Describe the Variety of specifically religious programmes on the main television channels Essay Example

Describe the Variety of specifically religious programmes on the main television channels Essay Example Describe the Variety of specifically religious programmes on the main television channels Essay Describe the Variety of specifically religious programmes on the main television channels Essay Essay Topic: Main Street In my coursework I will investigate the relationship between Religionand the media. I will also look at how religion is portrayed indifferent types of programmes and will investigate whether TV influences what we think of religion.The information that we receive is not always accurate because if there is someone talking about Christianity then it does not mean that they are telling the audience what all Christians believe but they could be telling what some or most Christians believe as in one religion there can be followers with a many different beliefs.The same goes for any religion and if a person is giving an interview about a religion and does not belong to that religion it does not mean that its absolutely correct. These interviews can sometimes create a stereotypical idea of a religion in our minds and it is not correct to do this, yet it is justified that someone should have an idea of a religion but not necessarily have a stereotype.Sometimes, the information can be reliable but not necessarily accurate because there can always be research carried out to find out more information that we have received. In certain television programmed there is also not enough time to go into too much detail and be able to know the whole information and so sometimes research does have to be carried out.There are many types of television programmes aired on television especially on a Sunday this is probably because a Sunday is commonly known as a Worship day known for the Christians as the Sabbath and one of the very famous programmes aired on TV is called Songs of praise which is shown on ITV in BBC1.Worship programmes are shown regularly on many channels such as Morning worship is shown at 8.10 am. This programme mainly shows a service exploring the theme of contentment from High fields Church in Cardiff, led by Rev Peter Baker. The programme also includes Readings: Psalm 34:4-18 and Philippians 4:8-20. This programme is a Christian programme but is not only aimed at t he followers of Christianity but those who like to explore religions in detail and are always keen to learn new things.A very good example of a religious discussion programme is The Big Questions. It airs on BBC1 at 10.00 am. In this programme Nicky Campbell presents a topical debate from Michaelston Community College in Cardiff. There are usually three main questions that are focused on such as on e.g.:* Should parents teach children that sex is wrong?To answer this question Nicky Campbell who is the host will first introduce the question further and also talk about a few points from an opposing argument as well as a supporting one. The question will then be open to the audience accompanying him and they will have the chance to express their views. The people giving the views will be parents and teachers, so the people that have different views to do with the question.* Do we place too much value on appearance?When the previous question has been answered then the second question is introduced and gone through the same procedure.* Should we have a right to privacy?Then finally the last question is introduced, also gone through the same procedure. When answering the question not the same people are asked to answer the question because it is encouraged to have a vast variety of different views and so many people are asked to answer the question.This people on the 1.03.2009 discussed different views taken from the audience surrounding Nicky Campbell and there are also special guests such as doctors or teachers and people who have personally been involved in something linked to these questions. This programme does not only cover religious issues but moral issues as well. It would mainly appeal to 15 years and plus age group because it is also very educational, also because the audience gets involved usually the viewer gets involved as well.Religious documentaries can last from one to one and a half hours and are shown on BBC2 in Channel 4. A very good documentary that we recently watched was Everyman this covered the topic of Death Row very effectively. We had Sister Helen always talking about all the things that she witnessed and how her feelings were at that time. We were also shown the work she did and the people she worked with. We are shown that despite being a Christian and sister what kind of views she has. This programme was very informative and every age group above 16 would be attracted to this as it is so interesting. The programme is also very emotional and there is a sympathy that you can feel for them as well.Songs of Praise is a worship programme. Worship programmes are thelongest running type of specifically religious programme. Most worshipprogrammes are to do with the Christian faith and contains hymns,sermons, readings from The Bible and interviews.Songs of praise comes on at BBC 1 at around 5.00 pm. The programme that I watched was on the 6th June.2009.The programme is about The Church and covers certain ones in each