Reply to Felicia P's post "Is This Guy For Real? - Tim Tebow"

Is Tim Tebow for real? Yes, yes he is.

I don't understand why everyone has made such a big deal about Tim Tebow's apparent belief in the Christian faith. Religion is nothing new to sports, and praising the heavens or God or whomever an athlete feels like praising after a great feat is nothing new. Tim Tebow is doing something that has been done in every sport for decades, he is thanking a greater power for his ability.

I am a baseball nut, I live for the sport. I have been watching since I can remember and have been playing since I was 4 years old. If you want an example of players praising a greater power after an exceptional performance or showing of skill, you should look no further than baseball. Have a look at the following photos:

These are just an example of the countless number of players that do a salute to above EVERY GAME. This has become so common practice in baseball that most don't even realize that the players are doing it. It seems like their routine, as if it is in their natural movement to do it. In a way, it is.

Baseball is a sport that is huge on superstition. A player often tries to repeat the same cycle of movements every time they take the field because they feel that if they were to change something then the baseball "Gods" would cast bad luck on them. For players that point to the sky, it is just as much a part of their routine as it is a showing of their faith. There is really nothing different between what they do and what Tim Tebow does after a touchdown pass. It can be argued that Tebow is just as superstitious as baseball players, because by nature athletes of all sports are superstitious. The only difference between Tebow and countless baseball players is that amount of coverage Tebow gets for something that really is not that big of a deal.

If anything, the fact that Tebow has a background that is heavily involved in his Christian faith should be applauded. It shows that he has reason to take a knee and pray. For baseball players, superstition may trump faith. They may be pointing to heaven for the simple reasoning that if it worked one time, they should keep doing it.

The thought of mixing Christianity into Popular Culture, in this case professional sports such as Football and Baseball, appears to yet again have raised an issue that has been so blown out of proportion that it is ridiculous. Who is anyone to judge another for their actions. Professional athletes may be in the public eye, and sure their actions should be critiqued, but only if these actions harm someone or something.

When a baseball player points to the sky after a homerun, a hit, a strikeout, or tying their laces they are not harming anyone, and the media does not go on a frenzy. Tim Tebow praying after a touchdown is just as harmless, let him do his job and if he chooses to pray it is his choice.

Article I am replying to:

http://305upinflames.blogspot.com/2012/02/is-this-guy-for-real-tim-tebow.html

Dexter: A Murderous Angel?

I'll admit, I like TV just as much as the next guy. I grew up watching countless hours of various shows, some of which I don't remember and others which I'll never forget. I would watch every genre of show you can think of from teenage soap opera's to wrestling. I had my favorite shows and I had the ones I avoided, but overall there were always 5-10 shows I would have to watch religiously. I tended to stay away from shows that dealt with major religious undertones such as 'Touched by an Angel' or '7th Heaven', and generally avoided most of the reality shows that dealt with various religious issues such as '19 and Counting'. Looking back I guess it could be concluded that when it came to my television experience, I didn't want to give any religiously themed shows a chance.

Today I don't watch as much television as I used to due to various reasons and excuses, but I do still have a few shows that I keep track of weekly. These are Jersey Shore (don't judge me), True Blood, Entourage, and most important of all, Dexter. As you can see, I still don't follow any shows that have religion as a major factor in their storyline. That is until Season 6 of Dexter came along. It all started with this trailer:

When I first saw this trailer it was apparent to me that Dexter was obviously going to be taking a religious spin in the upcoming season. You see, Dexter is a show about a man who works for the Miami Dade County Police Department as a Blood Spatter Analyst. He is a pretty boring guy overall, aside from the fact that he is secretly a serial killer. It is exactly what I would consider a perfect show for me, it has action, thrill, blood, and a superb storyline. The underlying theme for each season is that there is a serial killer which Dexter eventually catches and kills, but not before learning something important about himself in the process. As can be seen from the trailer, the theme was going to incorporate religion into the mix for this season.

This seemed like an odd concept to me. The trailer was leaning towards the notion that Dexter could be viewed as a Christ-like figure in the series, that what he did was for a greater cause. Out of all television series, this was the last series which I thought would adopt Christianity into the storyline. After all, Dexter murders people. This act in itself goes against one of the 10 Commandments (Thou shall not kill) and on top of that, the series for the first 5 seasons had prided itself on the notion that Dexter followed his own religion which was taught to him by his father and which embraced the killing of people if it was viewed that they deserved it.

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised when Season 6 became arguably my favourite season of the series when all was said and done. The storyline was so well incorporated with Christianity, and it helped play on one of the most common mistakes in Christianity which is taking the bible literally. It showed (granted in an extreme way) what could happen when faith and the bible are used as an excuse to advance your own beliefs. Dexter also faced a dilemma throughout the season as to whether or not his own religion was not the right religion, due to the fact that his son was reaching an age where Dexter had to decide if religion should be a part of his life.

Seeing as the subject of our course is Christianity and Popular Culture, I feel that Season 6 of Dexter is a prime example of how eventually religion is tied into most forms of popular culture. As I said in a previous post, it is like adding Christianity (or a christ-like figure) to a show (or movie) is part of a fool-proof method to make a good product for the viewers. It might be frowned upon by some that Christianity is abused in such a way, but in another way it opens up the minds of those who are not as welcoming to the thought of Christianity in their popular culture (in this case a television show). I know personally, if Dexter was able to incorporate Christianity so well, then maybe I will start to give other shows a chance when I hear that they have Christianity entwined in them.

Reply to Adrian D's post "Anakin Skywalker - Jesus of Star Wars"

I have to agree with how you viewed Anakin's role as a Jesus figure in Star Wars, Adrian. I too watched Star Wars on Friday night, however unlike you I am not a fan of the franchise. This was my first time ever watching Star Wars so I had no pre-conceived notions for how to view any of the characters, and once the film was finished it was apparent to me that George Lucas did go for the role of Anakin Skywalker as a Jesus figure in 'Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace'.

As I was leaving the theatre it was already clicking in my mind all the ways that Anakin had fulfilled the role of a Jesus figure in this film, and this was largely because of the lecture we had this past week. Your application of Kozlovic's 25 Characteristics of Christ Figures to Anakin solidified my view of Anakin as a Jesus figure. As I recall, Anakin is also referred to as "The Chosen One" multiple times throughout the film. "The Chosen One" is a line that is commonly heard in many other films that also choose to go down the Jesus figure, or saviour, route.

A common example of this can be found in the film clip we viewed in lecture this week, The Matrix. The Matrix uses a Jesus figure of their own, Neo, to advance their storyline. Neo is referred to multiple times as "The One". I feel like this concept of using a Jesus figure in a film is a lot more prevalent than I initially thought. I have always noticed that films have a character in a saviour role in them that often follow the same general path, but I never really had a name or concept to apply to this way of viewing a film. With the aid of Kozlovic's characteristics I can now identify and analyze these characters for what their actual purpose is.

Something I notice now that I think about these films with a Jesus figure in them, they appear to do really well in the box office as well as in the critics chair. The Matrix and Star Wars are prime examples of this. It appears that everyone loves a good plot where a saviour is necessary to save mankind. It is almost as if Kozlovic's characteristics are a basic guide to creating the main character in a blockbuster film. Everybody loves a hero.

http://tebowmania316.blogspot.com/2012/02/anakin-skywalker-jesus-of-star-wars.html