s textbook and gave us “alternative readings” that some people may see as conspiracy propaganda. Cohen makes the conspiracy believers appear like children craving attention, “[terrified of] being at the center of no one’s attention.” Overall, the strength of the Christians and the conspiracy theorists lies within the faith of their believers. As long as people find comfort in their beliefs then it’ll always be around.
In the article, “The christain Paradox,” by bill Mckibeen is contain with well thoughts and beliefs about how individual can view the word “religion.” In his argument, he seems to argue that when a person belong to certain group of a religion, for example, Christian, that there are differences and tend to distance themselves from others. It’s an intangible element where it can’t be seem or touch. for Christian or any other religion, there always seem to be a belief or theory behind the institution. In the society such as America, religion practices and beliefs are almost acceptable in any places. Even though others might oppose certain sets of practices especially are done in public. In addition, religion seems to be follow by a pattern of what’s proper, what’s right, what should be done, and etc. Mainly I think it’s because we as individual are too concern of ourselves. We concentrate how we are been evaluate by others and with self-centered personality. Mckiveen has shown us that the conflict between the learning from the bible and the way individual act upon. It seems that religion has an identity in itself.
In the article, “Welcome to the Conspiracy,” by Rich Cohen, has argument that there are issues or conspiracy behind many historical event and the world is made of conspiracies. One of the event that was mentioned int he article is the terrorists attack on sept 11, 2001. I can almost remember that afternoon when everyone is shock and started questioning about what’s happening and what’s going on. It’s certain a complicate question to answer. However, the media seem to form and piece a logical explanation right after the event. Cohen’s arguing that when we are searching for the truth, it is never review or missing. Also, when certain groups such as the government doesn’t want to review the truth, it would be hidden or mislead. If we think deep enough, the word conspiracy is a new form of a religion.
In the article “The Christian Paradox”, Bill McKibben writes that 85% of Americans consider themselves Christians. However, the reader comes to see that these people who refer to themselves, call themselves Christians are really rather the recreational kind. They are the same people who uphold and maintain some of the original values of Christ but run from the others like the plague. The United States, a nation that classifies itself as Christian, is one of the least charitable nations whose citizenry is at a different level of self-centeredness - even the sermons given in these megachurches aren’t at all related to the teachings of Christ, but how one should discipline their children or manage their finances. Americans have tailored certain aspects of the Christian religion to accommodate their egocentricity. There’s nothing in there about loving your neighbor as you love yourself, or helping those who cannot help themselves.
In Richard Cohen’s article “Welcome to the Conspiracy”, it seems as though he is trying to persuade the reader that conspiracy theories are in themselves a self-repeating prophecy. Conspiracy theories are generally other perspectives on the same event, but they’re conspiratorial because of the players they involve - for instance how 9/11 was an ‘inside’ job or how the Israelis set up so America could join their war (Cohen was right, it’s always the Jews). One common theme, though, between the bombings in Madrid or 9/11 or anything else is that the same entities are involved: either the government, or some secret societal order. With every event in history, there has been a conspiracy theory to refute the actual explanation given to placate the public. I’m not a conspiracy theorist by any stretch of the imagination, but what these crazy theories do to people is make them think, “What if?” - what if what these people are scheming is really what happened? However, I do believe that these theorists and their websites are garnering a very massive following, and I do find it fathomable that they could eventually start their own ‘religion’.
