Imagine that a shark has a fish literally inside its jaws, but cannot bite down. Prayer is like that. It is like a “toxin” that makes you “invisible” to coronavirus. These are sermon illustrations that Joel Osteen, one of the most influential preachers in the country, broadcast in the midst of the pandemic. I know … Continue reading Positive Thinking as a Toxin
religious right
Don’t Deem a Melting Glacier Irrelevant (Just Because the Rest of the Glacier is Still Cold and You Hate Cold Things)
“Many evangelicals are likely to switch their loyalties to the Democrats [in the coming election]—and the exact numbers will depend partly on whether they perceive that mainstream liberals are treating them with nuance and respect, as opposed to stereotypes and contempt.” I wrote that back in 2008, in a context I will discuss shortly. It … Continue reading Don’t Deem a Melting Glacier Irrelevant (Just Because the Rest of the Glacier is Still Cold and You Hate Cold Things)
Cracks in the Wall of Evangelical Trumpism
People have asked about my take on the news du jour—that Christianity Today magazine called for the impeachment of Mr. Trump. As I write, the story is on the front page of the New York Times, all over cable news, and—surprisingly to me and perhaps important—on the second page of my local newspaper in Maryville, … Continue reading Cracks in the Wall of Evangelical Trumpism
The “Least Resistant Personality Profile” and Factory Farms
While studying rural communities that face poverty, shocking rates of cancer, and poisoned fishing waters from industrial pollution, sociologist Arlie Hochschild learned about a disturbing money making scheme. A “waste-to-energy conversion” company wanted to build plants that burn highly toxic and noxious smelling waste—what they called “locally undesirable land use.” The corporation paid half a … Continue reading The “Least Resistant Personality Profile” and Factory Farms
Remembering
The Arlie Hochschild book that I have been pondering includes passages about the Areno family, whose formerly lovely and ecologically rich land—which sustained them both with beauty and food—was turned into a poisoned wasteland by industrial pollution. They talk of their role as “rememberers,” or witnesses to how it used to be. Interestingly, they do this … Continue reading Remembering
Normalizing Domestic Terrorism
I guess I’m becoming less and less unique all the time, but I have personal friends who have been touched directly by a mass murder, perpetrated as a hate crime by a right-wing extremist. By "touched directly" I mean they were there being shot at; one of them tackled the shooter. In my case this … Continue reading Normalizing Domestic Terrorism
“Women’s Equality”: Does It Include Valorizing a Woman Who Preaches to the KKK at Her Own Megachurch?
I’ve just published an article in the American Studies journal, Quarterly Horse, which features concise scholarly interventions. Here it is for you to click on. It uses the case of a pioneering radio evangelist, megachurch founder, and Pentecostal empire builder—one of few such leaders who was a woman in a subculture that earned its reputation … Continue reading “Women’s Equality”: Does It Include Valorizing a Woman Who Preaches to the KKK at Her Own Megachurch?
Empathy Walls: Understanding Oppressed People Who Love Trump
There isn’t much point in sending readers of this little blog to Reading Religion, the American Academy of Religion’s review portal—I wish I could send traffic the other way—but I want to link to a review I recently published there, on Arlie Russell Hochschild’s book, Strangers in Their Own Land. The review boils down my … Continue reading Empathy Walls: Understanding Oppressed People Who Love Trump
Against the Stereotype of Assuming That End-Times Believers Are Fatalistic
In both of the classes I am teaching this term, I have heard classroom comments about how end-times theologies correlate with "fatalism”—which in turn seems to correlate with some flavor of politics that is Trumpian and/or Republican and/or shading off toward wherever (if anywhere) the alt-right becomes so extreme that our resident criminal in the … Continue reading Against the Stereotype of Assuming That End-Times Believers Are Fatalistic
Another Day, Another Reporter: True and Useful Generalizations About “Agnosticism” in 700 Words or Less
Earlier I discussed a reporter who wanted my sound-bite wisdom about “religion” in the south—and how I wrestled the subject into "True and Useful Generalizations About US Religion in 1000 Words or Less." Yesterday I got a query about “agnosticism in the south” from a reporter from a paper grounded in the LGBTQ community. His … Continue reading Another Day, Another Reporter: True and Useful Generalizations About “Agnosticism” in 700 Words or Less
True and Useful Generalizations About U.S. Religion in 1000 Words or Less
Before I began my previous post, I imagined a quick introduction to set up a lightly edited version of notes that I prepared for the student reporter whom I mentioned. Ironically—or is that “symptomatically? “pathetically?”—by the time I finished, it was already long enough for a full post, although it was about pressure for concision. … Continue reading True and Useful Generalizations About U.S. Religion in 1000 Words or Less
MBE: Mark's blogging experiment 