epis ode in this case the church in central London was covered we are not only shown hymns throughout the programme but gain general knowledge about Trafalgar square in the heart of London. We learn about the reasons for certain statues being there, and about some other architectural master pieces around there.At intervals there are different people singing first it was local people and then it went to the Choir singing which repeat after some information in the programme has been given, all the campaigns that have and are being held in the square and the previous protests that were carried out. It also tells about the of Christians that were involved and how some things carried out relate to the actions of Christ.It is mainly aimed at Christians but other people can watch it since it contains interviews and history about places. People would like it because it is a programme which can increase your knowledge but then others might not because it mainly covers Christianity and not the ot her religions.I personally think that this programme is really good because it is educational and also has a society because there are people in it that come together such as the choir and not only tat but also talk about some of the architectural objects and places around which gives a feel of togetherness and community within it and that is what makes a programme interesting. It does not only consist of hymns but has praise of Christ, local singers, normal people and God. Overall I think that everyone should be attracted to this but there are people that might not agree with me in this such as even some Christians themselves because in this programme when the viewers are shown that there are protests being held to get their message across then the Christians might have the believe that this is not right because their religion should be shown as being a peaceful and calm religion and not a forcing one which uses the power of its people to get what they want.A (ii): EuthanasiaIn ou r lesson we covered the topic of Euthanasia. Euthanasia means a gentle and easy but very commonly assisted death. One source we used to demonstrate this was the soap opera called Holby City which covered the issue of Euthanasia and also portrayed how a topic like Euthanasia is covered in the media. This topic was shown like a Fairytale and seemed like it was easy and could be performed by anyone in a calm and very happy manner.In Holby City we saw a woman called Gina who wants to end her life with the support of her friend. She is a Citizen of the United Kingdom but does not seem to take pride of that fact as in the UK you are not at any rate eligible to end your own life because it is illegal and if there is another person assisting the victim then there are severe consequences because that person broke the law.However there are some countries where Euthanasia is legal e.g.:Switzerland, Belgium, Holland. Gina decides to go to Switzerland where this is possible as well as legal and where she can go and fulfil her last wishes.In Switzerland Gina is assisted by her friend who is a doctor in the UK called Connie. Gina has not got the courage to tell her husband about the decision she has taken and is afraid of the fact that he will not bear her ending her life this way and make her come back home. He is also a doctor in the UK, she believes that her husband loves her too much. She wants her husband to lead a happier life without her as she thinks she is a large burden on her husband. She is so fed up of herself and can not stand to see her not being free and independent.While she is Switzerland she wishes to see her Husband and whenever his name is mentioned she gets into this depressed and upset mood. Connie can not bear to see her friend in such pain and so Elliot her Husband of what she is up to. Elliot hearing of this news takes the first plane to Switzerland to meet his beloved wife.When Gina is told this she is very delighted and is thankful to her friend t hat the last person she wanted to see before leaving this world is really going to be by her side.When her husband arrives they have a beautiful time together at a hotel and talk about all the things they have been through previously and how much they cherish each other. Both of them spent hours with each other and are not aware of what time it actually is. They are only happy to be with each other and want to talk about things that they have not talked about for almost a lifetime.In Switzerland euthanasia is treated in a very positive way. The beautiful scenery of flowers and mountains suggest that euthanasia is a good way to die. It is shown that it is a beautiful death because of Ginas appearance she is so well dressed, the new long cream coat, new hair cut, very light but attractive make up, as though she is ready to go on a date there is a day filled with happiness ahead of her. Looking at her in this state did not make her look sick at all and despite her having the motor neu ron disease she still is able to walk and every thing else is perfect.The music which was being played in the background called daydream was very calm and gave this romantic atmosphere.In the last few hours of Ginas life she says a few things to her husband: This is exactly how I planned it This quote suggests that she had always planned an easy and good death. There it is indeed nothing to be scared of she has been