Articles tagged "religion"

Books Review

Believer, Beware, ed. by Jeff Sharlet and Peter Manseau

by Oliver Ho

[9.Sep.09] :. How does a person live with the concepts of religious belief or non-belief without falling prey to fundamentalism or intolerance, or simply feeling foolish?

Recent Book reviews

Film DVD Review

Audience of One

by Shaun Huston

[31.Aug.09] :. Director Michael Jacobs resists simplifying his subject, leaving viewers to come to their own conclusions about pastor Richard Gazowky, who he is, and why he wants to make his movie.

Recent DVD reviews

Books Review

The Evolution of God by Robert Wright

by Michael Patrick Brady

[4.Aug.09] :. In Wright's view, biological evolution is an engine for the development of higher intelligence, which contrasts with the more traditional, scientific view that higher intelligence is merely a lucky break in a chaotic and complicated process.

Recent Book reviews

Column: Dread Reckoning

Something to Do with Death

by Marco Lanzagorta

[6.Jan.09] :. By manipulating mankind’s fear of death, organized religion clearly emerges as the most ruthless and totalitarian authority institution in the history of the world.

Recent columns

Books Review

Fault Lines by Nancy Huston

by Diane Leach

[8.Dec.08] :. Erra’s childish recounting of body parts that grow and those that don’t, including a count of her own lost baby teeth, is a rare moment where the narrator truly is only six.

Recent Book reviews

Books Review

Love Marriage by V. V. Ganeshananthan

by Shyam K. Sriram

[6.Nov.08] :. At the intersection of works on nationalism, cultural identity, and Sri Lankan history, stands this humble book -- part family history, part war memoir.

Recent Book reviews

Religion on prime-time TV? Now it’s mostly the Gospel According to Cable

by Neal Justin [Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (MCT)]

[15.Oct.08] :. Network television has long believed in the teachings of teenage vampire slayers, talking cars, bionic crime fighters and planet-hopping ambassadors, but has had little faith in one otherwise...

Bill Maher hopes to get people thinking with his tirade against organized religion

by Roger Moore [The Orlando Sentinel (MCT)]

[2.Oct.08] :. ORLANDO, Fla.—Never let it be said that Bill Maher ran away from a fight. The comic and cultural critic is famous for questioning and ridiculing America’s sacred cows. With his new film,...

Pop Culture: Finding Meaning and Purpose in the Neighborhood

by Rev. Doug Gebhard

[23.Jul.08] :. Whether intentionally spiritual or not, popular culture and its products serve many of the same drives of religion: making meaning and forging the bonds of community.

“Swiper, No Swiping!”: The Demonology of Dora the Explorer

by Dennis P. Quinn

[1.Jul.08] :. With his moral ambiguity, ritualistic expulsions, and trickster ways, Dora the Explorer's Swiper is an archetypal image of the diabolical fox-spirit in the history of religions -- which might be an unacknowledged lesson for children.

The Word of God by Thomas M. Disch

by Erik Hinton

[27.Jun.08] :. This reads as if Italo Calvino was somewhat slow and raised on MTV, but had tried to write If on a winter’s night a traveler …” , anyway.

Stairway to heaven is paved with books

by Carlin Romano [The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT)]

[23.Apr.08] :. He never left. God, that is. From your local bookstore shelves. Last year, you heard a lot about atheism chic. Richard Dawkins continued to pummel him in “The God Delusion.” Sam Harris...

A Heaven of Others by Joshua Cohen

by Patrick Schabe

[3.Apr.08] :. Though Jonathan spends much of the story reflecting on his life on Earth, the afterlife he encounters is peppered with dangers that are amorphous and beyond anything to do with the living, including religious beliefs

The Spiritual Brain by Mario Beauregard and Denyse OLeary

by Bryan Appleyard [The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT)]

[23.Oct.07] :. As a guide to the war zone from the antimaterialist perspective, it's a valuable read.

Reporting On Religion

by Jillian Burt

[25.Sep.07] :. Faith or fact? The symbolism of religion conveyed by journalism.

The Preacher and the Presidents by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy

by John Mark Eberhart [McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)]

[14.Sep.07] :. The result is a hypnotic read about the turbulent nature of public life.

A Darwin Descends on Dover ID Trial: Conversation and Criticism with Matthew Chapman

by Lyra Pappin

[26.Jul.07] :. Chapman's latest book, 40 Days and 40 Nights succeeds in unearthing optimism in America's roots and finds their original faith: Freedom.

God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens

by Chris Hedges [The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT)]

[10.Jul.07] :. Atheist polemic refuses to engage authentic religion.

The Atheists Bible by Joan Konner (Editor)

by Carlin Romano [The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT)]

[29.Jun.07] :. Consider The Atheist's Bible your atheism beach book, your big-A graphic novel, your "Atheism for Dummies," a slim book that permits you to feel like a high-achieving apostate every 20 seconds.

Mormons growing used to spotlight

by Gregory Hahn [McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)]

[27.Jun.07] :. BOISE, Idaho—Maybe Napoleon Dynamite was the tetherball-playing Trojan Horse. Folks in Mormon Country recognized the film’s Happy Hands Club and not-quite-cursing swear words—and...

Sinead O’Connor mounts a spiritually informed, low-key comeback

by Ben Wener [The Orange County Register (MCT)]

[26.Jun.07] :. Last Tuesday night, at the tiny, cramped Silent Movie Theatre in Los Angeles, Sinead O’Connor gave her first Southern California performance since her brief appearance at 1998’s Lilith...

The Physics of Christianity by Frank Tipler

by Bryan Appleyard [The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT)]

[19.Jun.07] :. Tulane professor thinks modern physics has confirmed Christianity -- from the Virgin Birth through the Turin Shroud and walking on water to the Resurrection -- in detail.

Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know—and Doesnt by Stephen Prothero

by Christopher Martin

[12.Jun.07] :. Religious Literacy provides a much-needed breath of fresh air to the ongoing discussion of religion’s role in contemporary culture.

The Mormons, two-part documentary airing on PBS

by Hal Boedeker [The Orlando Sentinel (MCT)]

[30.Apr.07] :. Religion rarely receives any time in prime time. So four hours devoted to Mormonism are going to stand out on the TV landscape. PBS’ The Mormons deserves the attention because the...

Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott

by Pamela Miller [Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (MCT)]

[10.Apr.07] :. Anne Lamott's quirky, intimate, outraged-liberal voice has been a breath of fresh air in the sometimes stuffy genre of modern Christian literature.