The annual celebration of Halloween is marked by fun and frightening traditions, those that involve monsters being the most fun and frightening of them all. These representations of evil are inextricably linked with religion, used to condemn evil, find comfort in suffering and much more.
Read More“(pray)” is a choreopoem that tells a story through the lens of a feminine experience in a Black Baptist Church. It blends the past with the present, the divine with the earthly and the fear of the unknown with the delight of faith.
Read More“Tree & Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India, 200 BCE–400 CE,” an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, explores the influences and growth of early Buddhism through artifacts found largely in southern India. Highlights of the exhibit include relics taken from the Buddha’s remains.
Read More(REVIEW) In the third season of “The Righteous Gemstones,” the fictional Gemstone family members — wealthy leaders of a prominent megachurch — are as outlandish and chaotic as ever. But this season, the challenges they face begin to feel trite and their redemption feels less genuine.
Read More(REVIEW) “The Miracle Club,” about four women from small-town Ireland who make the pilgrimage to Lourdes, is almost a miracle itself. It’s been in the works for nearly two decades and was filmed in only 21 days. Its screenplay is smart and engaging, exploring Christianity, family, confronting the past and womanhood.
Read More(REVIEW) “The Starling Girl” is, at its heart, a visceral reminder of what it’s like to grow up as a girl in strict religious environments. It’s also a thorough picture of the grievances made about fundamentalist and evangelical Christian circles in two recent docuseries.
Read More(REVIEW) “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” is firmly part of American literary canon, and it’s been adapted into a movie. It’s a perfect nostalgia vehicle for fans of the book and those who grew up nearer to the time it was first published, but it isn’t good for much else.
Read More(REVIEW) It just so happens that one of the most anticipated events of the HBO show — the death of patriarch and media tycoon Logan Roy — aired on Easter Sunday. If Easter is meant to celebrate resurrection and forgiveness, this episode mourns the opposite.
Read More(REVIEW) The first two seasons of the Star Wars spinoff show deal with Mandalorian Din Djarin’s strict beliefs that forbid him from removing his helmet in front of another being. Now that he’s removed his helmet, he’s been cut off from his people, and the only way he can find forgiveness is by visiting his destroyed homeworld.
Read More(REVIEW) Erwin Blumenfeld was the perfect fashion photographer. The Museum of the Art and History of Judaism in Paris is showcasing this work in over 180 photographs with the temporary exhibit “The Trials and Tribulations of Erwin Blumenfeld, 1930-1950.” It spans Blumenfeld’s most active and influential period.
Read More(REVIEW) Ever get the sinking feeling that your friends don’t like you? That every time you talk, they’re just wishing you’d shut up — that they’re even timing how long you talk? Or worse: have you always thought you had a friend until, one day, they just told you they didn’t like you anymore? That horrifying premise is the driving force behind Martin McDonagh’s heartbreakingly bloody friendship breakup “The Banshees of Inisherin.”
Read More(REVIEW) “Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist,” the new movie about the end of the world as told in the Bible, has it all: boring action sequences, jokes about the COVID-19 vaccine, altar calls, a postscript message from former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, a joke about former president Barack Obama being the Antichrist, a painfully clunky script and even a Romanian politician who has a bland American accent.
Read More(FILM REVIEW) The seven-time Oscar-nominated movie “The Fabelmans” is Steven Spielberg’s reflection on his early family life and filmmaking aspirations. It’s also a reflection on his Jewish roots.
Read MoreYing Zhang, associate professor of history at Ohio State University, is exploring the connections among prison, art and religion in a unique and meaningful way. Her lecture at The American Academy in Berlin accompanies her new book and discusses the way incarceration limits religious freedom.
Read More“Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art,” a new exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, explores the role of religion in Classic Maya society with developments from the past few decades. It presents the culture as one where gods are deeply interwoven with everyday life.
Read More(REVIEW) The novel, released Dec. 6, serves as a coda to the stories of siblings Bobby and Alicia Western, though it takes place before sister novel “The Passenger” began. The book is an ambitious dialogue-only novel that contains a tragic but fascinating heroine and deeply explores math, philosophy, physics and more.
Read MoreThe 427-year-old Abercrombie Bible was displayed publicly for the first time Nov. 4-6, when members past and present gathered to celebrate the Connecticut congregation’s 150th anniversary. The Bible is but one small part of the church’s legacy as a tightly knit congregation with a steadfast love of God.
Read More(REVIEW) “Weird Al” Yankovic, the polka superstar and master of parodies, is one of the most unique artists of our time. It’s only right that the biopic chronicling his life is just as unique as he is.
Read More(REVIEW) American novelist Cormac McCarthy often writes about people on the fringes of society who are isolated from true connection with others. His newest novel in a two-book set, “The Passenger,” is no different, but in it the protagonist still has plenty of conversations. In almost every conversation, one character asks, “Do you believe in God?”
Read More(REVIEW) “The Gospel Woman” is a brilliant new play produced by National Black Theatre. It’s an American family drama that focuses on grief, faith and healing — and it features some incredible gospel music.
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