About Pop Theology

Pop Theology examines the intersection of pop culture and theology, religion, and spirituality. Though this site emerges from a Christian background, people of any religious affiliation, or none at all, are most welcome. We believe that life is a journey, whether defined in religious terms or not, and that we are all on different stages of that journey. We also believe that God seeks to be present at these diverse stages, oftentimes waiting to be found. We are especially convinced that God even waits in our popular culture, and as a result, pop culture becomes something more than the God-less, mindless void of despair that it might seem to be at first glance.

Pop Theology is not necessarily a “review” site, although such critical engagement inevitably plays a role in what we do. Nor is this site another extension of the morality police that counts every curse word, dead body, or sexual encounter. There are plenty of other sites that do such work. However, we know that nearly every aspect of popular culture contains questionable content, but we also believe that a film, for example, can be offensive for many more reasons than foul language. Unfortunately, such questionable content does arise, often as a result of lazy writing or lack of imagination: where this is the case, our engagement will be especially critical. However, oftentimes, such content truly does contribute to plot and character development. When appropriate, we will engage that honestly and carefully as well.

We also know that a film can be religious or spiritual or offer important theological insights even if it does not contain explicitly religious characters or tell a historically religious story. It is often the case that when song or a television show seriously explores the human condition, theological questions can’t be far behind. It is not only our desire to bring these questions to light but to offer one (and sometimes more than one) perspective among many on these issues.

In the future, we hope to provide advance information on upcoming “pop culture releases” to encourage our readers to make informed pop culture decisions. So while this site will not contain information on every element of pop culture (such a site would be impossible), hopefully it will provide a conversation that inspires readers to think beyond the screen or the page and to, as Clive Marsh notes in his book Cinema and Sentiment, “push the ‘more’ dimension of popular culture.” As such this site serves both individuals and faith communities that long to engage popular culture on a deeper level than simple entertainment.

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