Well Informed-Radicalization and Religion

Within the past couple of years, I have noticed radicalization in a much larger population that ever before.  Within the United States, there have been multiple threats made to us which has escalated this even more than I believe would have occurred naturally.  These days, we as a people tend to react to situations much quicker and much harsher than usual.  We are so worried about protecting ourselves and our lands that we believe we should do the most that is possible to ensure our safety.  We believe so strongly in our views that we will go to any extent to protect what we view as important to us.

This is shown greatly through religion.  Religion has always played a large role in history.  Not only in the United States, which was founded for religious freedom, but throughout the world.  Many of the world's conflicts and wars have been because of religious disputes.  It is something that will always be harshly criticized because of the strong feelings that most people have towards their beliefs and their desire for people to see things in the same light which they see it.

A major problem can arise when radicalization and religion become one in the same.  People will always have their strong feelings towards certain subjects, but since it is often split up between populations, it usually keeps us clear of any major conflicts which may arise.  But, as of lately, radicalization and religion have been merging themselves into one.  People are feeling stronger than ever about their religion and wanting to force their beliefs on other.  This is a major problem because as humans, we do not like to be told what to think or believe.  As people become more radical about religion there becomes much more tension throughout the world about beliefs which is where these conflicts come from.  The stronger these feelings become, the more likely it is that people will go to the extreme to preach what they believe is right which often times, causes much more harm than good.

OTM-After 9/11, Nothing Was Funny

The attack on 9/11 is something that has always somewhat drawn my interest.  Not just because of the tragedy that it was for our country, but because of the astounding effect it had throughout the entire nation.  These attacks, without a doubt, brought our country closer together as a whole like we had not seen in quite some time.  But, it also brought some separation within the country and I think that this OTM illustrates that perfectly through the example of comedy.  There was a dark gloom in everyone's attitude during the days following the attack.  We really had to be careful about every word spoken and action taken because everything was being judged so harshly because of this tragedy.

It creates a hard situation for the nation because you are fighting with yourself about how long to mourn the attack.  You know that there must be time given to grieve for the attack and life cannot return to normal until this period of time is over.  But the problem comes in figuring out how long that time is going to be and how it will be handled.  Everyone handles these tragedies a lot different, and it affects them mentally a lot different as well.  How do you draw the line of when enough time is enough?  You may try to force people to come to terms with it right away but that is running a huge risk of being seen as very insensitive.  If you do not get back to how your life was before the attacks, then it becomes much harder to recover because no one is moving on emotionally and nothing is being repaired.

This is what was illustrated through the OTM interview with Will Ferrell.  He was not quite sure how to attack his comedy bits following the attack because what people usually viewed as funny, was not seen as that anymore.  You had to be careful about everything you said because you did not want to offend anyone in their already vulnerable state.  His dilemma was figuring out when his comedy could move back to what he had been doing prior to the attack.  Marc Maron had a completely different view on this situation than Will Ferrell.  Maron took very little time after the attack to change his comedy.  He gave it a very brief breathing period but then returned to his normal routines.  He even ran the risk of humor that dealt with pain applicable to the 9/11 attacks.  He did this because he noticed at his shows that people were longing for something to take their mind off of what they were going through.

I think that a combination of these two tactics worked perfectly.  It allowed people to mourn the tragedy but it also provided some comic relief to those who were seeking.  In a broader sense, this worked as well because people that were living their day to day life were able to live their lives how they normally would but they were acknowledging that a horrific event had occurred.  We are all different and how these events such as 9/11 are handled perfectly illustrate this fact.