In Defense of AVATAR: Or Why Mark Driscoll Just Doesn’t Get It
February 26, 2010
Yesterday, a friend directed me to an article about a recent sermon by Mark Driscoll (pastor of Mars Hill Church) in which he called Avatar “the most demonic, satanic film I’ve ever seen.” Check out my response after the jump. [Read more]
The Earthquake in Haiti, God, and the Arbitrariness of Life
January 15, 2010
By now, most people are just as familiar with Pat Robertson’s interpretation of the Haitian earthquake as they are with the natural disaster itself. Yesterday, I came across two other theological responses to the quake, one by Al Mohler that is almost as offensive as Robertson’s and another by Paul Raushenbush that is somewhat more appealing to me. The responses to Raushenbush’s response are just as compelling as the article itself, as many non-religious readers responded with vitriol, asking where the supposedly omniscient and omnipotent Christian God was in the face of such a tragedy. Clearly, in many different ways, theodicy is at the forefront of our popular theology in these tragic days. In a recent review of Life.Support.Music., I referenced the question, “Is God as Arbitrary as Life?,” that was posed to the theologians at the Transforming Theology conference last spring. We have finally uploaded the video and you can check it out after the jump. You won’t agree with all of the answers (I certainly don’t), but they are deeply thoughtful and compassion alternatives to those of Pat Robertson and his ilk that, unfortunately, garner all the media attention. [Read more]
Some Thoughts on Broadcasting Worship…
September 18, 2009
While re-watching Frost/Nixon, I was struck by one of the opening lines of the film. Reflecting on the whole experience of interviewing Richard Nixon, James Reston, Jr. (Sam Rockwell) says of David Frost (Michael Sheen), “He understood television better than any of us.” I’ve been thinking more and more about the church in the digital age lately and wondering what the church could understand and do better. [Read more]
Michael Vick: On Judgement and Participation
August 18, 2009
Whenever pop culture icons exhibit bad behavior…behavior that would ruin the careers and lives of us average folk…the social commentators inevitably talk about how America is a forgiving culture. As time passes, society will forgive and forget, or at least the most recent scandal will occupy our attention. When the news story broke about Michael Vick’s involvement in a dog-fighting ring over a year ago, I thought that this would perhaps test the bounds of popular forgiveness. [Read more]
Anthea Butler on Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson
June 26, 2009
Religion Dispatches has an interesting article up this morning entitled “When the Gods Die: Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett Take the 70s With Them” by Anthea Butler. Butler is Assistant Professor of Religion at the University of Rochester and teaches in the areas of African American religious history, American religious history, and women and gender studies. Follow the link after the jump. [Read more]
R.I.P. K.o.P.
June 25, 2009
Unless you’re working the night shift and have just woken up for work, you probably already know that Michael Jackson, the self-proclaimed King of Pop, died earlier this afternoon of a heart attack. Since his passing, the cable news networks have been debating his place in music history: who is greater Elvis, The Beatles, or Michael Jackson? This is a fruitless debate. What matters is that he was an incomparable entertainer whose influence cannot fully be measured just yet. At the same time, few artists or celebrities have been as controversial. Today is not the time to criticize or judge but to celebrate an amazing artist whose music brought joy to millions upon millions of lives. Videos after the jump. What’s your favorite Michael Jackson song and/or video? [Read more]
Pamela Blotner
June 10, 2009
Yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting a local artist, Pamela Blotner, works in sculpture, drawing, and illustrations. Hopefully, she’ll be offering some courses on religion/spirituality and the arts at the Graduate Theological Union through the Center for Arts and Religious Education in the near future. She occasionally teaches at Pixar as well. Check out some of her work after the jump.
Conversations With Barry Taylor, Part 3 & 4
June 3, 2009
Here are the final selections from my interview with Barry Taylor. In these videos, he discusses the fading sacred/secular divide in popular culture as well as atheistic sacrality and contemporary art. Good stuff. [Read more]
The (Super)Human Power of Forgiveness…and a New Website
May 26, 2009
A new interreligious website recently launched called Patheos. It’s a much needed concept that offers different religious perspectives on pressing issues. It has a host of lenses through which to compare different religious responses to both new and age old questions. For this week’s edition on the meaning of existence, I was asked to write a piece on what this year’s summer blockbuster releases might tell us about who we are or why we’re here. Follow the link after the jump to check out the article and browse the site while you’re there. [Read more]
Dwight Schrute is Flipping Pancakes…
May 3, 2009
Actually, Rainn Wilson has started up an interesting website called Soul Pancake that wants to “make discussions about Spirituality, Creativity, and Philosophy cool again.” The site encourages users to “Chew on Life’s Big Questions,” the ones that “gnaw at our innards.” My seminary professors referred to those as 3 a.m. questions…those that either kept you up until or woke you up at 3 in the morning. I’m especially interested in Soul Pancake because it explores the intersection of religion/faith/theology and art/creativity/beauty. Follow the link after the jump. [Read more]
Recent Comments