Weird Religion

Let us discuss a DANGEROUS TV SHOW. And of course, we’re talking about a very family friendly Jesus TV show—The Chosen. What is the state of the evangelical search for validation, for legitimacy, in the American religious landscape today? Has Christian TV arrived? Can we tell who is an “evangelical” by what they purchase, what they consume? The Last Temptation of Christ (1988 film): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095497/ [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095497/]  Artifact: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/the-chosen-dallas-jenkins-interview-season-4-1235909988/ [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/the-chosen-dallas-jenkins-interview-season-4-1235909988/] Dallas Jenkins: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Jenkins [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Jenkins] Ronald Numbers, The Creationists: https://books.google.com/books?id=GQ3TI5njXfIC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false [https://books.google.com/books?id=GQ3TI5njXfIC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false] “Name it and Frame It” Phony Doctorates in the Church: https://www.apologeticsindex.org/2794-name-it-and-frame-it-phony-doctorates-in-the-church [https://www.apologeticsindex.org/2794-name-it-and-frame-it-phony-doctorates-in-the-church] The National Association of Evangelicals: https://www.nae.org/ [https://www.nae.org/]  The “Bebbington Quadrilateral”: https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481314435/the-evangelical-quadrilateral/ [https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481314435/the-evangelical-quadrilateral/]  Leah Payne, “‘Sound of Freedom’ and the Media Fueling Belief in America’s ‘Special Role’ in Human History”: https://www.prri.org/spotlight/sound-of-freedom-and-the-media-fueling-belief-in-americas-special-role-in-human-history/ [https://www.prri.org/spotlight/sound-of-freedom-and-the-media-fueling-belief-in-americas-special-role-in-human-history/] The “Holiness Movement”: https://www.thearda.com/us-religion/history/timelines/entry?etype=3&eid=13 [https://www.thearda.com/us-religion/history/timelines/entry?etype=3&eid=13] Randall J. Stephens, The Fire Spreads: Holiness and Pentecostalism in the American South: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674046856 [https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674046856]

We celebrate the religious aesthetic—and mourn the loss—of Precious Moments creator Sam Butcher. A pastel-colored, Christian-infused aesthetic embodied by Precious Moments may of course prompt a reaction: like the “Precious Mutation” of Keith Busher. Did evangelical art (and theology) ever grow up? How can this couple have been married 25 years when they are children: https://www.preciousmoments.com/twenty-five-happy-years-together-figurine [https://www.preciousmoments.com/twenty-five-happy-years-together-figurine] Jesus said: “wise as a serpent, gentle as a dove”: https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Matthew%2010%3A16 [https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Matthew%2010%3A16] Daniel Silliman obituary of Sam Butcher: https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/05/sam-butcher-precious-moments-art-artist-chapel-obit/ [https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/05/sam-butcher-precious-moments-art-artist-chapel-obit/] The Sam Butcher story on the Precious Moments website: https://www.preciousmoments.com/butcher-story/ [https://www.preciousmoments.com/butcher-story/] Keith Busher, the “Precious Mutator” (Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/preciousmutator/?hl=en; [https://www.instagram.com/preciousmutator/?hl=en;] (Etsy): https://www.etsy.com/shop/PreciousMutations [https://www.etsy.com/shop/PreciousMutations] Precious Mutations story: https://www.today.com/home/precious-mutants-are-terrifying-version-precious-moments-figurines-t161577 [https://www.today.com/home/precious-mutants-are-terrifying-version-precious-moments-figurines-t161577]  Thomas Kincaid, “The Painter of Light”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kinkade [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kinkade] The “Precious Moments Chapel” mural: https://www.preciousmoments.com/blog/history-of-precious-moments-chapel-hallelujah-square [https://www.preciousmoments.com/blog/history-of-precious-moments-chapel-hallelujah-square] Later Sam Butcher paintings of nude bodies: https://x.com/danielsilliman/status/1795890318853767351 [https://x.com/danielsilliman/status/1795890318853767351] Garbage Pail Kids example: https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/120329100954-garbage-pail-kids-leaky-lindsay.jpg?q=w_1248,h_1732,x_0,y_0,c_fill [https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/120329100954-garbage-pail-kids-leaky-lindsay.jpg?q=w_1248,h_1732,x_0,y_0,c_fill]

