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Jocelyne Nolasco
English 115 Honors
Professor Spitler-Lawson
Identity Essay
25 September 2016
Word Count: 1342
Religion, Politics and T.V.
A group of peoples beliefs, traditions, arts and other manifestations is called a culture. A
subculture is a culture within a larger culture that holds different and alternative beliefs to that of
the larger culture. Being a Hispanic, with Mexican and Honduran parents and living in America,
I am surrounded with a variety of subcultures. However, the few subcultures that have had a
huge impact in how I identify myself today are the Christian faith, American politics, and of
course television.
I grew up in a very strong Christian family, or so I thought. My parents, especially my
father, turned to religion for everything including for emotional comfort and assurance. He
would turn to God before consulting a doctor about a suspicious lump near his under arm. He
would thank God before thanking anyone else for his good fortune. Speaking of fortune, my
father would also pray for good luck before buying his next lottery ticket, despite gambling being
a sin in itself. I spent a lot of time with my father as a child, so it was only natural that I too
became a Jesus freak like him. I would say a prayer before taking a test at school. I would pray
when I couldnt go to sleep at night. I would pray to God to cast away the wicked flu demon
from my body. I genuinely had deep faith in my God. I truly believed that with Jesus Christ by
my side anything was possible, but all of that soon began to change. My family and I would

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often go to church but we never stayed committed to a single church. On days our family would
skip a service, my father would gather the family in the living room and we would have,
something my siblings and I call, Bible time. During Bible time, my father would preach
about stories in the Bible acting as our own personal pastor. Often, these at home sermons would
turn into deeper discussions about prominent social issues. I was only a toddler but I remember
the feeling these discussions ignited in me, the feeling of confusion between what was right and
wrong in the world. Does following every single asinine rule in this Holy Bible really make
someone a good person? My father was the main contributor of this Christ fest and although it
seemed he knew the Bible well from cover to cover, the man had never read a full chapter in this
sacred book in his whole life. Everything he thought he knew about Christianity and the world
came from watching television; thus, through my fathers influence, everything I thought I knew
about Christianity also derived from television.
Besides religion, television was another factor that played a huge role in creating the
person I am today. My sense of humor steamed from shows like King of the Hill and The
Simpsons. My curiosity and fascination in the field of science bloomed when I watched an
episode of NOVA that explained the Big Bang Theory. I grew perspective when I watched talk
shows that discussed controversial issues on a local and global scale. In addition, television
taught me the fundamentals of literacy and etiquette. Among other things, television also slowly
created and destroyed my religious faith. As a Jesus loving nine-year-old, one of my favorite
channels to watch was the Trinity Broadcasting Channel (TBN), our local Christian channel.
Besides watching the animated shows, I seldom watched pastors preach not only in this channel
but in other Christian channels too, even the Spanish Christian channels. Throughout multiple
years of watching and listening to these television sermons, I noticed an obvious factor that made

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me question the purity of my religion and my own purity. After each service these pastors would
have advertisements for souvenirs like crosses or a piece of Jesus Christs mantel that was
supposed to bring prosperity or some shit holy to anyone who bought them. Other times, pastors
would advertise their latest novels or latest DVD about their travels to the Holy Land. I would
not only see this on T.V., but also at my own church, get a free Bible with a donation of fifty
dollars, get this tiny bottle of Jesus Christ wine blood with a donation of twenty dollars to our
church, it will heal your cancer. I realized that religion, at least the way I experienced it, was
extremely materialistic and vain. From pastors advertising merchandise in their own church, to
followers selfishly praising God in exchange for a house or the winning lottery number someday.
In the Book of Matthew, Jesus Christ became extremely upset because people turned the sacred
and holy temple into a place of money and greed, thus deeming merchandising in the House of
God a sin. People at church and on television were committing a sin while still claiming their
purity as Christians.
Along with the hypocrisy I saw in the church, I also couldnt get behind the illogical
reasoning the church had on major social issues. I had just turned thirteen when I started
watching more news outlets other than FOX News. Gay marriage was one of the major
controversies around this time. Although I was doubting the purity of the church, I still felt
myself being a full follower of the Christian faith. Common principles among the Christian
followers was to be against homosexuality; however, I didnt find myself disagreeing with it, let
alone hating it. To my knowledge, God is supposed to love all his children despite their
mistakes and flaws because he apparently created every human being on earth through his
image. When I read, "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them
have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon

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them" made me completely question the kind of God I was praising (Leviticus 20:13). I was
praising a God who claimed to love all his children, yet did not think twice to murder them when
they committed a mistake. I wasnt able to see homosexuality as the abomination it was said
to be in Christianity, primarily because I truly believed that people were born with a gene that
made them this way. I truly believed that homosexuality was not a choice because there were
studies supporting this claim. I found myself truly drifting away from my Christian faith when I
noticed myself laughing at jokes on The Simpsons concerning religion and agreeing with
Darwins Theory of Evolution explained on NOVA. I began to think more realistically and
logically about many ideas in the world. In 2012, the election between Mitt Romney and Barack
Obama really did it for me, in terms of seizing praise in God. I was almost fifteen and I was
learning more about the issue of abortion and gun control. I began to side more with the
democratic positions on more than just these issues. When FOX News would bring religion into
their reasons for disapproving the democratic side, it would strike a reaction out of me and I
would actually disagree strongly with their religious reasoning. In school I started being more
open and initiative about political discussions, often encouraging my fellow classmates to bring
forth their ideas to the classroom. This election truly sparked my interest in politics and being
aware of world issues.
These three concepts, religion, politics, and television, have unexpectedly brought forth a
binary opposition of agnostic liberal and conservative Christian. By the time I was in high
school, I had begun to identify myself as the former rather than the latter and I still do today.
While I dont exactly look down upon my past self, I am glad I evolved into the person I am
today. Its a transition that many people have gone through, but not everyone was changed

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because of religion, politics, and television. These moments, traditions and hobbies are unique to
me and I cant see myself coming to this point in my life any other way.

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Work Cited

Hagler, Frank. "What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality? 12 Scripture Verses About Gay
Marriage." Mic. N.p., 01 Apr. 2013. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.