KHA image Kissing Hank’s @$$ Paper KHA film link (contains profanity): https://w
KHA image
Kissing Hank’s @$$ Paper
KHA film link (contains profanity):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaFZQBb2srM Links to an external site.
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Text of KHA: http://www.jhuger.com/kissing-hanks-ass Links to an external site.
A version of KHA with no profanity: http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/kiss-hanks-butt.250292787/ Links to an external site. Links to an external site.
Kissing Hank’s Ass is an allegorical critique of revelation (Revelation is something that is revealed by God(s) or other supernatural forces to humans).
Most major religions began with some person or people allegedly having direct contact with God(s). The god(s) then reveal some information and/or rules to these people. (In other words, the god(s) are not hidden at this time, but show themselves to at least one person.) However, after that time, all new converts to that religion are presented only with a text/transcript of the initial interaction. (For example, Abraham spoke with God directly, but now people learn about what happened only via the Torah or Bible; Hindus learn through the Vedas and Upanishads, Muslims learn through the Koran, etc.)
Thomas Paine, one of America’s founding fathers and author of Common Sense, wrote a famous critique of revelation:
Revelation is necessarily limited to the first communication– after that it is only an account of something which that person says was a revelation made to him; and though he may find himself obliged to believe it, it can not be incumbent on me to believe it in the same manner; for it was not a revelation made to ME, and I have only his word for it that it was made to him. [Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason]
Basically, he felt revelation was hearsay to everyone beyond the person who allegedly spoke to God directly.
The film KHA includes 11 rules made by Hank:
From the Desk of Karl
Kiss Hank’s butt and He’ll give you a million dollars when you leave town.
Use alcohol in moderation.
Kick the crap out of people who aren’t like you.
Eat right.
Hank dictated this list Himself.
The moon is made of green cheese.
Everything Hank says is right.
Wash your hands after going to the bathroom.
Don’t use alcohol.
Eat your wieners on buns, no condiments.
Kiss Hank’s butt or He’ll kick the crap out of you.
Several criticisms of revelation are made in this film. They include:
A: What verification do we get that a reward (rule 1) or punishment (rule 11) is actually given?
B: All revealed texts were written by men, not the divine authority/God itself. How do we know they were truly divinely inspired, and not just the inventions of these men… or if they really were divinely inspired, how do we know that the men did not make mistakes? (Rule 5)
C: The texts contain contradictions (rule 2 vs rule 9)
D: The texts contain statements that we know are not factually true if interpreted literally (rule 6)
E: The texts themselves claim they are infallible, but at most this can be true of only one of the religions based on revelation. (rule 7)
F: The texts seem to prohibit some arbitrary behavior (rule 10) which does not appear to be immoral
G: The texts seem to condone/approve of behavior which seems immoral (rule 3)
H: The texts all condone some self-evident moral behavior that nearly all cultures condone (rules 2, 4, 8); believers use the inclusion of these as evidence that the entire text must be true/moral.
I: Disagreement about whether to believe the texts can lead to conflict between people who might otherwise be friends (end of the film).
ASSIGNMENT: Write (about 500 words) and discuss any three different criticisms of revelation from the KHA film.
Be sure to include:
The KHA criticism and their corresponding rules.
A concrete example of a verse or practice from any of the world’s major religions which illustrates the criticism (You may use any religion–current or extinct!).
Finally, pick at least one criticism and provide what you think is the best rebuttal to KHA’s critique. (You only need to this part on one of the three critiques, but you may choose to do it on more of them if you wish.)
For example, one criticism you may note is between:
Critique F: The revelatory texts often seem to prohibit some arbitrary behavior (rule 10) which does not seem to be immoral.
KHA’s rule #10 (Eat your wieners on buns, no condiments), and…
The Orthodox Jewish belief that you cannot eat shellfish (from Leviticus 11: 9-12 Links to an external site.). In modern society, many people who are Jewish or Christian do not believe eating shrimp is evil.
A possible rebuttal: Why might the Torah (and Old Testament of the Bible) have prohibited shellfish? One reason is that shellfish tend to spoil faster than most other forms of meat, and in the middle east–an area known for its warm climate–in 1,000 bc (before the invention of refrigerators or freezers) it was wise to avoid these foods. (Note: You may not use this example in your paper!)
KHA Rubrik
Item
Points
References (Actual Bible/Koran/etc versus listed along with a link to said verses)
15
Mechanics (Grammar, spelling, wordcount, organized)
20
Rebuttal (Was one rebuttal included and relevant?)
15
Examples’ relevance (Were the examples of the KHA critique in fact related to them?)
30
Timely submission
10
Submitted in textbox (not an attachment)
10
TOTAL