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Religious Music & Entertainment

2015-10-05T13:10:15-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Looking for Life in The Leftovers

Last updated on: October 5, 2015 at 1:10 pm By Paul Asay

The second season of The Leftovers, on HBO, begins with what feels like a Paleolithic parable. A woman, very pregnant (and mostly naked), wakes up in the deep of night and staggers out of a communal cave, needing to pee. She looks up and sees an eagle fly across the full moon … just as an earthquake destroys the cave she’d been sleeping in. The woman gives birth just moments later. Miraculously, it would seem, a call of nature saved... Read more

2015-10-02T14:51:01-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Martian and Sci-Fi’s Search for Salvation

Last updated on: October 2, 2015 at 2:51 pm By Paul Asay

Mars has never been a particularly welcoming place. From H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds to Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks!, the planet’s primary export has always been terror. Even Marvin the Martian was constantly trying to blow up our little blue planet. There are no hostile aliens on Mars in Ridley Scott’s The Martian, but it may kill him anyway. Stranded astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is the only sentient being on the red planet, forced to figure out how... Read more

2015-10-04T12:56:17-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Walk: A High-Wire Act That’s Not About Faith (But Sort of Is)

Last updated on: October 4, 2015 at 12:56 pm By Paul Asay

When I was youngish, a friend of mine and I went to check out the Black Canyon of the Gunnison during a camping trip. It looks something like this. Very pretty, yes? But it’s also a long way down from the ridge of the canyon to its rocky, watery bottom. A really, really long way down. So my friend and I—brave, stupid fellows who once tried to break through the ice on a lake while standing on it—literally crawled on... Read more

2015-09-24T21:11:25-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Are The Muppets Worth Getting Mad About?

Last updated on: September 24, 2015 at 9:11 pm By Paul Asay

Say what you will about we conservative Christians, we do not lack opinions. And we’re eager to tell you what they are—sometimes even before we know exactly what we’re talking about. Take ABC’s The Muppets, which premiered Tuesday. Before the premiere, the show was widely advertised as an “adult” Muppet show—a phrase used by Kermit the Frog himself in an interview or two. One advertisement, showing a towel-toting Kermit, declared, “Finally. A network TV show with full frontal nudity.” It’s certainly... Read more

2015-09-24T13:08:44-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Sorry, Francis Critics: Faith is Inherently Political

Last updated on: September 24, 2015 at 1:08 pm By Paul Asay

I typically deal with entertainment here at the Watching God blog, but its mission extends to pop culture, too. And at this moment in American pop culture, all eyes are on Pope Francis. Even though he’s only been in the United States for a couple of days, some believe he’s already overstayed his welcome. Francis opened a joint session of Congress this morning, and his address struck many as overtly political. He called on the country to swing open its... Read more

2015-09-21T12:49:59-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Scorch Trials: WCKD’s Road of Good Intentions

Last updated on: September 21, 2015 at 12:49 pm By Paul Asay

Way back in the Paleolithic 1980s, sage philosopher Mr. Spock told us that “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Sure, Spock recanted later, after Captain Kirk and his bevy of co-workers stole a starship to rescue him. But the core philosophy seems pretty logical, right? Lots of thinkers through the ages have thought so. It’s a central tenant to the philosophy of Utilitarianism. “The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals... Read more

2015-09-18T08:35:57-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Season of the Sorta-Secular Christian Movie

Last updated on: September 18, 2015 at 8:35 am By Paul Asay

Last year was called the year of the faith-based movie, and in a lot of ways, it was. Three straight-up Christian flicks (Heaven is for Real, God’s Not Dead and Son of God) each made more than $50 million. Another two movies theoretically made with a faith-based audience in mind—Noah and Exodus: Gods and Kings—banked even more. Only problem: Secular audiences had no use for the former, and most evangelical Christians kinda hated the latter. This fall, though, we’re about... Read more

2015-09-14T07:10:21-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Dark Ages, Told in Bright Blocks

Last updated on: September 14, 2015 at 7:10 am By Paul Asay

I’ve never been a big fan of the term “Dark Ages,” actually. It seems kinda unfair to call the whole millennia between the disintegration of the Roman Empire to the start of the Renaissance “dark”—particularly when it was such a cool time. Well, OK. “Cool” maybe isn’t quite the right word. The Black Death was kind of a downer, not to mention all the wars and famines and poverty and so on. But c’mon. Castles! Cathedrals! Knights! Monks! It was... Read more

2015-09-11T10:14:13-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Can You Actually Spend 90 Minutes in Heaven … and Come Back?

Last updated on: September 11, 2015 at 10:14 am By Paul Asay

90 Minutes in Heaven, released today, is reportedly the true story of a man who died and went through the proverbial pearly gates. Based on Don Piper’s own bestselling book of the same name, it’s admittedly not a great movie. But I did like how in spite of its title, it spent most of its time on earth—exploring the painful aftermath of Piper’s own incredible experiences. Once you see golden eternity, it seems, it’s tough to attach yourself back to... Read more

2015-09-04T19:18:40-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A Walk in the Woods and the Spiritual Pilgrimage

Last updated on: September 4, 2015 at 7:18 pm By Paul Asay

A Walk in the Woods is about two oldsters (played by the suitably-but-gracefully aged Robert Redford and Nick Nolte) who decide to take a 2,000-mile, 14-state trek along the Appalachian Trail. Why, you ask? Was a tour bus unavailable? Do they have a fear of motorized transportation? No. Bill Bryson, it seems in the movie, was struck with the inexplicable desire to … walk. The urge came to Bill (Redford) after a series of rather explicable events. He participated in... Read more

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