The Top 10 (Non-Religious) Religious Films of 2017
Cinema and religion are never far apart—both bring light to darkened places. Sometimes the illumination…
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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.
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For Some of Us, the Biggest Religious Event of 2016 Was the Gilmore Girls Revival
The Internet functions as a sort of midway point between the personal and the public: you can be part of a community of fans, and yet you don’t have to bare the depths of your soul.
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The Meaning of Make Believe (Why Religion Doesn’t Have to Be “Real”)
When I was in fifth or sixth grade my father bought me a King James…
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Why Belief in the Primacy of Language Leads to a Misunderstanding of Richard Dawkins, Islamophobia, and Politics
Like marijuana, affect theory seems to pop at parties.
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Religion without God: “Cults,” Pious Atheists, and Our Own Human Bodies
Tired old Protestant-inflected definitions of “religion” are losing hold in diverse Western nations. And it’s about time.
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Photo of a Dying Man: All the Wrong Reasons
Without the framing device of community, without any context in which to shape the interpretation of the events, such images become simply sensational, the prick of pain without the moral payoff.
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Photo of a Dying Man: The Journalist’s Job
We rely on a journalist to just stand by—it’s a practical act of witness: while you report the story you stand in the presence, neither blinking nor stepping up.
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Should the Post Have Published Photo of Subway Victim?: Two Opinions
Is it simply a part of the conflicted role of the journalist or does the photo’s work as cultural catharsis ignore the specific agony of the victim’s loved ones?
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The Princess Bride: Royal Weddings for Everyone
Unromantic as it may sound, the celebration of the transformative power of consumption seems to be part of the magic of the wedding day for many women. On this day I am more beautiful, elegant, and radiant than any other. On this day everything is perfect and lavish and matching. A real-life royal wedding, televised and celebrated by millions, represents and encapsulates this magic. It might be tempting for some to argue that the wedding-as-princess-pageant represents a secularization of the marriage rite. But the truth is that the celebration of consumption, the acting-out of the princess ritual, is its own expression of what has become sacred.
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