Christianity-Lite, in 140 Characters or Fewer?
From pew to pixel; does the virtual fulfillment of religious sentiments disorient or does it lead to more “real” forms of participation?
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Christian Punk Meets American Pop; Evangelicals in the ’Burbs
How did Christianity become so commercial? Is religious punk rock an oxymoron? The author of a new book on suburban evangelicalism and Christian heavy metal shows how Christian youth culture has been commodified and sold to secular audiences.
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Pretty People, Shiny Clothes: Biblical Illiteracy in NBC’s Kings
Television fails once again to do justice to the complexity of biblical narrative.
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Divine Inspiration: Kings Works Wonders
Drawn from the Bible, Kings takes a risk that pays off. Plus, we get Ian McShane.
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As Funny as the Times Will Allow: Obama on Late Night TV
The President tried to be funny on Jay Leno, and the joke fell flat. But it might be that this says more about us, his audience, than anything else.
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Milk: Hollywood Does Gay History
While Milk does much to revive the history of the gay liberation movement, it misses a few big opportunities.
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Pop-Eye: Meat The Wrestler
How did reviewers from the New York Times to Christianity Today miss the obvious religious references in this Oscar-nominated hit? Did they blink and reach for popcorn at the images of a tattooed Jesus Christ on Randy’s back, or was it more about the myth of modern individualism and body-soul dualism?
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Super Bowl Sunday, American Holy Day
Indignant responses to the Janet Jackson nipple slip and the somber post-9/11 halftime show reveal glimpses of the sanctity of this yearly ritual, but it’s also in the creation of icons, the reinforcement of rules, and Americans telling themselves stories about themselves.
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Heterosexual With Issues: Haggard’s Self-Hate
Former pastor Ted Haggard is desperate for redemption, but he can’t do the one thing that might make it possible—admit and accept that he’s gay.
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“Godly Or Bad?”: The Return of Ted Haggard
There’s something about American evangelical life that tends toward the production of these sex sagas and tonight’s HBO documentary on Haggard airs just as new dimensions of the sex scandal emerge.
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