Religion and Popular Culture in America, Third Edition

The connection between popular culture and religion is an enduring part of American life. With seventy-five percent new content, the third edition of this multifaceted and popular collection has been revised and updated throughout to provide greater religious diversity in its topics and address critical developments in the study of religion and popular culture.
 
Ideal for classroom use, this expanded volume

• gives increased attention to the implications of digital culture and the increasingly interactive quality of popular culture
• provides a framework to help students understand and appreciate the work in diverse fields, methods, and perspectives
• contains an updated introduction, discussion questions, and other instructional tools

 

Bruce David Forbes is Professor of Religious Studies at Morningside College. He is the author of Christmas: A Candid History and America's Favorite Holidays: Candid Histories.
 
Jeffrey H. Mahan holds the Ralph E. and Norma E. Peck Chair in Religion and Public Communication at the Iliff School of Theology. His books include Religion, Media, and Culture: An Introduction, Shared Wisdom, and American Television Genres.

 

Preface to the Third Edition

Introduction: Finding Religion in Unexpected Places
Bruce David Forbes

PART I. RELIGION IN POPULAR CULTURE

1. The Origin(s) of Superman: Reimagining Religion in the Man of Steel
Dan W. Clanton Jr.

2. The Oriental Monk in American Popular Culture
Jane Naomi Iwamura

3. Adventure Time and Sacred History: Myth and Reality in Children’s Animated Cartoons
Elijah Siegler

4. Monstrous Muslims: Historical Anxieties and Future Trends
Sophia Rose Arjana

5. The Weight of the World: Religion and Heavy Metal Music in Four Cases
Jason C. Bivins

PART II. POPULAR CULTURE IN RELIGION

6. Christmas Is Like a Snowball
Bruce David Forbes

7. Mipsterz: Hip, American, and Muslim
Kristin M. Peterson Nabil Echchaibi

8. Megachurches, Celebrity Pastors, and the Evangelical Industrial Complex
Jessica Johnson

9. People of the Picture Book: PJ Library and American Jewish Religion
Rachel B. Gross

10. Meditation on the Go: Buddhist Smartphone Apps as Video Game Play
Gregory Price Grieve

PART III. POPULAR CULTURE AS RELIGION
11. It’s About Faith in Our Future: Star Trek Fandom as Cultural Religion
Michael Jindra

12. Shopping, Religion, and the Sacred “Buyosphere”
Sarah McFarland Taylor

13. Losing Their Way to Salvation: Women, Weight Loss, and the Religion of Thinness
Michelle M. Lelwica

14. The “Godding Up” of American Sports
Joseph L. Price

15. Celebrity Worship as Parareligion: Bieber and the Beliebers
Pete Ward

PART IV. RELIGION AND POPULAR CULTURE IN DIALOGUE

16. Yoga in Popular Culture: Controversies and Conflicts
Shreena Niketa Gandhi

17. Mirror, Mirror on Ourselves: Disney as a Site of Religio-Cultural Dialogue
Stephanie Brehm and Myev Rees

18. Can Watching a Movie Be a Spiritual Experience?
Robert K. Johnston

19. Rap Music and Its Message: On Interpreting the Contact between Religion and Popular Culture
Anthony B. Pinn

20. Broadswords and Face Paint: Why Braveheart Still Matters
Curtis D. Coats and Stewart M. Hoover

Contributors
Index