Uncategorized
-
Nicolai Sinai has a fascinating article in the book Reclaiming Islamic Tradition: Modern Interpretations of the Classical Heritage. This post will be a review and analysis of this article. The essay examines themes found in Surah 6 in the works of Sayyid Qutb and Rashid Rida. Rashid Rida was an Islamic thinker born in Lebanon…
-
I find it interesting how different groups of people—namely Jews, Christians, Mormons, and Muslims—can read the same text, the Bible, and come away with completely different meanings. This text is sacred in some way to all of these groups of believers, but the stories within it are often interpreted differently. An important book on this…
-
I have always found the musical city of Tunlan in the Breath of Fire series to be fascinating. The town’s musical theme in Breath of Fire II is remarkably brilliant. This post will theoretically examine this town on the basis of symbolic and semiotic themes. Tunlan is a town that appears in Breath of Fire…
-
This post will be a review and expansion of Safwat Marzouk’s chapter, “Interrogating Identity: A Christian Egyptian Reading of the Hagar-Ishmael Traditions,” in Colonialism and the Bible: Contemporary Reflections from the Global South. This article can be examined through the lens of what scholars of religion call “lived religion.” Lived religion refers to religion as…
-
I recall many years ago my aunt told me, “Football in Texas is like religion.” Could football or fans’ devotion to football be considered like a religion in some ways? Could this be seen as cultic devotion similar to cults or other forms of organized religion in the world? It is possible that devotion to…
-
Since my blog touches on aspects related to critical thought on culture, I wanted to discuss a show in American culture that everyone should think about watching. This is, of course, the cult classic known as The Venture Bros. The Venture Bros. was an animated series that appeared on Adult Swim on Cartoon Network on…
-
Diaspora studies in biblical studies is a fascinating subject. It connects to how readers of the Bible, or any sacred text, interpret the text based on their own backgrounds and experiences. Jeffrey Kah-Jin Kuan is a biblical scholar who views the Book of Esther from the perspective of a Chinese American. His essay, Diasporic Readings…
-
Alan Dundes was a prolific writer and a folklorist. I first heard about his work when I completed an anthropology of religion course during my undergraduate years. One of his works that I found both comical and interesting was Sometimes the Dragon Wins: Yet More Urban Folklore from the Paperwork Empire (Dundes & Pagter, 1996).…
-
CH: What inspired you to become a video game music composer? Were there any other influences that drew you toward this path? EG: My dad had a rock band, so I grew up with music. As a teenager I did play the guitar and had my band too, mainly doing rock and hard rock. I…
-
Memory Studies and Collective Memory Memory studies can tell us many things about what and how people choose to remember certain events. Certain historical events, such as war, environmental disasters, and terror attacks, can create collective meanings that allow groups of people to remember these events in specific ways. On March 11, a magnitude 9…
Triggered to Thinking 