Joyce Edionseri explores the weaponization of faiths and their impact on vulnerable people.
Many people's lives are dominated by religion. Personally, I was raised in a Christian family. As someone who grew up in a Christian household and attended and graduated from a Catholic, all-girls high school, I was acutely aware of the religious problems. I had problematic Catholic teachers who were supposed to be loving and caring, yet were religious hypocrites. My school had a lot of religious folks, even nuns! Sister June Favata, you were my favorite! I grew up hearing about Catholic leaders abusing their clergy, despite the fact that they were supposed to be decent people promoting the Gospel. Religion is ingrained in many people's upbringings, and it can have an effect on them. Religion is frequently considered a means of bringing people together, yet it may also go wrong. It can range from corrupt leaders to religious abuse, such as Bible manipulation. Mike Flanagan creates a story that exposes the terrible aspects of religion in all of its horror; the show has a fantasy element to it, but that fantasy is depicting just how sinister religion is.
This is Flanagan at his best, creating a scene that displays utter gruesome mayhem, but at the heart of it, these folks choose to turn on and attack their fellow parishioners because of how profoundly they believed in the philosophy delivered to them. Midnight Mass spirals into total, violent madness at the close of its sixth episode, "Episode VI: Acts of the Apostles," in a scene similar to The Walking Dead. Members of the congregation who drink the poisoned wine died instantly and are reborn as vampires moments later. All of them are gripped by excessive bloodlust, leading them to do heinous acts. The horror is amplified by the fact that the action is taking place within a church.
This show came out in 2021, Flanagan has been the showrunner for other horror shows but this time he tackles religion with two hands. I observed the demise of religion as a viewer of the film Midnight Mass. Midnight Mass is a seven-part television series about religion gone awry. From manipulative leaders like Father Paul Hill to villains like "Bev," who spewed judgment on people, Mike Flanagan did a fantastic job illustrating the ugliness of religion. While critics may say that this show takes its criticism of Religion too far through fantasy and horror, Flanagan succeeds in a laser-focused visceral portrayal of the life-threatening dangers of Religious doctrine.
One of the ways that Midnight Mass goes through the guttural with its critique of religion is through the portrayal of manipulation. It is no surprise that humans are inherently flawed and sometimes suck. Human beings like to cast the blame on anything other than themselves. We see that specifically when manipulative people use the Holy Bible such as Father Paul Hill in Midnight Mass. "Do this in remembrance of me," Father Hill says at the close of the first episode, quoting Luke 22:19 and 1 Corinthians 11:24 from the Bible. He says it in a way that wins the hearts of the parishioners. Daley addresses how religious people such as Father Paul, can use the words of the Bible to justify their bad actions and to their advantage. People might object that this is really too far, but Flanagan has his point that he is trying to make.
Manipulation is usually considered an unethical approach to anything. We can argue that manipulation is a very complex thing that can influence any innocent person's way of thinking. The authors, Tommi P. Auvinen, Anna-Maija Lämsä, Teppo Sintonen, and Tuomo Takala all analyze the ethics of manipulation. They stress how the basic tool for manipulation is the manipulation of words. This scholarly article is so important because it further shows how someone as powerful as a Priest can influence churchgoers with their words, especially in a manipulative way like the Bible. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.
How far are people willing to go with their Religion?
One of the ways that Midnight Mass does not hold back in showing the horrific action of Religion is showing exploitation of religious devotion to explain one’s own bigotry. In Midnight Mass, Bev Keane illustrates the theme of using religious devotion to justify one's own bigotry and heinous deeds. Bev's villainy is demonstrated several times throughout the show. Burton includes a scene in which Bev, who portrays herself as a truly honest member of the community, is shown to be the show's true enemy. He brings up a scene in the movie where Bev insists on giving every child in the school a Bible and openly insults other religions and faiths. When Sheriff Hassan, one of the other characters, criticizes her actions, Bev tries to rally the residents against him. Several times, she undermines Hassan's views and maintains that her faith is the only one that matters. This crazy scene of the show not only shows Bev’s true colors but also shows just how much Bev used her own faith to justify her actions.
Religious devotion and its nature are influenced by a number of things. Several elements influence one's willingness to practice religious devotion. Meland addresses how Religious devotion's character and intensity are determined not only by the nature of the object of devotion and the clarity with which mankind knows and interprets religious reality but also by the level of faithfulness with which men and women seek their own devotion. Meland also addresses the most important factors in pursuing religious devotion in Faithfulness. The most important thing he mentions is the ability to comprehend the practical implications of one's commitment and the desire to live up to one's highest expectations. My scholarly sources and my article reviews all show how much human beings are willing to go for their religious devotion, and sometimes it can be in a bad way.
One of the key ways in which the show explores the major concerns of how Religion may go nasty is through the usage of the Priest: Father Hill. Religious leaders aren't always virtuous, and they sometimes engage in heinous acts. Cressler goes on to explain how the show illustrates how ordinary priests and parishioners can do terrible things all in the name of religion. This example shows just how unwittingly Father Paul Hill was a conduit of evil. The authors, Tommi P. Auvinen, Anna-Maija Lämsä, Teppo Sintonen, and Tuomo Takala all analyze the ethics in leadership. They stress how leadership can be viewed as some kind of influence. We will argue that manipulation is a more complex phenomenon than just an unethical way of acting in leadership.
Father Paul Hill may have been one of Midnight Mass's best-written characters, but he was always selfish. None of the horrible things on the island would have happened if it wasn't for Father Paul’s flawed behavior and sins: selfishness and fear. Daley covers how Father Paul’s flaws damned a whole island and I wholeheartedly agree. The island's fate was determined when Father Paul acted out of fear of death and a selfish wish to live his life all over again. This evidence and topic sentence are vital because they demonstrate how religion can be led astray by bad religious leaders.
Many others, however, think that Midnight Mass has some problems in its portrayal of Catholicism/Christianity. According to certain sources, the portrayal of Catholicism in Midnight Mass has an undesirable flaw. Midnight Mass is a gripping tale with authentic characters, especially when they talk about religion, but Jesus is noticeably absent, as Mitchican acknowledges. He bemoans the fact that Jesus isn't referenced nearly as often as he should be, with the exception of one scene in which Sheriff Hassan, a Muslim, points out that Islam reveres Jesus as a prophet.
While I agree with the criticisms, Director Flanagan did a fantastic job of delivering a message about religion's shortcomings. Yes, Midnight Mass contains some flaws or components that are false regarding the Catholic Church, but it does send a strong message about how dangerous religion can be. I am a Christian myself, and I am aware of how dangerous blind faith can be. Religion is rife with hypocrisy and flawed individuals. But it is human nature; humanity is intrinsically flawed, as Midnight Mass and the religious terror theme demonstrate.
Joyce currently resides in Northeastern New Jersey and is a freshman commuting to Bloomfield College to pursue nursing.
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