TV Show Young Sheldon Pokes Fun At Organized Religion
New Religion “Mathology” Is Created on the show.
Benjamin Franklin, when picking which religious belief he would follow, decided to investigate every major theology. He would think of holes or questions that he had with each belief. He would only pick a religion if he found completely satisfactory answers.
TV Show ‘Young Sheldon’ Pokes Fun At Organized Religion [/tweetthis]
Perhaps the writers of the CBS comedy Young Sheldon were familiar with that story because the most recent episode has the child prodigy going through the same spiritual journey.
Sort of.
The episode starts with Sheldon and his friends playing Dungeons and Dragons. Harkening back to the panic in the 1980s when parents thought playing D&D would lead to Satanism, Sheldon’s religious mother becomes worried about her son engaging in “satanic leisure activities” and decides to enroll him in Sunday School.
Sheldon uses this as an opportunity to learn about all sorts of religions before having a dream where he learns that the 10 Commandments are actually binary and decides to create his own religion called “Mathology” where “the only sin in Mathology is being stupid.”
WRN has reported previously that the tension between Sheldon and his deeply religious mother has been a running theme throughout the first season of the show. While Sheldon’s mother expresses concern about his lack of faith she does support her son’s freedom of choice “ I want you to be a seeker of your own truth, And if your truth turns out to be Satan, I will do battle with him.”
While this could be classified as an attack on organized religion, it is more complicated than that. Sheldon is doing what most kids are doing, trying to find their own identity and beginning to forge their personal belief systems. While he has attacked Christianity before, he is taking a mature take, by asking questions of those he knows and assessing for himself what makes the most sense. It is also a comedy, comedy comes from tension and therefore if it was a seamless transition, there probably would not be as much material for jokes. While it is zany, the mother’s discussion with Sheldon reveals that it is possible to respect the spiritual choices of others while remaining true to your personal faith.