The connection between American popular culture and religion is the subject of this multifaceted and innovative
collection. In fourteen lively essays whose topics range from the divine feminine in The Da Vinci Code to Madonna's
"Like a Prayer," and from the world of sports to the ways in which cyberculture has influenced traditional
religions, this book offers fascinating insights into what popular culture reveals about the nature of American
religion today. Revised throughout, this new edition features three new essays--including a fascinating look at
the role of women in apocalyptic fiction such as the Left Behind series--and editor Bruce David Forbes has written
a new introduction. In addition to the new textual material, each chapter concludes with a set of suggested discussion
questions.
Table of Contents
Pt. 1. Religion in Popular Culture
1. The Oriental Monk in American Popular Culture
2. Consecrating Consumer Culture: Christmas Television Specials
3. From American Dream to American Horizon: The Religious Dimension in Louis L'Amour and Cormac McCarthy
4.. Like a Sermon: Popular Religion in Madonna Videos
Pt. 2. Popular Culture in Religion
5. Evangelicals and Popular Music: The Contemporary Christian Music Industry
6. The Electronic Golden Calf: Transforming Ritual and Icon
7. The Cross at Willow Creek: Seeker Religion and the Contemporary Marketplace
Pt. 3. Popular Culture as Religion
8. It's about Faith in Our Future: Star Trek Fandom as Cultural Religion
9. Losing Their Way to Salvation: Women, Weight Loss, and the Salvation Myth of Culture Lite
10. An American Apotheosis: Sports as Popular Religion
11. The Church of Baseball, the Fetish of Coca-Cola, and the Potlatch of Rock 'n' Roll
Pt. 4. Religion and Popular Culture in Dialogue
12. The Disguise of Vengeance in Pale Rider
13. Rap Music and Its Message: On Interpreting the Contact between Religion and Popular Culture
14. Lost in Cyberspace?: Gender, Difference, and the Internet "Utopia"
