RELIGION
Roslyn Will
December 2, 2015
RELIGION
• God is dead
• Corruption
• Heaven
GOD IS DEAD
Several different analyses
• Nietzsche
• God has left humanity, humans are hopeless
• God is dead, and we killed him
• Metaphorical loss of God’s image
CORRUPTION
• In church, politics and government
• Transcends each of these three sectors
• Often individuals acting, but with dire consequences
HEAVEN
• Everyone has their own concept of heaven, which reflects their life and
politics
• Separation of church and state not so separate
• Little consensus in politics
TROPICO BY LANA DEL REY 2013
Tropico Full (11:30-12:30)
LANA DEL REY
• God is dead
• “God’s dead, I said baby that’s alright with
me, no one’s going to take my soul away”
• The oppressiveness of society, pressure to
be professional
• Corruption
• The truth of religion has been warped,
people picking and choosing what they want
to see
• Heaven
• Finding yourself despite political correctness
and societal norms
1
2
3
4
“GROB GOB GLOB GROD” ADVENTURE TIME
2015
Adventure Time
ADVENTURE TIME
• God is dead
• Being able to have a society which does
not find God necessary
• Created a world which no longer needed
him
• Heaven
• Democracy
• Growing into the idea of heaven
1
SHANE KOYZCAN “HEAVEN OR WHATEVER” 2014
"You can't just do whatever"
• God is dead
• Societal pressures and institutions
destroying an individual’s faith
• Heaven
• Everyone’s heaven is different, which
is why politics is so controversial
Shane Koyzcan
The conversation came after you asked me about heaven
Told me that you thought heaven would be specific to
each person
And that each person would have their own version of it
Then asked me what mine would be
I was so scared to tell you,
"I don't have one"
But you nodded your head,
as if confirming a suspicion that school
had robbed me of a belief in some stories
You said "you don't have to believe what I believe, its
enough to be good.
Be good"
I will.
I will think about your heaven
"Heaven or Whatever"
ANDRES SERRANO PISS CHRIST 1987
• God is dead
• “And we killed him”
• How far society has veered from the
values and principles of religion
• Corruption
• Commodification of religion
• Heaven
• We are not there yet
Christ
Vandal Piss Christ
CONCLUSION
• It would seem that Lana Del Rey’s Tropico, Shane Koyzcan’s “Heaven of Whatever” and
Adventure Time’s “Grob, Gob, Glob, Grod” are meant to take personal and individual
meanings that can be transcended into the political realm in relation to politics. Yet,
Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ has a strong political messages intended to provoke
emotions towards the government and religion.
• As it can be seen, religious art touches many concepts where some have strong political
implications than others. These ideas often relate to the statement that God is dead and
everyone’s own personal idea of heaven where not everyone can exist in their own
heaven without bothering someone else, and like Koyzcan’s poem, maybe heaven is right
here where we remain today.
• Corruption does not go unnoticed, but sometimes it is seen as inevitable, pervasive or
even necessary. By examining arts of these sorts in this particular way, it is easy to see
just how closely tied religion remains to be to politics