Gay Country Star Chely Wright Finally Gets it Right
Another gay Christian reconciles their sexuality with their religion.
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Four Words, Three Chords, Two Hours—A Praise Music Primer
Praise music sucks, let’s just put that out there.
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Leper Messiah: A Jesus Freak’s Search for the Meaning of Bowie—A Critical Novella
In this special series Dery uses his spiritual crisis, as a born-again teen torn between his conservative faith and his obsession with David Bowie, to explore the historical connections linking religious zealotry and rabid fandom.
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The Transfiguration of the Fanboy: How I Lost One Leper Messiah, and Gained Another, The Conclusion
In the eighth and final installation of Mark Dery’s “critical novella” about a ’70s Jesus Freak who switches saviors (from J.C. to Ziggy), the author connects the dots between his devout Bowiephilia and what theologians call kenosis—the emptying out of the self to make room for the indwelling spirit of god.
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Make Way For The Homo Superior: How I Lost One Leper Messiah, and Gained Another, Part 6
In this sixth installment of Mark Dery’s cultural critique-cum-“nonfiction novella” about a born-again teen’s encounter with Ziggy Stardust, Dery traces the religious geneaology of Bowie’s spacefaring genderbender through Jesus to Orpheus (by way of Plato) and, ultimately, to Bacchus/Dionysus.
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The Church of Man-Love: How I Lost One Leper Messiah, and Gained Another, Part 7
In this, Part 7 of Mark Dery’s cultural critique-cum-“nonfiction novella” about a teenage Jesus Freak’s life-changing encounter with Ziggy Stardust, Dery considers the ancient, orgiastic, sometimes cannibalistic roots of all rock fandom—and, for that matter, Christianity.
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Bonnaroo Dispatches: Stages
This four-day rock fest in rural Tennessee is an endurance event, to be sure, but for many it is a makeshift spiritual retreat—a “vibrational healing ground.” The second in a three part series…
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Bonnaroo 3: With a Buzz in Our Ears
In which our intrepid writers let the ethereal sounds of Sigur Ros ripple and echo through them, and learn to speak “hopelandic.”
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Bonnaroo: The Meeting Ground
It’s not hedonistic abandon that draws folks to the rock fest, but something else…
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The Happening and the Gospel of Bruce Springsteen
M. Night Shyamalan’s much-maligned new movie sounds much more interesting if read as an extended argument for religious faith in general and intelligent design specifically.
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