Science Fiction and Cultural Appropriation

Last updated on: November 20, 2020 at 6:29 am By James F. McGrath

As someone very concerned about social justice and inclusivity, I am struck that the only times when anything I have shared has met accusations of cultural appropriation, they have had to do with science fiction. One was when someone suggested that the Vulcan salute, originating from a priestly gesture in Judaism, is cultural appropriation. I was surprised, both because the creation of the Vulcan salute originated with Leonard Nemoy, a Jewish actor who saw it in a Jewish context and... Read more

At What Point Repentance?

Last updated on: November 19, 2020 at 5:40 am By James F. McGrath

There is a national discussion happening about whether the best way forward for the United States during the Biden administration is to pursue criminal investigations and charges against Donald Trump for things he did while in office, hopefully going hand in hand with something like a Truth and Justice Commission that works to accomplish reconciliation and healing through that kind of painful honest reckoning; or whether it is better to move on, accepting that few will change their minds as... Read more

Revisiting Revenge of the Sith

Last updated on: November 17, 2020 at 8:33 pm By James F. McGrath

I wrote a blog post in 2005, soon after seeing the final installment of the Star Wars prequel movies that George Lucas made. This was on my first blog which came to be back when one had to install special software and host a blog on one’s own web space. My how things have changed. It is interesting to consider that Lucas told a story that, because of the order, ended with only a hint of hope in the midst of... Read more

ReligionProf Podcast with Tripp Fuller (Divine Self-Investment)

Last updated on: November 16, 2020 at 9:55 pm By James F. McGrath

There’s a new episode of the ReligionProf Podcast featuring theologian and fellow podcaster Tripp Fuller. The starting point for our conversation is his latest book, Divine Self-Investment: An Open and Relational Constructive Christology. I also ask him about his most recent endeavors which have taken him to Edinburgh in Scotland. But the main focus of our conversation is one that is also a major focus of his book, namely the question of how the task that he is most focused... Read more

What’s Left of Christianity?

Last updated on: November 15, 2020 at 8:35 pm By James F. McGrath

The conversation started with demons. Lots of people have had experiences such as sleep paralysis which are often then interpreted as some sort of sinister force attacking you in your sleep. One of the reasons for so many scandals and so many unhealthy attitudes among conservative Evangelicals is the tendency to treat natural urges and experiences as something coming from outside themselves. Repressing then and being dishonest about their source makes matters worse, not better. But talking about shifting away... Read more

Get Angry; Don’t Hate

Last updated on: November 14, 2020 at 7:09 pm By James F. McGrath

Jedi master Yoda famously said that “fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” He also said, “Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will.” You may be surprised that I disagree with Yoda, at least to an extent. The approach of the Jedi, I think we have seen more clearly as Star Wars storytelling has continued over recent years, was to go to one extreme in... Read more

Reading the Bible while White

Last updated on: November 13, 2020 at 7:41 pm By James F. McGrath

Biblical scholar Ekaputra Tupamahu has written an insightful article about whiteness in our field. I will have to take some time to grapple with the implications of specific things he says about the Synoptic problem. Here I want to focus on the broader subject of his article, the “stubborn invisibility of whiteness in biblical scholarship.” Esau McCauley’s Reading While Black has been getting a lot of much-deserved attention. I’ve been seeking to reflect on and incorporate the implications of these considerations into my... Read more

Embarrassing Christians Embarrassing Christianity

Last updated on: November 13, 2020 at 5:54 am By James F. McGrath

I feel such a sense of deep dismay and disappointment as I scroll on Facebook and see some of the individuals I looked up to as a young born-again Christian not merely showing themselves to be more conservative than I am, but to be completely committed to toeing a partisan political stance and living in a world of utter delusion. For a while I inhabited a world that we shared that envisaged everyday interactions infused with the excitement and intrigue... Read more

Ready Reader One: The Stories We Tell About, With, and Around Videogames #CFP

Last updated on: November 10, 2020 at 12:54 pm By James F. McGrath

CALL FOR PAPERS READY READER ONE: THE STORIES WE TELL ABOUT, WITH, AND AROUND VIDEOGAMES Videogames are a powerful storytelling medium—but what are the stories we tell about videogames, with videogames, around videogames? What can we learn from novels that describe the struggles of young people trapped in virtual reality, from fan fiction that explores the private life of a popular Nintendo character, or from a poem that compares Pac-Man to Saint Augustine? Quite a lot, actually. There is... Read more

Time Travel to 2020: From Timeless to Star Trek: Discovery by Way of Doctor Who

Last updated on: November 10, 2020 at 12:54 pm By James F. McGrath

There is a moment on the TV show Timeless, in the episode “Mrs. Sherlock Holmes,” in which the presidency of Donald Trump is mentioned: Rufus Carlin : Hey, who’s president? Denise Christopher : Donald Trump. Was that not supposed to happen? Lucy Preston : I don’t know, but it wasn’t us. I’ve been talking about time travel in my class on Religion and Science Fiction this semester, and also thinking about it as I’ve made revisions to the manuscript of my forthcoming book in the Black... Read more