jesus – Citizens Of Culture

Is Martyrdom Dumb?

C2O Editor Conversation Pieces, Current Events al qaeda, assassination, jesus, kamikaze, martin luther king, martyr 0

On this day in 1929 the man who would become Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born. Not forty years later, 1969, he was assassinated at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee after having one of the most successful careers as a civil rights activists that can be mentioned. The shooting that led to MLK’s death was not without foreshadowing. An attempt was made on Dr. King’s life on September 20, 1958 as well, over ten years before. This accompanied many death threats to his life, church, and family but did not dissuade him from participating in the civil rights movement. It seems that Dr. King felt the threat of loosing his own life was worth the risk to make the strides he was seeking in social justice. We often here that the greatest sacrifice is to give one’s life for a worthy cause, but today, as we look at an nation that still lives with the plague of racial division, was that Dr. King’s greatest contribution?

This is not to say that his life was lost in vain, we certainly must be willing to push through the risk of death to achieve our highest levels of achievement. But is there not merit to living to fight another day as well and choosing to live so that we can continue to fight? As we look through the recent news of religiously motivated shootings in Paris, tension in the middle east, and racial separation in the United States we quickly see that there is a void for moral leadership in the world be it secular or otherwise.

Peering into history we see that several examples of martyrs sacrificing themselves in various ways for various beliefs. Whether the Japanese Kamikaze pilots of World War II, jihadist bombers from Al Qaeda, or Jesus Christ in Rome, all have given their lives in pursuit of greater impact than what might have been gained if they had stayed alive to continue the fight.

In the case of Dr. King his live was taken and not the same but the idea that you few would face death for the lives of others is the constant. We can postulate what the world would have been like if King had “slowed” down or if he were still alive today but the fact remains he is gone and ” the movement” is by and large with out a central leader.

Perhaps might have gotten caught up in the polarization of the current news media just as the other civil rights leaders of his time have. But who is to say that it was his unique character that stood a chance at unifying the nation as he once did.

In the case of those that willing walk in the hands of the grim reaper we must ask if there is validity in this aim. Is it not still violence, even if inflicted upon ones’s own self? Or is the gesture grand enough to capture the attention of the masses and shift a consciousness toward change? We may never know as it is impossible to measure the thought directly but all the more reason to question the effectiveness of such a drastic and irreversible tactic.

Superman Jesus: Religion & Folklore

C2O Editor Conversation Pieces christ-image, jesus, neeloo, neo, religious allegory, superman, the fifth element, the matrix 0

I am not the first or only person to recognize the parallels between Superman aka Kal-El and Jesus Christ. I noticed it when I was a teenager. There are tons of articles about it and it’s not hard to recognize but it is not something that people really talk about. Originally Superman was created by two Jewish guys, ( Jerry Siegel and Joel Shuster) as a symbol of truth, justice, and the American way. Like, basically every other comic book here it is an early form of propaganda designed in this case to be a beacon of hope to rally newly American immigrants around common ideals.

It became a symbol for Jewish immigrants of the 1930s as a role model but more recent depictions of Superman have painted him as a more Christ-like. His father sent him to a humble Earth family by extraordinary means (immaculate conception), he performs incredible feats,(some might say miracles). His father also only appears as a spirit on Earth (Holy Trinity), and in the Christopher Nolan Man Of Steel, Kal-El is 33 years old, (Same age as Christ when he was crucified). It’s all there.

That isn’t necessarily the most interesting part of the situation. A Christ-Image is a literary technique that the writers use to draw allusions from their main character to Jesus Christ. The same could be said of Neo in The Matrix (Keanu Reaves), or even Leeloo in The Fifth Element,(Mila Jovovich). The parallels are different but they are still pretty clear when you investigate. The Bible at large has been directly and indirectly sourced for content since, well forever.

The interesting thing is how these religious themes move through culture, outside of their religious context to communicate the same ideals but within different frameworks. If Superman was a fictional symbol used to unite people under common ideas, and Jesus is a religious figure whose story is believed by Christians and unites them through out the world. Why is folklore accepted and religion is not?

The Superman movies were among the most popular and well received across all the world, but is it because the origin of Superman’s tale isn’t commonly spoken of? We must also ask ourselves if the message is more or less powerful as a religious or secular tale. On the one side we have the story of Jesus who sacrificed his life for the people of the world. If you belief it, then you love Jesus and recognize him as your savior. If you don’t then the story is meaningless to you. But, if we are presented with a similar tale of sacrifice, compassion, and miracles as a feat of fiction then millions more accept it, and the values it seeks to instill.

If the goal of religion is to lead its followers to the path of enlightenment in a particular way and the message is not received when presented in a specific context, is it the responsibility of religious leaders to prepare the context that will best allow receipt of the message. Some say that this preparation is manipulative and is again, propaganda. In the case of Superman, the goal of propaganda was not to lead people to the church but unite them under a flag, and so it was accepted.

It comes down to what we think is more important. If the real goal is to get people to carry a particular perspective and behave a certain way, then it may not matter how they come to do so. But if it is less about people’s actions and perspective, and more about their allegiance to Christ, that brings a different set of techniques to deliver that result. It also begs the question of whether we need to consider motive when deciding what media to consume or simply whether or not it entertains us.