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Latest Blog Posts

• Evil That Men Do
  on Dec 20, 2016 in Books Current Events Literature Monsters Posts demons Election 2016 epilepsy Ewan Fernie Martin Luther The Demonic: Literature and Experience
  Theologians, for the most part, gave up studying demons a long while ago. With the advent of modern medical science, the descriptions of demonic possession in the New Testament seemed pretty clearly to be cases of epilepsy. Since people in … Co...
• The Naked Truth
  on Dec 19, 2016 in Current Events Feminism Posts Social Consciousness Donald Trump Eleanor Roosevelt Election 2016 Psycho Vladimir Putin
  As my regular readers know, I’m struggling. The shock is palpable. Even over a month and a half later, I still keep going over in my head the many, many reasons why Trump can’t be elected and wake up in … Continue reading →...
• My Stranger’s Keeper
  on Dec 18, 2016 in Current Events Environment Memoirs Posts Social Consciousness Weather altruism kindness selfishness
  He was a bearded young man, maybe in his twenties. He kind of reminded me of my own youth, only cooler. I was at a stop sign on a snow-covered hill with tires honestly a little more worn than they … Continue reading →...
• Identity Crisis
  on Dec 17, 2016 in Higher Education Memoirs Posts academia editor Geocaching Groundhog Day New York City Port Authority Bus Terminal
  It’s starting to feel like Groundhog Day. The movie, I mean. As a child I was taught never to talk to strangers, but that’s a little hard to maintain in New York City. You’re never really alone there. Standing in … Continue reading →...
• Right to Remain Silent
  on Dec 16, 2016 in Current Events Posts Social Consciousness Dostoyevsky Election 2016 Matryoshka dolls media Putin Russia
  My daughter has a set of nesting Russian dolls. “Matryoshka dolls,” as they are known, fit one inside the other so when you open one you find another inside. Just when you think you’ve reached the last one, you see … Continue reading U...
• American Possession
  on Dec 15, 2016 in Current Events Monsters Movies Posts Religious Violence Science Social Consciousness demons Exorcism of Emily Rose post-truth science and religion supernatural
  Exorcism seems an especially appropriate trope these days. Embedded evil has to be faced squarely and forced out before it kills its host. I recently rewatched The Exorcism of Emily Rose. This is a most unusual horror film in that … Continue re...
• Making Believe
  on Dec 14, 2016 in Consciousness Current Events Posts Social Consciousness Brexit Election 2016 emotion Evolution insanity Pirate Party rationalization Ronald Reagan
  Sanity is always temporary. I can say that because we all know that no one acts rationally all the time. Our brains evolved (or were created, if you roll that way) for the simple purpose of survival, not reason. Reasoning, … Continue reading &#...
• Engendering Fear
  on Dec 13, 2016 in Books Current Events Feminism Movies Popular Culture Posts Social Consciousness and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film Carol J. Clover final girl gender horror movies Mary Poppins Men women
  We live in fear. At this point in history, it seems, with good reason. Horror films, apart from being considered low art, teach us to deal with some of these fears. I hadn’t been reading about the genre for very … Continue reading →...
• Surfeit of Ego
  on Dec 12, 2016 in Current Events Evolution Posts Social Consciousness Bill Clinton Donald Trump ethics morality Pope selfishness Tony Alamo
  In a world with finite resources, many commodities are in short supply. One clear overabundance is that of ego. We’ve seen that clearly in the long, long months of this year’s political campaign and the single month since then. Running … Co...
• Stand Up
  on Dec 11, 2016 in Current Events Natural Disasters Posts Social Consciousness Civil Rights democracy human rights politics post-truth post-truth politics
  At first glance, we had little in common. In fact, of all the people in the room the only one I knew was my wife. We were gathered together to find ways to defend ourselves against our government. Those who … Continue reading →...