Today we’re discussing a book by religion and philosophy professor Jeffrey Kripal (Rice University), called How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else (University of Chicago Press, 2024). He seems to be suggesting…that we should believe…in impossible things. Miracles. Levitation. UFOs. Archetypes. And many other things Leah and Brian were told not to believe in during their time in secular graduate programs, of the type that Kripal himself would seem to teach in. What is happening here? We explore. Join us. “Authentic” was the 2023 Merriam-Webster word of year: https://www.georgefamilyfoundation.org/news/blog-post-title-three-x9s6e-h4jbh#:~:text=Merriam-Webster [https://www.georgefamilyfoundation.org/news/blog-post-title-three-x9s6e-h4jbh#:~:text=Merriam-Webster] Leah Payne, award winner, for God Gave Rock and Roll to You: https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/12/christianity-today-book-awards-2024/? [https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/12/christianity-today-book-awards-2024/?] Here is the book on the publisher’s website, Jeffrey Kripal’s, How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/H/bo216049049.html [https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/H/bo216049049.html] “dual aspect monism” // double-aspect theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-aspect_theory [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-aspect_theory] Jeffrey J. Kripal: https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/jeffrey-j-kripal [https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/jeffrey-j-kripal] Jonathan Z. Smith: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Z._Smith [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Z._Smith] Jonathan Z. Smith, “Religion, Religions, Religious”: https://womrel.sitehost.iu.edu/Rel433%20Readings/SearchableTextFiles/Smith_ReligionReligionsReligious.pdf [https://womrel.sitehost.iu.edu/Rel433%20Readings/SearchableTextFiles/Smith_ReligionReligionsReligious.pdf] Jonathan Z. Smith, “In Comparison a Magic Dwells”: https://classics.osu.edu/sites/classics.osu.edu/files/Magic_Dwells.pdf [https://classics.osu.edu/sites/classics.osu.edu/files/Magic_Dwells.pdf] Russel McCutcheon, Critics Not Caretakers: https://www.routledge.com/Critics-Not-Caretakers-Redescribing-the-Public-Study-of-Religion/McCutcheon/p/book/9781032467924 [https://www.routledge.com/Critics-Not-Caretakers-Redescribing-the-Public-Study-of-Religion/McCutcheon/p/book/9781032467924] Mircea Eliade: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mircea_Eliade [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mircea_Eliade] The Nietzsche book Brian was trying to remember: The Birth of Tragedy: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/51356/51356-h/51356-h.htm [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/51356/51356-h/51356-h.htm] Book Leah mentioned, that she taught this past semester: Charles Freeman, Holy Bones, Holy Dust: How Relics Shaped the History of Medieval Europe: https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Bones-Dust-History-Medieval/dp/0300184301 [https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Bones-Dust-History-Medieval/dp/0300184301] Carlos Eire, They Flew: A History of the Impossible: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300280074/they-flew/ [https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300280074/they-flew/] The mystery of where socks go in the washer: https://youtube.com/shorts/lh64cnjDsWg?si=P15MsWcO3Op2eC3t [https://youtube.com/shorts/lh64cnjDsWg?si=P15MsWcO3Op2eC3t] The Coach bag Brian is describing, note outer side pocket, and there is an identical one on the other side: https://photos-us.bazaarvoice.com/photo/2/cGhvdG86bWFjeXM/0f759b29-68af-5b3c-85e7-cc3983a4cd24 [https://photos-us.bazaarvoice.com/photo/2/cGhvdG86bWFjeXM/0f759b29-68af-5b3c-85e7-cc3983a4cd24]

Feeling spiritually vulnerable while you are in an airport? You are not alone. Looking for a Popeye horror film? You are not alone. Naming your child Muhammed in the UK this year? You are not alone. Flocking to Orthodoxy as a young man? You are not alone. Committing acts of microfeminism? You are not alone. Portland airport Beni the Therapy Llama: https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/11/03/nx-s1-5173755/therapy-animals-portland-airport-llama-alpaca [https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/11/03/nx-s1-5173755/therapy-animals-portland-airport-llama-alpaca] The new most popular baby name in the UK: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/most-popular-100-baby-names-34251941 [https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/most-popular-100-baby-names-34251941]  The Late Great Hal Lindsey: https://religionnews.com/2024/12/05/the-late-great-hal-lindsey/ [https://religionnews.com/2024/12/05/the-late-great-hal-lindsey/] Young men flock to Orthodoxy: https://nypost.com/2024/12/03/us-news/young-men-are-converting-to-orthodox-christianity-in-droves/ [https://nypost.com/2024/12/03/us-news/young-men-are-converting-to-orthodox-christianity-in-droves/] The two heads of St. Thomas: https://religionnews.com/2024/12/05/when-it-comes-to-venerating-st-thomas-aquinas-are-two-heads-better-than-one/ [https://religionnews.com/2024/12/05/when-it-comes-to-venerating-st-thomas-aquinas-are-two-heads-better-than-one/]  Are you a microfeminist: https://www.npr.org/2024/12/04/g-s1-36686/microfeminism-ashley-chaney-sexism [https://www.npr.org/2024/12/04/g-s1-36686/microfeminism-ashley-chaney-sexism]  12 acts of microfeminism (image on cover) from: https://www.instagram.com/micahlarsen_/ [https://www.instagram.com/micahlarsen_/] Book mentioned, We Have Never Been Woke: https://www.city-journal.org/article/review-of-we-have-never-been-woke-by-musa-al-gharbi [https://www.city-journal.org/article/review-of-we-have-never-been-woke-by-musa-al-gharbi]  Popeye horror film: https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/gruesome-popeye-horror-film-trailer-sees-classic-character-brutally-murder-helpless-victims/ar-AA1uO0tq [https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/gruesome-popeye-horror-film-trailer-sees-classic-character-brutally-murder-helpless-victims/ar-AA1uO0tq]

When, and why, did Catholics stop saying “and also with you” in response to “The Lord be with you,” and instead start saying, “and with your spirit”? And how would you respond to the ecstatic worship practice of “running the aisles”? We discuss the aesthetic we’d want—in heaven. Brian gaslights himself and all academics about “change.” Leah sings several times and claims to be a “pilgrim.” Some very serious talk about the communion ritual. And craniosacral therapy. And with you vs. And with your spirit: https://www.npr.org/2008/08/11/93419478/catholics-will-no-longer-recite-and-also-with-you [https://www.npr.org/2008/08/11/93419478/catholics-will-no-longer-recite-and-also-with-you]  Let Google google for you!! https://blog.google/products/search/generative-ai-google-search-may-2024/ [https://blog.google/products/search/generative-ai-google-search-may-2024/] Matthew 8:8: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%208%3A8&version=NIV [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%208%3A8&version=NIV] “Running the Aisles” as an ecstatic worship practice: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_the_aisles [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_the_aisles] Cy Twombly, Leaving Paphos: https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2009/cy-twombly-leaving-paphos-ringed-with-waves/ [https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2009/cy-twombly-leaving-paphos-ringed-with-waves/] Craniosacral therapy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniosacral_therapy [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniosacral_therapy]