Culture

Culture

Wojnarowicz’s Ant-Covered Jesus: Blasphemy or Religious Art?

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It doesn’t take much to realize the main theme of A Fire in my Belly is death. More specifically, it is the vulnerability, penetrability, and perpetually possible disintegration of the human body. This fleshly mortality became especially real to Wojnarowicz in the still emerging AIDS crisis of the time. Thus, by necessity it is a deeply human and deeply religious artwork. Which does not mean these images are pleasant and easy to look at. No warm and fuzzy pop spirituality this.

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Culture

For God or for Fame? The Making of a Teenage Bomber

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By repeatedly asking what was in his heart, the FBI seems to have, not only sought to establish intent, but assumed that Muslim militancy is directly related to religion. Moreover, its operative assumption about religion was an implicitly Protestant one which conceived religion as an inward experience (faith) rather than the more Islamic conception of religion as the moral standard by which people ought to be judged. While the FBI was trying to ascertain the intent of Mohamud’s heart, Mohamud himself, by FBI’s own account of events, appears to have been preoccupied with creating sensational headlines.

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Culture

2012 Film Heralds Progressive Utopia, No Effort Required

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Makers of a new film imagine 2012 as an idyllic time of peace, environmental stewardship, and equality. The documentary asserts that whatever happens in 2012, it will allow things like rooftop farms, bicycle culture, and other aspects of urban environmentalism to thrive. It sounds completely lovely. But film does not explain is why we must await the stroke of 2012 to start building this utopian vision.

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Culture

Plant Porn and Physics Prayers

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Artist Jonathon Keats feels there is a complete lack of curiosity on the part of the average person to ask the playful and profound questions at the heart of human existence. The hoi polloi wait, Keats laments, for the artist to tell us the meaning of their art, the scientist to tell us how the world works, and the religious leader to tell us right from wrong. We have become passive creatures. To help combat this lethargy, Keats has turned to pornography. It began a couple of years ago with plants—showing zinnias uncensored footage of explicit pollination acts—but now it has escalated to porn for God.

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Culture

Michael Vick Walks on Water: Updated

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From his jaw-dropping 88-yard touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson in the first few minutes of the game to what would be a record-breaking performance overall—333 yards thrown, four touchdowns, and a 59-28 blowout against the Washington Redskins—it was Vick’s name that the sportscasters kept coming back to, with awe in their voices. But without the chance to play pro football again and to fill a stadium with wonder, Vick would have been just another celebrity ex-con, not the miracle he’s now judged to be.

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Culture

Nonviolent Resistance in the West Bank: A Review of Budrus

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The positive reception of Budrus in the U.S. says a lot about the political climate today. The right-wing “pro-Israel” movement is going through a tough time. It has always built its public appeal on one simple narrative: Israel wants peace, but it must fight to ward off implacable violence from its enemies. Anything Israel does is justified because it’s in self-defense.

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