Stephenie Meyer, Mormon Feminist?!
Welcome! Welcome! And imagine what could happen if the author of the Twilight series mixed in some consciousness-raising with the vampires!
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Christian Cults and Vampire Zombies: Stake Land is Scary and Smart
If bloodthirsty undead zombie action isn’t usually your thing, you might be temped to pass on Stake Land. But like Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later and Let the Right One In, the brilliant reworking of vampire tropes by Swedish novelist-screenwriter John Ajvide Lindqvist, Stake Land upends many of the expectations moviegoers are likely to bring to a genre film. It also makes grimly imaginative and occasionally audacious use of some of the religious and political themes threading through contemporary American culture.
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Palin Cries ‘Blood Libel’: Can Words Harm Us?
In a video released on her Facebook page, Sarah Palin insists that violent rhetoric plays no role in influencing actions while claiming that those condemning the use of angry rhetoric and images are themselves manufacturing a “blood libel” that may well “incite…violence.” So which is it?
Read MoreMasculine Christianity, Praying Ballplayers, & Satanist Discrimination
The Week in Religion, Poetically
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Magic v. Science: Doctor Who Part III
Episode 6: Vampires of Venice
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Your Hatred Will Make Me Famous
He threatens criminals and undocumented immigrants with impalement but he has ‘Republican values.’ Jonathon ‘The Impaler’ Sharkey’s declaration that he will seek the Republican nomination for president is just another human interest story for the media. But what does it say that his rhetoric and positions don’t deviate appreciably from the current level of discourse?
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Modern Vampires: Your Neighbors and Spouses
In studying the world of vampires, a young religion scholar is courted by MTV, forced to reckon with subtle energy (“psi”), and confronts the concerns of journalists who recall the disappearance of a colleague at work on a vampire story.
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True Blood: When Marketing Goes For the Jugular
An HBO show about vampires in the rural South depends on “viral marketing” for its buzz. But some people resent the conflation of fact and fiction that this kind of advertising entails. And what of the new religious movement known as the Vampire Community?
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