By Christopher West Frustration, we might say, is part of the human condition; it is one aspect of our experience that never truly goes away—a rather frustrating fact(!)—but lingers on into the present. Several years ago, Rowan Williams, then Archbishop of Canterbury, was quick to point this out, while delivering his homily during the eucharistic…
Evil and the Bat, Part Three: The Meaning of THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE
By Raymond Lam (Read Part Two of this blog series here) In this third and final exploration of Batman and the “theology” constructed by Grant Morrison over the decade of 2008–18, we dive into The Return of Bruce Wayne (RBW) (2010), one of Morrison’s finest Batman works and one that elevated the idea of Bruce Wayne to…
Matthew Brake: Guest Blogger
Hello everyone! I was recently asked by my friend and fellow TheoCon planning member, Miss Whitis, to write a guest blog for her site. I told her “yes” even as I grew nervous about what to write about. Then I thought, “Why not stick with what know?” So I wrote about Pop Culture. More specifically,…
EXTENDED Call for Papers: Theology and Breaking Bad
***The original call for papers has been extended until October 01, 2020! Call for Papers: Theology and Breaking Bad Editors: David K. Goodin, McGill University, School of Religious Studies david.goodin@mcgill.ca; George Tsakiridis, South Dakota State University george.tsakiridis@sdstate.edu Abstract and CV Due: October 01, 2020 “Say my name!” The moral universe of the era-defining AMC neo-Western crime…
Nostalgics, Progressives, and Hope for the Future in VAN HELSING
By Brandon Basse In Van Helsing, the familiar humanity versus vampire trope receives a new twist. The series takes place in the near future where the long dormant Yellowstone supervolcano erupts and the ensuing ash obscures the sun enough for vampires to come out during the day. This allows vampires to take over large portions…
Chromatica is the Song of the Exiled
By Taylor Ott As a long-time Lady Gaga stan, one of the most interesting things to me about Gaga’s music has always been the way in which her Catholic background provides context and language for so much of her work. Sometimes it is a prominent part of the subject material, sometimes it shows up in…
The Sectarian Review Interviews Hood Scholar (Dr. Travis Harris)!
Hello Everyone! Many of you have heard of the Sectarian Review podcast before. The host, Danny Anderson, has written some pieces for us (see an example here), and has often featured our work on his show. Recently, he had Dr. Travis Harris (“Hood Scholar”) on to talk about his work in on Hip Hop, Religion,…
Reading Religious Texts as a “Cinematic Universe”
By Jake Doberenz Cinematic universes are becoming more and more a part of our movie watching experience. Vast movie series sharing storylines, characters, and whole mythological worlds are the latest cash grab storytelling tactic to hit the big screens. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, clearly the most famous cinematic universe in existence right now, has a whopping…
Rape and Consent in Genesis 34 and RED TENT: Part One
By Princess O’Nika Auguste We have been told the story of Dinah and how she was defiled by a Canaanite prince. However, in the popular culture hit miniseries, Red Tent, it was portrayed as a love story. A brutal rape has been turned into a romantic fairytale. It was highly unlikely for Dinah to have…
Love, Home, and Dissonance in THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO
By Alex Sosler Jimmie Fails IV overhears two upwardly mobile, white girls contemplating a move to East LA out of this “dead city.” “Excuse me,” he interrupts, “You can’t hate San Francisco.” He asks, “Do you love it? … You don’t get to hate it unless you love it.” The recent film The Last Black…
Pop Culture and Theology 