Religion Vs. Entertainment

[Imaginos666]

I think your theory on an early purpose of religion is valid. I read a similar theory (in a book published a while back about the history of "the devil") that proposed religion evolved from the earliest form of entertainment: re-enacting "the hunt."

It was a way to re-live the thrill of the hunt, but when it was done well it managed to stir up spectators as well. In order to properly dramatize the experience, one of the hunters would play the part of the "kill," and it's this role that probably evolved into a shaman (there can be many hunters, but the prey was singular and sacred.) It is likely that the concept of the "horned god" evolved from these activities.


In Bill Maher's doc Religulous, he briefly mentioned (and promptly forgot about) the idea that religious fervor causes a storm of electrical activity in the brain. What I wanted to know was how these brain patterns compared to those of somebody looking at porn. Because I have this feeling there would be a lot of similarities.

[DavidAllred]

I've been reading PD for about a year and half now, but I'm not sure how I really feel about this piece. For starters, I couldn't agree more than comics have just about beaten a dead horse over and over again and still so many readers and creators alike walk away from it feeling as though they've accomplished something profound. Yes, we've had some great ones... and a whole bunch of not-so-great ones too.

Where I struggle is the idea that comics could ever really up and take a break from religion though. The very notion of sacrifice and justice are embedded in both religion and comics -- they're almost joined at the hip -- and it's just too easy to slip in a religious metaphor when exploring the themes, even if one isn't already present, because as readers our minds tend to make those kinds of connections even where one wasn't necessarily intended.

I'm personally hardwired that way, and wonder if perhaps we aren't all a bit wired in that direction. I mean it's really difficult to have any sort of tangible thought about something like "courage," without retreating into the spaces of idealism. And whether or not we believe it should be so, religion has pretty much cornered the market on idealism.

Entertainment on the other hand is proving to be a pretty sore substitute. I'd recommend Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves To Death," for a pretty good articulation of why that is.

http://www.amazon.com/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/0140094385

And I suppose while I'm at it, I'd like to give props to Fabian Nicieza for taking on the religion thing in the Action Comics #848-849 a couple of years ago. I found that arc to be some really good reading.