Weird Religion

In this episode, we discuss The Heretic, a documentary about the life and ministry of former megachurch evangelical pastor Rob Bell. We introduce listeners to the (often misunderstood!) subcultures of conservative and progressive American evangelicalism. Along the way, we talk about American revivalism, evangelicalism, the liberal-fundamentalist controversy and its fallout, epic culture wars (and Twitter battles) within middle-class white evangelicalism (from Harry Fosdick vs. Billy Sunday to Rob Bell vs. John Piper), heresy, orthodoxy, universalism, higher criticism and the Bible, and the Westboro Baptists.

In this episode we consider the women in the Hulu adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s stunning dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale (season one only!). Does The Handmaid’s Tale TV series present, religion, race, and gender cynically, or help us understand anything about our lives today? Leah and Brian imagine life in the other gender role; Leah wonders what it would be like to have a traditional wife, and Brian regales the audience with stories of being a stay-at-home dad while writing his dissertation.

In this episode, we talk about Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, the new documentary about the legendary creator and star of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, Rev. Fred Rogers. Along the way, we talk about Mr. Rogers’ vision of neighborly love, character formation, and  TV ethics (for adults as well as kids!), catharsis in ancient theater and 21st century film, screen time (and parenting guilt!!), William Penn, Quentin Tarantino, Phineas & Ferb, Peep and the Big Wide World, and how Mr. Rogers inspires us to be better teachers.

In this episode, we talk about Wild Wild Country, the new documentary from Netflix about enthusiastic enlightenment-seekers who built a commune called Rajneeshpuram in the rugged Central Oregon desert and, during their brief time there, clashed with the residents of the rural town of Antelope. We also explore American religious innovations, the problem with the label of “cult,” “deprivation theory” in apocalyptic biblical communities and in the U.S.A., how racism shapes public understandings of new religious movements, the Jesus Movement, LSD, Never Nudes, the mysterious Rajneesh/Osho and his right-hand woman Ma Anand Sheela, and more.

This episode takes us into the frightening realm of the monster—embodied by the zombies (and some people) in the TV series The Walking Dead (through season three only!). In particular, we examine two episodes concerning the arc of Lori’s pregnancy, “Secrets” (S02E6) and “The Killer Within” (S03E4), and discuss the ethics of childbearing in an ugly world, pop culture’s obsession with monsters and their many symbolic meanings, and how we would fare, personally, in an apocalypse. Prepper communities, gender, monsters in the Psalms, and heroic TV characters as Christ figures make cameos.

In this episode, we tackle life, love, death, and technology in two episodes of the creepy and thought-provoking series Black Mirror: “Be Right Back” (S02E1) and “San Junipero” (S03E4). Is it possible for humans to prevent death with technology? Should humans do such a thing? Other light and cheery and way-too-big-for-one-podcast topics include male and female death rates, euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, transhumanism, Wendell Berry, Radiohead, Thomas Hobbes, theodicy, Perpetua & Felicitas, marriage and death and resurrection in the Bible.

The Season One trailer. Weird Religion. Join us.