pilot of her own life, now she is the pilot of her own death.She argues that in the UK:Only Dogs are allowed to die with dignity but NOT Humans.This shows that Gina clearly thinks that one should be allowed to end their own life in peace, but England will always keep humans in pain who have the wish to end their lives and not be a burden towards their loved ones.Finally Gina died gracefully in her husbands arms after having the drink which contained the drug.Commenting on this soap opera I personally think that this Episode showed Euthanasia as being good. However, many people believe that God is the only one who crates life and he only has the right to take it away. We humans should respect this and make something out of the lives we are given. As Holby City covers the topic of euthanasia it is a great example of how an important topic like this is covered in the media and portrayed to make people feel differently about it. In this case as mentioned before euthanasia is shown to be something which should be tried by everyone and if it is not tried by everyone then it is a real shame because if someone has the advantage of having such a calm and dream fulfilled death then it is really a great opportunity to miss out on to not take advantage of it. The soap is literally telling us that why should you die a hurtful death filled with sadness and upset people when you have the solution right there for you need to meet the doctors, tell them that you have had enough of your life that you can not endure the pain anymore as death is shown as, nothing to worry about and no stress whatsoever.Christians oppose with the whole idea of Euthanasia because they believe all human life is made by God. God created every person, whether sick, healthy, disabled or able-bodied. Christians believe euthanasia is equivalent to murder as mentioned in the Bible. Christians believe that in a way we do not own our bodies. In the New Testament, Paul says You do not belong to yourself. Christians believe only God has a right to give or take a life. They believe that God has a plan for our life, even when we are suffering. Even if we think our life has finished, Christians believe God can use our life.However there is a minority of Christians who accept Euthanasia. They say that there is nothing in the Bible which states that a person must be kept alive at all costs. Jesus summarized the commandments of the Bible with the two Great Commandments Love God and Love your neighbour as yourself. These Christians say that sometimes it is the most loving thing t o do to allow a terminally ill patient to have euthanasia.I personally think that euthanasia is wrong and should not be legal in any country. If God has granted us life, it is for a reason and we should make use of that and take advantage of the things we possess and have control over. We should make ourselves useful and not mourn over things but we should think about the individuals who will give up anything to live the lives we are living and as the Prophet Mohammad (saw) says:Hearsay is not like seeingOne should really believe in something he knows for sure and has seen it with their own eyes but not get something positive out of this episode of Holby City because that is only a soap opera and a fictional programme.A (iii): Film GhostThe film I have chosen to study is called Ghost, it follows the theme of Life after Death and stars Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze as the two lead characters in the film.The storyline portrays a happy couple that get split from one anotherdue to the tragic death of Sam, played by Patrick Swayze. DemiMoore plays his girlfriend, Molly who struggles to come to terms with his death.When Sam got killed he did not go to heaven nor hell, butbecame a ghost and watched over his partner that he was forced to leave behind. As a ghost Sam became aware of why he was murdered anddiscovers that his Mollys life is in danger as well and so does all that he can to stop her from being killed too.Christians believe that when you die you go either to heaven orhell. Hell is a place where people go to live another life of eternalpunishment. Those sent to hell by God committed sins or deeds that he does not approve of. Hell is a place of disaster and destruction, a place for deep, sincere punishment. However, some Christians do believe that going to hell is not always a decision made by god, but by the individual. Christians believe that heaven is a place to be with god in unity. A place where all trouble disappears and everyone lives in harmony. The joyful and pleasant surroundings sort out anything that is left unfinished upon earth.Sam discovered that his lovers life was in danger, he had to find a way to communicate with her, and eventually was able to speak to Molly through a medium, Ode May Brown.Being able to say good bye to a loved one is seen as a great thing formany people to do and without it many people grieve even more for theyhave so many things that were never said. Like in the movie where Sam was never actually able to tell Molly through words how much he actually really loves her. Not to their surprise Molly did not believe the median and demanded proof in order to make herself believe what she was hearing then she was reminded from Sam through the Medium about the Sweater Molly knitted and the word ditto.The way that god takes you from