• What You Eat
  on Dec 10, 2016 in Britannia Civil Religion Popular Culture Posts Religious Violence Sects Social Consciousness Atlas Obscura Christianity Ichabod Crane Natalie Zarrelli sin eater Sleepy Hollow
  The future of Sleepy Hollow is uncertain. The successful FOX television program has suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous scheduling over the past year and speculation abounds that the current fourth season may be its last. It has been, …...
• Publishing Weakly
  on Dec 9, 2016 in Bibliolatry Books Current Events Posts Religious Violence Sects Social Consciousness AAR/SBL Election 2016 Emma Koonse InterVarsity Press Lynn Garrett Publisher's Weekly
  Those of you who aren’t professional religionists might not understand the cultural impact of the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature annual meeting. Every November a largish city (New York and Los Angeles are too expens...
• Somewhere out There
  on Dec 8, 2016 in Astronomy Current Events Environment Posts Science Social Consciousness colonization Election 2016 environmentalism space travel Stephen Hawking The Washington Post Wall-e
  If last month’s election taught us anything it’s that nobody really knows anything. For many years now I’ve been saying that the sign of an educated person is s/he admits how little s/he knows. Socrates may have beat me to … Continue read...
• Monsters and Men
  on Dec 7, 2016 in Books Current Events Monsters Movies Popular Culture Posts Dreadful Pleasures: An Anatomy of Modern Horror Gothic fiction horror films James B. Twitchell
  Horror films are something you either “get” or you don’t. I have no empirical evidence for that, but then again, “getting” is hardly a precise verb. In my recent desire to find some explanation for my own fascination with the … Contin...
• December Demons
  on Dec 6, 2016 in Current Events Monsters Movies Posts demons Election 2016 exorcism Satan The Exorcist
  Conversations with friends, inevitably, turn to the fiasco this country faces with Donald Trump. My response, apart from attempting a measure of optimism and combativeness, often involves escapism. Regular readers know that I watch horror movies. The...
• Hoping for Light
  on Dec 5, 2016 in Astronomy Civil Religion Current Events Holidays Posts Social Consciousness Advent astronomy Christmas George W. Bush light materialism
  Although the stores have been playing Christmas music for some weeks now, it is technically Advent. I think we could all use a little Advent as days grow shorter and dark nights increase their influence over our lives. As a … Continue reading &...
• Protest Reading
  on Dec 4, 2016 in Books Civil Religion Current Events Holidays Literature Posts Advent Banned Book Advent calendar banned books literacy prejudice reading in public Twitter
  In these days of bold ignorance, reading in public is an act of resistance. A world that follows the uninformed to perdition requires those who stand as witnesses. Those who read. As a cabinet of the wealthiest people in the … Continue reading...
• The Wicked Man
  on Dec 3, 2016 in Classical Mythology Current Events Feminism Goddesses Movies Popular Culture Posts Religious Violence Social Consciousness 2006 Celtic Mythology misogyny New Religious Movements The Wicker Man
  I confess, it was a moment of weakness. Or I could say that it was dedication to research. In either case, I subjected myself to watching the remake of the 1973 classic, The Wicker Man. The reviews that I’ve read … Continue reading →...
• Fear of the Artificial
  on Dec 2, 2016 in Consciousness Current Events Memoirs Popular Culture Posts Robotics artificial intelligence Battle Bots FIRST Robotics robot science and religion
  As someone who dedicated four years—particularly long winter nights—to the cause of high school robotics, I found myself knowing quite a bit before I walked into the room. Now let me post a disclaimer here: I’m no techie. I’ve studied …...
• Mark of the Beast
  on Dec 1, 2016 in Bible Bibliolatry Books Current Events Popular Culture Posts Religious Violence Sects Social Consciousness Antichrist Christianity Election 2016 Fundamentalism Hal Lindsey Naming the Antichrist: The History of an American Obsession Revelation Robert Fuller Roman Empire The Omen
  I grew up believing in “the Antichrist.” As I came to realize that much of the New Testament pointed to contemporary problems (for them) with the Roman Empire and that what appeared to be predictions were actually safe ways to … Continue re...