Church and State in Japan: The Case of the Yasukuni Shrine
Japan, in the throes of political and financial turmoil, is still dealing with the long-running controversy over a national shrine for WWII dead.
Read Morefilm
Pop-Eye: Global Jesus on Film
In this invitation to inter-cinematic dialogue, S. Brent Plate offers a Lenten season roundup of Jesus films from all across the world, and not a blue-eyed protagonist among them.
Read More
What Kind of A Church Can Prevent a Holocaust?
At a time when spokesmen for the church were asserting that Adolf Hitler’s rise to power was a ‘gift of God,’ a courageous woman tried to get her fellow Christians to act to save the Jews. A new film, Elisabeth of Berlin, tells her story through the voices of church leaders, historians, and those who knew her.
Read MoreLife as a Game Show: Reading Slumdog Millionaire
While the Oscar-nominated hit portrays very little religion, the underlying framework reveals a distinctly Hindu and Indian perspective.
Read More
Obamunism? The Traditional Values Coalition Coins a Term
Plus: Anti-abortion groups march on; Tony Perkins’ advice to Obama; Focus on the Family sets Newsweek straight; CPAC rides again; a boom in Christian films; and Training against the death penalty.
Read More
Doubt v. Predator: A Vatican II Parable
The film adaptation of this Pulitzer Prize-winning play, set in the midst of Vatican II, pits the age-old male hierarchy against the secrecy of the recent molestation scandals. And the winner is…
Read More
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 More
The Rage Behind Outrage
The director of a new documentary talks about Dick Cheney’s daughter, the arrogance of power, and the days when Republicans weren’t anti-gay.
Read More