the earth that he put you on is hisdecision and the time he does it is a decision of his too. He leavesyour body for the others on earth and takes your soul to heaven, hellor pur gatory. Depending upon where you go the soul is taken indifferent forms. We are shown in the film that if you are going to hell, a place where things are made for those who have not followed gods guidance then they are put into black. Creatures in long black coats that make unpleasant noises take the soul away. However, if the soul or ghost of a person is going to heaven then bright lights shine over them and have the free will to walk to heaven. If god does decides to place the soul in the place known as purgatory then a second body is created and that body lives the life until god to makes his final decision and also that is the same believe the same about the purgatory.Overall, reflecting upon all of the issues that this film raises I think that Christians would be pleased by the way that religious issues have been dealt with throughout. Even though there are no direct links to Christianity the film is built around a Christian structure. This film would appeal to everyone really and people of all ages can watch it but I think that mainly people who are interested as to what happens in Life after death would watch it and may be watch more movies linked to this topic and compare them. I would watch this film because I think that it is a very interesting film to watch covering the topic of Life after death. Also what some scriptwriters want to raise the awareness of e.g.: that souls are still roaming around if one their tasks are incomplete and also how they can get it done. However I think that people who have a modern mentality and their religion also does not teach about these matters will not find this film too attracted to because their attitude towards those matters will not change and they might end up finding this unrealistic as well as a waste of time.B: Television always presents religious people as out of touch with the modern world Agree or Disagree:I do not agree with the statement that religious people are always shown out of touch with the moder n world. As an overview, I would agree with the fact that some television writers do stereotype religious leaders and people as out of touch but some on the other hand do not. There are many examples present on everyday television that portray both sides of the argument from soaps to comedies and from dramas to films. I do understand the fact that some television writers have to make a religious person act in a certain way for the purpose of their production but that does not always have to be the case, sometimes the religious people are shown the way they are in real life such as there is a soap where there is The Vicar of Dibley a female Vicar and she acts nothing like the way a Vicar would e.g.: have sex before marriage. It is easy for people to say that religious people are out of touch with the modern world, but they might not even be really aware of the modern world. The modern world is the one we live in today, where religion is not an enormous issue for many people compared to 50 or 100 years ago. Today we live in such a diverse culture and are used to seeing so many religions and cultures together. Out of touch could mean a number of things as everyone has various ways of looking at a statement, but the basic idea that comes in my mind when I look at this statement is of being old-fashioned and not being capable of understanding the major issues of modern Society such as relationships, crime and politics.In East enders, a character called Alex was a protestant priest. The writers portrayed Alexs character as someone being committed to his job, a person over dedicated with work and out of touch with the modern world. In the soap, Alex had a friend called Sarah, a young teenage Christian who acted like Alex in terms of faith. She was very committed, enthusiastic, willing and was very social as she was always trying to share her views with anyone she could, with relatives, friends and neighbours. Alexs character changed dramatically as soon as he had a s exual relationship with a married woman. This made him more in touch with modern society in other words more human.The Vicar of Dibley is set in a rural village. All the characters are stereotype except from the vicar who is totally different. We have the village jester Alice Tinker she is married to the other village jester HugoHorton. Owen Newitt is one of the church council his breath stinks and he always swears. Now we come to the main character The Vicar Geraldine Grainger she is not a stereotypical vicar she swears, shes also always after men. The vicar of Dibley is nothing like a vicar she swears drinks and is always after men a stereotypical vicar would never do this and this makes he vicar fit in because it shows that she has a modern mentality and that her post does not come in her way of leading her life. That is also what the modern society like when people have something new and changed to show them.Film writers are also often accused of stereotyping religious people. I n the film Priest, the writers portrayed a couple of Catholic Priests, one of whom was trying to become more knowledgeable about everyday happenings in Society. This resulted in him breaking the Law of Celibacy by having a homosexual relationship