Religious Distortion

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the distortions in religion as they appear in the movie, Babette's Feast and the book, "For the Life of the World." The paper explains that there are three ways of practicing religion; religious, secular and sacramental. The paper goes on to explain why the sacramental view is the correct way to act and not the religious or secular views.

From the Paper:

"In the film Babette's Feast, a major religious point is being shown to the audience through a fable. This fable consists of several different characters: a pastor and his two daughters, Martina and Philippa, several suitors for these daughters, townspeople, and a French housemaid. The fable deals with the way that the townspeople relate to their God through their extremely pious actions and attitudes, and how these views become changed by the end of the movie through a feast given by the French maid, Babette. The lesson being taught by this movie also deals directly with explanations of the Christian religion by Alexander Schmemann in his book, For the Life of the World. The main lesson being taught deals with the various different ways of leading lives dedicated to God, and how each one in its own way is either right and wrong. These different views are: the Secular, which says that the physical is all there is, so do the most with it, the Religious, in which people try to get closer to God by distancing themselves from material things, and the Sacramental, which says that we should be thankful for the things because they were made by God and know that they are not all that there is, and by doing such we are living in communion with God. The movie shows the audience that the Secular distortion and the Religious distortion are both incorrect, and that the Sacramental view is the correct path through the reactions of the various groups to Babette's feast. "

More papers on Religious Distortion:

• Book Review # 16160 : "Swatos' "Globalization and Religious Fundamentalism"
• Book Review # 102092 : "Frankenstein": A Religious Allegory?"
• Analytical Essay # 136304 : "God's Politics and Religious Divide"

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