Pentecostal Prayer Gangs: New Film Documents Religion in a Brazilian Prison
People make a lot of assumptions about prisoners’ faith that just aren’t accurate.
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How Muslim Civic Activism Helped Pass California’s Prop 47
California mostly defied the rightward national trend in this week’s midterm elections. The victory of Proposition…
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Christian Cults and Vampire Zombies: Stake Land is Scary and Smart
If bloodthirsty undead zombie action isn’t usually your thing, you might be temped to pass on Stake Land. But like Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later and Let the Right One In, the brilliant reworking of vampire tropes by Swedish novelist-screenwriter John Ajvide Lindqvist, Stake Land upends many of the expectations moviegoers are likely to bring to a genre film. It also makes grimly imaginative and occasionally audacious use of some of the religious and political themes threading through contemporary American culture.
Read MoreHomophobic Uganda a “Purpose-Driven Nation”?
An experiment in right-wing Christian social thought, Uganda is poised to pass anti-gay legislation. Will the US Senate leverage its weight in opposition?
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Animal Sacrifice and Sexuality in Santería
In the wake of a religious freedom victory, scholar Salvador Vidal-Ortiz discusses the concepts of “newborns,” “wives,” and the role of gays and lesbians in Santería.
Read MoreWhatever, Dude: Downloading the Nones
A few gamers call for a boycott of an Xbox title designed by a well-known gay rights opponent. Most are unfazed.
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Battlestar Galactica and the Future of American Religion
What does a sci-fi hit have to tell us about ancient Greek theater and today’s electronically-inflected cultural landscape?
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Its the Spiritual Economy, Stupid: Why the Gay Marriage Fracas Isn’t About Either
Why would Christian conservatives yoke the future of their movement to an unpopular issue?
Read MorePuritan Narcissus: The Myth of American Exceptionalism
An inflated sense of purpose seems to be part of the American genome…
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Stonewall of the “Nones”: The Revolution Won’t be Homogenized
What would “a tranny hustler,” peeking through a rip in the stocking of space-time, think of our world 40 years later? What will the next Consciousness Revolution look like?
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