Futurama Episode

Bender becomes a god

We were meant to watch “Godfellas” an episode where Bender the Robot becomes God to two small civilisations on his body. But the remote of the DVD player wouldn’t work AAAAHHHhhhhhh!!!!

We broke up into our small groups and discussed the episode; two of my students had seen it before. The point of the episode is that when Bender tries to help the people he ends up destroying and killing them. When he doesn’t help them they lose hope and start fighting each other. One civilisation denies Benders existence and then they have a nuclear war and kill each other.

Bender than meets a being who might be God and he explains to Bender that when you answer prayer you have to do it in a way that people aren’t sure whether they did or Bender did it. That way they don’t become dependant or lose hope.

Drawings of God

Students were encouraged to draw their God or something that represents their God. While we did this each student shared something of what they believed God to be and if they didn’t believe in God what they would want him to be.

Death

We will all die

Today we watched a film called “The Shomer” http://www.campfire.net.au/node/221. This is a documentary on the Jewish burial rites. Some said it was boring others said it was interesting. Regardless of what the students thought it was fantastic at stimulating discussion on death.

Feeling faint, queasy, and nearly throwing up

Despite the fact that every single one of us will die, death is not a popular subject. Students shared that they would not like to work in a funeral parlour. Too depressing, too disturbing and sad. I broke out some of my nursing stories relating to people I’ve cared for who had died. Yes you can care for a dead person; you change their PJ’s, brush their hair and make them ready for their family. Some students were feeling a bit faint. Somehow we got onto organ donation and I talked about my experience in a University where people had donated their bodies and were on display. For example there were heads of people with their skin peeled off so you could see the facial muscles. There were arms that you could pull a leaver that would bend the arm at the elbow to see how the muscles contracted. Fascinating stuff but some students were starting to look pasty enough for me to offer them the waste paper bin : ). People with nursing backgrounds have hardened stomachs.

Fascinating but hard on the stomach

The rubber hits the road

Over the last five weeks students have been encouraged to explore their spirituality. Even those who don’t believe God are encouraged to understand how their non belief affects their life. Death is the greatest test of any belief system. For example the one student who doesn’t believe in God explained that he believed that when we die we continue in another form. Not in a spiritual reincarnation way but in a physical cycle of life way. You die and become compost for other animals and plants which in turn produce life.

I asked this student to explain who religion might help some people face death since he didn’t believe it. To his credit he was very fair and explained that those who believed in an after-life would be comforted to face death because it was not the end for them.