‘Murder Among the Mormons,’ Latest True Crime Doc From Netflix, Highlights Issues of Faith, Skepticism, and Authenticity
Note on spoilers, etc: This essay covers the broad outlines of the Mark Hofmann forgery…
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Church of Pain: Religion, Ritual, and the Body in the New Serial Spin-Off, “S-Town”
A wildly popular podcast uses religion as its final reveal—a “church” devoted to the art of the tattoo, and to drunken discussion of the work of George Bataille.
Read MoreIn OK, a “Christian” And a “Muslim” Decapitation Challenge “Religious” Violence Narrative
Murder often functions as a cultural Rorschach test: the narratives we tell about why people…
Read MoreAnother Slender Man Attack?
This weekend, a second attack by a knife-wielding teenage girl was attributed to the online Slender Man mythos. While the attack could…
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Yes, the Navy Yard Shooter Was a Buddhist
Despite the fact that, like Buddhism, Islam prohibits murder, the two are treated quite differently when it comes to its adherents committing acts of violence.
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Mexico’s Own Satanic Panic
Mexico may have experienced its own “Manson moment” last month when eight devotees of “Santa Muerte” were arrested for the murder of three people, allegedly as human sacrifices. While the media has been fairly restrained in covering this event, these murders will likely have lasting consequences for alternative religion in North America. Like the Manson murders, the Santa Muerte murders present a concrete instance of violence that can be used to support much broader claims about the dangers of the religious and cultural Other.
Read MoreTrayvon Martin and American Exceptionalism
Can the exceptionalism that has shielded racism be used to defeat it?
Read MoreIf Trayvon Martin Were My Son, His Killer Would be in Jail Now
Trayvon, the Toulouse murders, and the sanctity of childhood.
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All Americans are Fat!
Okay, that’s not true. But neither are Rick Santorum’s claims about forced murder in the Netherlands.
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Death of a Self-Proclaimed God-Man: Sai Baba’s Controversial Career
Reflecting on Sai Baba’s life, one encounters moments of divine transformation, devotion, and public service as well as pain, death, and heinous accusations. Millions of devotees believed in and worshiped Sai Baba as a god-man, an avatar of God. Many also despised him as a charlatan, a sexual abuser, and even an accessory to murder.
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