with a man he met at a night-club. This situation did give him more knowledge about the issues faced by ordinary people in society, as the outcome of his deed meant that he lost his post. His dignity suffered because as a result of what he did the local newspaper reported the story. The priest may also have been considered as being out of touch in the film because when a young girl told him the story of her father committing incest at confession, he resisted the temptation to inform the mother to break the seal of the confessional.A similar event occurred in the police drama series A Touch of Frost, in which a Priest did break the seal and informed the police about a murderer confessing his guilt, therefore helping to catch the person who h ad come to confess in the church. This priest therefore put societys concerns above his duty to maintain confidentiality in confession.Many people would say that religious people do not have any fun or go out to enjoy them. I would disagree with this statement because not everybody has the same definition of fun. To a priest, fun may be his work or a work-related topic if that is what he enjoys. It was his choice to take up that post and fulfil the duty of a priest in the house of God.From all the evidence in my essay, I feel that I can justify concluding that the title statement is false. In todays society there are so many people that are influenced and there are not always good people out there. If a religious person does stay out of touch with the modern world then they might not get into things such as taking drugs and drinking alcohol. When we see celebrities today we hear everyday how someone has taken drugs and has been arrested but we do not see them linked with the religio us world and so they do not follow a faith. Whereas a person such as an Imam in Islam or a Priest in Christianity is at least protected from those kinds of bad things and does not need to worry. It is more about individual perspective about religion in the media because some people think that it some religions are portrayed inappropriately such as the Vicar of Dibley because that might make other religions think that Christians are not bothered of the purity of their religious posts.However, many characters in the variety of shows screened on terrestrial television today are seen by many as out of touch. By this it is meant that they are not willing to accept change and stick by their true traditional views. With todays world ever changing it means that out of touch people are made rare and are criticized more. Society today does not wait for people to catch up, and is leaving those who have pessimistic ideas behind. The changing world is ready for change and is so accepting change that is for the better and in some cases the worst. Quite simply someone who is in touch is the opposite of an out of touch person. If they are in-touch then they can appreciate things that are changing.I would look upon people like the Pope and Michael Willis as people who are out of touch for the reasons that they prefer to stick to the truly traditional views and that they have very backward opinions. Some fictional people in todays world who I would see as being out of touch are Dot Cotton (from East enders) and Harold Bishop (from Neighbours), I think this because they are both slightly older and thetelevision programs that they are in portray them as being too old to know any better. People Ned Flanders (from The Simpsons) is seen as being in-touch because he can bring humour into religion.Sports man Jonathon Edwards is an Olympic medal holder in his area of sport, the triple jump. Jonathon Edwards has made his religion of Christianity an important factor of his life, with the issues being things that are of great meaning andimportance to him. His sporting career is something that relates to his religion in some ways but not in others. In interviews relating to his sport he does not make references to his religion or make comments that might offend others. However, Jonathon Edwards does not want his sport to interfere with the truly traditionally values that come with his religion. For example at one sporting meeting Jonathon Edwards didnot want to jump because his event was being held on a Sunday. For Christians a Sunday is seen as being the holy day of rest and that traditionally it is the day that Christians use to go to church and worship god. Jonathon Edwards is somebody who I would class as being in-touch, for he can accept the views and opinions of others as well as keep his culture and tradition in mind.Generally I think that religious people are in touch with what is going on around them and can respond to these changes. It would be unfair to na me all religious people as being out of touch for the reason that there are many people who are not. When you walk down the street you will pass many deeply religious people without realizing it. They are not another type of person and do not wear large signssaying I am religious-keep clear. For many people it is not right to agree with the way that the world is changing and we have to agree with these opposing views for many agree with the views we have. I believe that everyone has the right to posses and express their own opinions freely. Everyone will have their own opinions of what they class to be in and out of touch and will see things differently.