Just as many people believe conspiracy theories to be nothing more than outlandish theories, many others believe organized religion to be nothing more than a conspiracy theory that was made up. After examining the difference and parallels between the two certain points must be made about the obvious paradoxes that both present. The articles being discussed were written about the state of conspiracy theories and that of the Christian institution in America. For the purpose of our discussion we have labeled both as “religions,” and this is something that is extremely significant. In America a place where almost any religion is tolerated and accepted it is interesting how hard it is to accept conspiracy theories as a religious activity. What is perhaps most bothersome is a point of the article about conspiracy theories where the author suggests that many of the people that are interested in them and genuinely investigate conspiracy theories just to occupy their time. He states that gaps in time may be attributed to a lack of things to occupy in that time. Thus reasoning along previously established lines we would have to make that assumption for organized religion as well, that is present there to occupy times (though at first seemingly offensive, is it not irrational to say that in ancient times free time was often occupied by prayer, and that this continued throughout history). Perhaps a bigger issue that Cohen hints at is that conspiracy theorists are often the people who don’t always accept the facts for what they are but often tend to read in between the lines and analyze thoroughly. Much of the same can be said about modern religion, many followers of the Christian faith openly admit that they do not take the Bible for its literal meaning but instead read between the lines and analyze. There seem to be striking similarities amongst the two sets of religions. In both cases it seems that both people that follow conspiracies and those that are devout to their faiths are often searching for explanations to the world around them, even more likely for comfort in their faith. Yet faith in religions seems to be a particular paradox in America. Though a higher percentage of the population claims to be religious in America, the nation is least Christian in virtue and actions. Likewise though conspiracy theorists in America always claim to use rationality and facts as the basis for their findings they are rarely taken seriously.
Many people think religion is an answer to all the impossible questions that our modern knowledge can not fulfill. Today there are hundreds of religions-but how can 100’s of different religions point to one truth- can all of them be right?
Sometimes people are turned off my religion because it is convoluted with politics, people who are leaders fall (the catholic ministers and sexual molestation charges), rules/ lengthy services, a person in that religion is not “acting appropriately” (for instance the Sept 11 bombing by Al Qaeda tarnished the reputation of Islam because people thought that the religion was all about suicide bombings) the thought that religion strips their lifestyle, or because it strays away from the actual religious text - for instance, in the “Christian Paradox” the author talks about how the original message of “love thy neighbor as your self” is now centered around a “you” theme. These things deter people from seeking spirituality.
(It may seem like I am bashing religion all together, but I am Christian .)
“Welcome to the Conspiracy”- the article talks about conspiracy theories- or an alternative explanation/ understanding of a particular event. For instance Cohen speaks about September 11th- and talked about what we knew (from the news etc) or how the government had prior knowledge about the planes (because they cancelled the flights of government officials), and how the bombs were an inside job. Essentially the author is trying to get around to show that in this world it is hard to decide what would count as truth- our knowledge of a certain thing or the conspiracy theory. He relates this in the end when he writes and “why is it less rational to believe in aliens than to believe in Jesus?”
Cohen’s article brings about a load of ideas and thoughts that boggle the mind. The way these conspiracy theorists have laid out their questions to present to others can make others question their own belief. Cohen is stating that in the end all they are doing is bringing up their own beliefs and dragging others into it. He agrees that there is a lot of missing information, but there’s no basis to what these conspiracy theorists are stating either. He does not particularly believe in any of the conspiracy theorists accusations but at the same time he seeks out the truth. He seems to want to obtain different viewpoints of what these conspiracy theorists are spouting and maybe when brought all together to solve a puzzle.
Some common themes that he presented in his argument would be the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and also discussions brought against the Illuminati and aliens. There are several other topical groups that he discusses but he mainly focuses on these three. In terms of the 9/11 attack, he states all the theories of how Bush knew of it, the government knew of it, and that several people were warned before its actual attack. If this was actually true, then it would really not be something that normal people would want to hear. It would mean flat out corruption within the government officials yet some of the reasons these conspiracy theorists are giving seem believable, that Bush did it to obtain a second term in office and that if there is some secret organization that it is them behind it.
Historical conditions that are renounced as world famous, such as world wide wars that influence a great deal of people and have some form of remembrance tend to be the most attractive for conspiracy theories. People are most likely to be familiar with them and it is usually in these wars that people are unaware of the whole truth and can be tricked through misinformation. In the end it seems that people are easily tricked by these antics and these antics really are just another form of religion. It is hard to base any actual truth on any religion and that in the end its what people believe and if others can convince others to convert then I suppose they’re succeeding in creating their own religious group.
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