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Why Bill Maher Gets a “C” in My Introduction to Religion Class…

By S. Brent Rodriguez Plate

…minate your life, and find what it is you’re missing.” It’s not a terribly complex or comprehensive answer, but offers a distinct alternative to the God-haunted, belief-oriented versions of religion offered by my C-grade student named Bill. Bill gets this low grade because his definition of religion appears to have been culled solely from Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary in which religion is essentially defined, in solid US-Protestant style…

An Immigrant’s Tale: The Pull of the Homeland

By Shabana Mir

…e degrees of borderland. In the homeland, or the heartland, you can wander comfortably without asking as many questions. Sure, the heartland is often but sparsely dotted with reflexive questions about identity and praxis. The borderlands are characterized by more self-doubt and more humility. But oh, so much less comfort … ! How ironic, we immigrants sigh to ourselves, that we can turn on the tap to clean water at whatever temperature we like, but…

The Sacred and the Dead: The Trouble with Sugar Magnolia

By Kaya Oakes

…r “Ripple” conversation, and today, there are hundreds of Dead songs on my phone and dozens of live recordings in playlists, even a nod when I see a Deadhead sticker on a car. I am a relapsed Catholic, and thanks to my friend, I am also a repentant Deadhead. Dear Jesus, let me confess: I even wear Birkenstocks. Shannon. Deadshow, Deadhead. Dominquez Hills, 1990. Photo by ChasM3/https://www.flickr.com/photos/chasm3/ “Sugar Magnolia,” however, still…

Godly Game or Godless Satire? Countering Biblical Ignorance with Heretical Humor

By Betsy Shirley

…the Old Testament because they’re long and boring…” Here pauses. “Granted, Numbers is like…” “I like Numbers, but anyway…” mumbles Caleb. “The real impetus for the game,” Thomas resumes, “is to get people to engage in Scripture and read stories they’ve never read before. When a concubine is cut up into twelve pieces, that imagery is really offensive. But a lot of people didn’t even know that story existed in the Bible.” I suspect they’re right; re…

Krapp’s Last Tweet: The Rise (and Fall?) of Privilege in the Digital Economy

By Kevin Healey

…s other co-branded initiatives like Infiniti Red Bull Racing, the namesake company commodified Stratos by offering merchandise including t-shirts, hats, and backpacks. The mission yielded “tens of millions of dollars in global exposure” for the brand in what was “perhaps the greatest marketing stunt of all time.” Forbes notes that “another winner came out of Sunday’s jump besides Red Bull: the Internet”—more specifically YouTube, which broke its o…

On Whistleblowing, MLK, Jr., and the Politics of Resistance in the Digital Age

By Kevin Healey

…ers’ actions defaulted to “public,” Mark Zuckerberg said that people had become comfortable with openness and sharing, and Facebook had simply “decided that these would be the social norms now.” Confusing privacy policies, and rhetoric extolling the benefits of data disclosure amount to a form of coercion that undermines the basic principle of consent. The Sexual Politics of Disclosure Let’s focus on a key statement by Google CEO Eric Schmidt: “If…

A Comedy Writer Confronts ‘Mind-Shredding Evil’ in Uganda

By Frederick Clarkson

…tural omniscience because he always knows exactly when the Ugandan Army is coming, in what numbers, and what kinds of weapons they are carrying. Indeed. The occasional skirmish not withstanding, Kony has apparently enjoyed high-level assistance in sustaining his lifestyle while evading Ugandan troops ostensibly tasked with stopping him. Back in 1996, according to a document reprinted by Bussmann, the Ugandan and Sudanese governments knew exactly w…

The Sacred and the Dead: Operator, Can You Help Me?

By Maren Haynes

…connection, once burning with possibility and joy, began to cool, as cell phone calls dwindled and numbers eventually changed or were disconnected. As our shared realities drifted apart in their likeness, like Pigpen, I also turned to technologies that promised connection to try to tamp down the yearning and temper that sense of loss. Where Pigpen called up the trusty telephone operator, I did my pining alone, with only the camaraderie of a searc…

In the Aftermath of the “Himalayan Tsunami”

By Luke Whitmore

…any people have died but the number will probably be in the thousands. The numbers may be low compared to global-scale disasters of recent years, but there is a wrenching poignancy to what is happening in Uttarakhand right now. Many of the forces that frame daily life in South Asia are suddenly on display like a raw wound: the wages of development and globalization, the power of the natural world, divine agency, altruism, self-interest, and the po…

Burning Man: Religious Event or Sheer Hedonism?

By Lee Gilmore

…llar annual budget is funded almost exclusively by ticket sales, and these tickets are not cheap (ranging this year, for example, from $210-$300 depending on time of purchase). This pays for the basic infrastructure as well as expenses like a hefty per-person/per-day use fee charged by the Bureau of Land Management. In addition, a significant portion of each year’s budget is set aside to fund many of the large-scale art installations various parti…