Olympic Ritual and Religion, Hosted by a Religion-less State
When the modern Olympic Games were revived they were imbued with a religious and ritualistic significance. How that will be handled by Communist China remains to be seen.
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Until the World Laughs with God
Mike Myers’s latest movie, plagued by interfaith protests, bad reviews, and a poor showing at the box office, makes us ask, once again, whether religion is allowed to be funny …
Read MorePost-Zionism or Post-Judaism?
The Zohan and Restless are significant as indicators of the current state of Zionism, but without engaging Jewish tradition and regional politics, they remain celluloid fantasies of sex and the city.
Read MoreMakers of Depopulation Doc Have a Past
Journalists should look more to the example of the Times, which recognizes the loaded arguments of dedicated culture warriors like the creators of Demographic Winter…
Read MorePraying Liberally Launches
The brand new branch of the Living Liberally tree seeks to build a grassroots religious left. Can local, leaderless cells build any coherent momentum?
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True Blood: When Marketing Goes For the Jugular
An HBO show about vampires in the rural South depends on “viral marketing” for its buzz. But some people resent the conflation of fact and fiction that this kind of advertising entails. And what of the new religious movement known as the Vampire Community?
Read MoreMuslim Voices Festival: Story-telling For a New Millennium
The story-telling tradition may be a dying art form but a performance by Mahmood Farooqi, with star-power lent by Naseeruddin Shah, made a strong case for the future.
Read MoreThe Death Obsession with RD’s Executive Editor
In this video from The Big Think, RD editor Gary Laderman discusses American attitudes toward death, youth and religion.
Read MoreThe Christian Century is Dead
What happens when the flagship vehicle for mainline Protestant voices starts to falter?
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Evangelical Stephen Baldwin’s Imitatio Christi & “Reality” TV
The initial rush of schadenfreude is gradually replaced with a genuine affection for the “good guys,” and righteous frustration at the machinations of the villains.
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