Masculinity in Christianity

This essay outlines what Sharon Mazer thinks about the 'Power Team' and what they do to try and convert people the chrisitanity. She talks about all of their rituals, what they do to try and show people that by converting they will be 'stronger' than the devil. The power team is a bunch of jacked men that talk about the inhuman strength they have and how they claim to have gotten it by believing in christ. Mazer is trying to say that this is all a whole bunch of marketing and that this whole show is a ploy to get more people enrolled in churches to raise them and the team money. She says this works. Well. They come in a break blocks of ice, concrete, and their final show of faith is breaking out of handcuffs. After this final act they encourage everyone to rush the stage and sign up for the church they are showing off. In the end Mazer says their most powerful act is the non-converters, they feel left out and oblidged to join in the signing. This is where they raise the money. The masculinity portrays the strength they people who sign up will begin to feel. At one point in the essay one of the power team members says that jesus was no little girl, he was a mans man. By saying this they offer up the question of who doesn't want to be a man's man. Who wouldn't want to be stronger by believing in christ? This is how they get the followers and make their money. The whole show was not doing its intended purpose to gain conversion of christianity, but they are just trying to raise money and that is far larger than the amount of people who are actually converted.

ticks

I thought that this story was actually pretty funny. He took a look at OCD from the view of things that would actually happen. Most of the ticks he does are actually things that people that suffer from this disorder would actually do. Not to mention the parents getting the teachers drunk to take their mind off of the werid stuff he was doing in the classroom. Like licking lightswitches or hitting himself in the head with his shoes. This was informational, but at the same time it was humorous, I think that this was a good way to really show what was going on and keep the reader's attention. All in all I think this was a good story to read and it opened my eyes as to what some peopel that suffer woudl actually do.. Good story