Bainbridge on eGods and Faith Versus Fantasy
PopMatters includes a lengthy excerpt and summary of an intriguing volume by William Sims Bainbridge, eGods: Faith Versus Fantasy in Computer Gaming (Oxford University Press, 2012). The publisher’s website includes the following description: What is the relationship between religion and multi-player online roleplaying games? Are such games simply a secular distraction from traditional religious practices, [...]
Planet of the Apes franchise and religion
Last weekend I had AMC channel on for most of the day as they celebrated the 45th anniversary of Planet of the Apes which debuted in 1968. During their celebration, AMC played each of the films in the original franchise of the 1960s-70s back to back. I am a lifelong fan of the series having [...]
Star Wars as Medieval Religious Art
I recently came across a link to some art by Chey Chao that took Star Wars and framed it in the context of Medieval art. Not only is the art interesting, but since Star Wars drew heavily from various mythological sources, has become a mythology in its own right, and provides the basis for the [...]
Emory Symposium on Zombies and ‘Zombethics’
I will be sitting on a panel and contributing to the topic via religion and zombies. For further background see my previous post.
Joss Whedon and Religion to be Published by McFarland
I received news today from my co-editor, Tony Mills, that McFarland Publishing has agreed to to publish our book Joss Whedon and Religion. The description from the accepted proposal: The works of Joss Whedon — from his hit television shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly, to his popular comic book writing on Fray [...]
Religion and Science Fiction: Interview with James McGrath
James McGrath has been a guest previously with an interview on religion and science fiction. He now returns to discuss the topic as the editor and contributor of a new book titled, appropriately enough, Religion and Science Fiction (Wipf & Stock, 2011). Following is the volume’s description: Religious themes, concepts, imagery, and terminology have featured [...]
TheoFantastique Podcast 2.4 – Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books and Graphic Novels
From the back cover of Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books and Graphic Novels, edited by A. David Lewis and Christine Hoff Kraemer (Continuum International Publishing, 2010): Although they were once considered a medium suitable only for children’s literature, comic books have increasingly become a vehicle for serious social commentary and, specifically, for innovative religious [...]
David Hartwell and the Wonder of Science Fiction
One of my readers posted a comment on a previous post of mine on Ray Bradbury which made me aware of the book Age of Wonders: Exploring the World of Science Fiction (Tor Books, 1996), by David Hartwell. I was able to pick up the 1984 version published by Walker and Company through Amazon (which [...]
Ivan Wolfe: Battlestar Galactica and Mormonism
There is an interesting intersection between religion and science fiction at times, and a notable example of this comes with the 1970s television series Battlestar Galactica and Mormonism. The show was presented in a new incarnation as a series on SyFy from 2004-2009 which was very well received by fans, and which was very different [...]
Arts & Faith: Top 25 Horror Films
Arts & Faith has published their list of the top 25 horror films. The top 10 include: 1. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 2. Vampyr 3. The Exorcist 4. Nosferatu 5. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1922) 6. Let Me In (2010)/Let the Right One In (2008) 7. Psycho 8. Night of the Living Dead [...]
