By David Tassell “I wish we had our own MacLaren’s pub!” Fans of How I Met Your Mother are likely to resonate with this sentiment. After several seasons, something about the familiar central place for the whole gang to meet and Barney’s antics to flourish becomes an attractive ideal for 20- and 30- somethings and…
Author: matthewbrake84
Sorry to Bother You…But We Need a Prophet
By Fr. Linh Hoang Sorry to bother you is a statement that polite telemarketers say when customers answer their phones. It is a way to get your attention and draw you into their sales pitch. Sorry to Bother Youis also a movie about Cassius Green an unemployed, black Oakland, California resident who lands a telemarketing job….
Become Ocean’s Spiritual Frontier
By Sam Bennett Born in Mississippi and raised amid California’s suburban sprawl, composer John Luther Adams lived for forty years in Alaska. Not just a vague source of inspiration, he intended to produce a translation in sound of Alaska’s surrounding environment. His most celebrated attempt is the symphony Become Ocean (2013). A key element of…
Islamic Arts and “Arabian Nights Mode”
By Fatima Hye As a Muslim in America, I always felt that there was a rift in our community. Either you were a practicing Muslim, and therefore had zero interest in the arts, or you engaged in the arts, but weren’t very practicing. In my view, this issue (that other faith-based communities sometimes face as well:…
Call for Papers: Theology and the Marvel Universe
Call for Papers: Theology and the Marvel Universe Editor: Gregory Stevenson (gstevenson@rc.edu) Theology and Pop Culture is currently seeking contributions for a potential edited volume from Rowman and Littlefield on the intersection of theology and the Marvel Universe. Essays may focus on comic books/graphic novels, film, and television/streaming series. Essays should be written for academics,…
Chaos and Order in the Works of Grant Morrison
By Abigail Bilby Religious scholars argue that the battle between chaos and order has been in existence since before humans were able to conceive of it (Mobley p. 16). Ever since their arrival, humans have carried an obsession with the idea of chaotic beings and events existing in direct conflict with what is considered to…
Sidebar: Everyday Evil and the Visions of 616 Hickory Branch Lane
From our friend Rev. Samuel Blair over at The Chaplain’s Report: “The fatal flaw of the Vision in creating his family and trying to live a normal life is that that he did not see how much evil there was in normal life. The Vision, he recounts to himself, has saved the world 37 times….
EXTENDED Call for Papers: Theology and Game of Thrones
Call for Papers: Theology and Game of Thrones Theology and Pop Culture extending the deadline for abstracts to AUGUST 1 for a potential volume on the work of George R.R. Martin and the world of Game of Thrones. Essays should be written for academics, but avoid “jargon” to be accessible for the layperson. Potentials ideas…
Kingdom Hearts and Learning to Walk in the Dark
By Corey Patterson Right before the start of E3 this year, we were granted with the release date of the much-anticipated Square Enix game Kingdom Hearts 3: January 29, 2019. The franchise has received a massive influx of fans with the multiple installments throughout the years, and it’s showing no sign of coming down. I…
Rick and Morty, the Viability of Religion, and Experiencing the Sacred (or: Show Me What You Got!)
By Matthew William Brake In the episode “Get Shwifty” of Rick and Morty, the acclaimed Adult Swim show known for its sci-fi adventures and nihilistic brand of humor, a giant head (known as a “cromulon”) appears in the sky above Earth with one simple demand: “SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!” This challenge ultimately involves Earth…
Pop Culture and Theology 