The Religion of Wrestling
Displays of Religion in the WWE & Associated Companies
IS THIS EXPLOITATION OKAY?
This is a tough question. In my own personal opinion, being a devout Christian myself, I do think exploiting religion in the ring is perfectly fine. My own personal system of beliefs allows me to take myself with a grain of salt, and I believe that any religion you can't crack a joke at isn't really a good one. If your religion doesn't allow you to enjoy your life and be happy, then what good is it?! I personally love when religious gimmicks are used and religious jokes are made, including ones that criticize my own. It means I get to interpret and guess and predict and allows me to make great projects like this website. Others may feel differently, however, and that's okay. When looking at the exploitation of religion by the WWE from a multicultural perspective, it would be ideal to be compassionate and respectful to every
single religion in the world, ever. Unfortunately, this just isn't possible. Without even trying intentionally to poke fun, certain aspects of American culture will be offensive to members of other cultures, and vice versa. I think it's important that people never take anything they see in the ring to heart, and enjoy the fun and foolishness that the WWE creates. That being said, in recent years the WWE has definitely toned down its exploitation of religion. Gimmicks with specific religious or cultural undertones are much more subtle in how they portray them, most likely due to fear of offending and due to a new "PG13" era the WWE has ushered in for pro-wrestling. Whether or not you believe that the WWE's exploitation of religion is okay, you absolutely cannot deny that controversy sells, and putting offensive material only makes people want to watch more than they normally would...you just have to be extremely mindful about who you offend, and make sure you do not offend the wrong person or people. Professional wrestling is an amazing political too, drawing people in with controversy, and using their audience to make a point about society. Pro-wrestling caters to the uneducated by providing a brutish, almost barbaric form of entertainment, while catering to the academic with highly symbolic and artistic methods (MacFarlane 2012, 138). Controversy sells, and where's the best place to find controversy? Politics and religion.