Heretical musings on religion and culture from a literary scholar
Procrastinating from work (which I always feel to be a colossal waste of my life, yet necessary to prolong it in comfort) I downloaded the Series Premiere of a new TV show called "Revolution". It's just beginning. It shows a modern family: toddler playing with an Ipad, daughter zoned out watching cartoons on a plasma screen, mother on her phone with daddy, and another pair of guys driving and sexting someone. Suddenly, all the power goes ...
I started writing this post a couple years ago as a response to a very silly book called "How to Profit from the coming Rapture". Here's the description: "Taking the familiar form of a how-to investment guide, HOW TO PROFIT FROM THE COMING RAPTURE instructs those readers who will certainly be left behind (Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, less ardent Protestants, and many more) on how to exploit the inevitable demise of the world in order ...
Rick Perry's political agenda summed up in 30 seconds: no gays in the military, open celebration of Christmas and prayer in schools, end Obama's "War on Religion" and restore America's "Religious Heritage". Shucks, that sounds pretty awesome for Christians. But wait! Good Christians believe we are in the end of times, and should be watching out for a potential Antichrist. Many people mistakenly believe the Antichrist will seem evil or be anti-religious or atheistic. Not True! ...
Apocalyptic fears may decide 2012 presidential election. The New York Times posted an article a few days ago by Matthew Avery Sutton called "Why the Antichrist Matters in Politics" which deserves comment. My liberal, educated, tolerant and open-minded friends and colleagues often don't understand the need to be critical of or cynical about religion. Why not allow everyone to believe what they want? Surely they aren't hurting anyone? The truth is that the religious right in ...
Today I watched the Smallville season 4 finale; then I went to see Transformers 3. It was interesting to find that they both feature the exact same story: a giant force is going to overtake earth and use all the people as slaves. One brave hero must find himself, defeat the threat, while at the same time protecting his romance. What's interesting, however, is the fact that Christianity - while sharing many of the same ...
If God was going to end the world ala Camping's May 21 2011 scenario, which time zone would he start in? It's already 1:20am here in Taiwan - which means the 21st has gone without so much as a storm or earthquake (both of which are common here). So for those of you in the US or Canada who are just waking up - spoiler alert - nothing special happens today. Some awesome things I've discovered online ...
Given the escalating series of natural disasters devastating various portions of the world in ever greater frequency and gravity, as well as Japan's recent earthquake and tsunami disaster, it would be no surprise to me if something similar happened here in Taiwan. In fact for weeks I've been asking my students whether they were prepared for such a natural disaster, whether they trusted the government's ability to respond to catastrophic devastation, and whether they felt ...
If you're interested in religious mythology, astrological symbolism, or supernatural folklore, grab my book Gods of Myth and Man. You can go buy it on Amazon.
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