Gary Laderman But it is in this more ambiguous, liminal conceptual space, between medicine and recreation, body and spirit, religion and science, that altered states of consciousness and mind altering substances do their best work.
Tag Archives: American Culture
David Wojnarowicz’s Christ: Symbols of Hope, Corruption, and Violence
Suicide: The Last Taboo?
Gary Laderman I am still hesitant to pursue it in my class—perhaps because of the feeling that it is “taboo”; perhaps because a lingering sense that only “professionals” should be talking about it. It is highly, highly charged for so many of us. As one student put it, “trigger warnings were made for this topic.”
The Body of Fried Chicken and the Blood of Bud Light: Religion Around the Tailgate Table
Madison Tarleton The relationship that the tailgating participants have not only with one another but with the event itself allows them to create a countered “sacred space” to the mundane routines of work and daily life.
Disney’s Christopher Robin and the Idolatry of Work
Daniel Anderson Tragically, Christopher Robin’s life seemingly proves Adorno’s adage that a “wrong life cannot be lived rightly.”
The Ghost of Roy Orbison Goes on Tour
Peter Lehman He seemed to be defined by an absence, which then materialized as a dark, quiet persona who always kept his eyes covered in public, inviting people to project their thoughts, fears and melancholy onto him.
Liberalism, Mass Media, and the Anatomy of American Cultural Warfare
L. Benjamin Rolsky In no uncertain terms, one could argue that “the personal is the political” established the epistemic foundations for what we today call the Culture Wars.
Remembering Prince
Mark Hulsether If music or group religious rituals can change the world—and I think at times they can—then the world changed during this performance.
Maybe It’s Colbert’s Fault
Stephanie Brehm Supporters claim Trump does not mean everything he said on the campaign trail; that he will not do half of the abhorrent things he spewed. But do they believe that in part because our comedians, the funny, ironic truth-tellers were for so long invested in perpetuating truthiness?
7 Questions for Amir Hussain
Amir Hussain I’ve always been fascinated by the life and work of Hank Williams Sr. . . the most underrated American theologian of the 20th century.