God or Danny DeVito?

   Faith has always played a big role in our society. Ever since the beginning, we as humans often have a need for faith as it can provide a sense of meaning, purpose, comfort, and belonging in live, especially during difficult times, by offering hope and a belief in something bigger than themselves; it can also foster a sense of community and shared value. When most people hear the word faith, they typically associate it with Religion, and it makes sense as Religion has influenced many aspects of life, including war, colonization, enslavement, marriage practices, economics, literacy, and education. However, faith comes in more ways than just religious context. Faith can be a personal conviction, trust, and confidence in something or someone. That someone for some people can be Danny DeVito, a gem who was a part of so many people's childhoods. Since both are so well loved it made me start to wonder, if the general public had to choose who they had more faith in, who would it be? God or Danny DeVito? In this essay I will present you the following info to help you decide. 

   Let's start with God, in monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is a "spirit or being believed to have created. or for controlling some part of the universe or life, for which such a deity is often worshipped." The concept of God varies considerably. Some theist's view knowledge concerning God as derived from faith alone, conceiving God as the greatest entity in existence and as the cause of all things and is the creator, sustainer, and ruler of the universe. While others see God as an omnibenevolent force. The existence of God is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and theology with similar debates when talking about the existence of multiple deities. Regardless of your viewpoint, there is no denying the large impact that these beliefs have on us as humans. In 2023, 40% of people globally believed in Theism and only 7% identifying with non-theism. Making Christianity the largest religion; it is practiced by 2.4 billion people making up 31.1% of the global population with Islam being second with 24.9% of the population.

   With so many people the mind does tend to ask, "why are there so many believers?" Well, several authors have offered psychological or sociological explanations for belief in the existence of deities observing that humans often ask the existential question of "why are we here?" and whether life has purpose. Some psychologists have assumed that religious beliefs may help to cope with cognitive mechanisms in order to satisfy these questions. Pascal Boyer suggests that, because of evolutionary pressures, humans err on the side of attributing agency where there is not any. In Boyer's view, belief in supernatural entities spreads and becomes culturally significant because of their memorability. The concept of "minimally counterintuitive" beings only slightly differed from the ordinary mindset of thinking you're invisible or able to fly. Sigmund Freud stressed fear and pain, the need for a powerful parental figure, the obsession of nature of ritual can all contribute to the psychology of the need for religion. The majority seem to think humans at their core need to believe that all their pain will be rewarded with goodness and comfort. Overall, nothing can be proven when it comes to the concept of God but what we do know is that the belief of a God or Gods has been strong enough to influence humans for the last tens of thousands of years and it will probably continue to do so. The 1,000,000,000,000-year-old concept of God and its billions of followers are probably tempting to vote for, but we still got our guy DeVito to talk about still before you decide so with further ado...

  Daniel Micheal DeVito Jr. is an American actor, director, and producer with a diverse career across film, television, and stage. He has won an Emmy and Golden Globes and, has been nominated for both an Academy Award and a Tony. He is also a prominent activist for LGBTQ+ rights, environmental, and progressive policies. Born November 17th, 1944, in Neptune, New Jersey. (GOAT grew up 5 minutes away from the OG Jersey Mike's) DeVito stands 5 feet 0 inches his short statue is the result of multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, a rare genetic disorder that affects bone growth. He gained prominence for his portrayal in Taxi as the taxi dispatcher, Louie De Palma, which he won a Golden Globe and Emmy Award. DeVito would go on to star in the most ICONIC roles from the span of the 70s-now.

  Aside from acting he would later get into producing where he eventually created Jersey Films, the production company known for films such as the legendary Pulp Fiction (1994) and Jersey Televison. DeVito and his wife Rhea Perlman starred together in his 1996 film Matilda, based off of Roald Dahl's children novel. DeVito not only acted but again helped produce the film later revealing that he, prior to her death, had shown Mara Wilson's mother the final cut of the film four months prior to its release so she could watch her daughter's performance. They would even dedicate the movie to honor her. After 40 years of marriage, he would separate from his wife, but it was revealed by Perlman in 2019 on Andy Cohen that they have become closer friends after their separation, which again...GOAT behavior. To say the least the man has lived a LIFE with over 50 years of experience in the industry, DeVito has brought over 50 iconic characters and has gain a mass following because of it. A prime example of his influence was following the Japanese release of the Nintendo 3DS game Detective Pikachu, dedicated Pokémon fans submitted a 40,000-signature petition requesting that DeVito be the English voice actor for the title character. 

So, who are you picking? The Sky Daddy who's influenced centuries of human civilizations or the 80yr old chill guy who voiced the Lorax and gave us Matilda?

p.s don't take this essay seriously