KtBniks
Recent Posts by KtBniks
Bad Rune Work
Mike, from Washington State, writes in, regarding Eric Scott’s new essay “Valhal-Mart“: The runes in the image for https://killingthebuddha.com/mag/dispatch/valhal-mart/ read: He Woh Waeelds Thhaers hammer commangds thhe Laeghthngaengg angd thhe sthorm. I know it seems pedantic but it bugs me when the runes are incorrectly used, whether in writing or casting. It bugs us, too! We…
Lost Places of the Heart: A Writing Contest
Our friends over at Obit have hatched another writing contest (remember the contest we did with them on death?), “Lost Places of the Heart.” We heartily encourage you to submit. Here’s how the call for entries goes: Houses, diners, restaurants, bars, stores, parks, hotels, vacation getaways—the places we love are a part of us. When…
Stephen Colbert’s New Religion Consultant
Our very own Stephen Prothero is the new Religion Eye for the Colbert Guy.
Black African Rabbi Aims High
Matthew Fishbane of Tablet magazine has a great two-part long piece of narrative journalism about the Abayudaya of Uganda, who have been Jewish since a colonial-era chieftain decided to follow the five books of Moses. A century later, a descendant of those African Jews became a rabbi and ran for parliament. Fishbane joined him on…
A Sin One Way or Another
Megan from California writes the following in response to Hillary White’s essay, “Cutting it Out”: I’m wondering if Hillary White is my “less active” (Mormon term for those who have left the faith) doppleganger. Citing Amistad and George Eliot? Two of my favorites—I think we could be friends! I want to thank her for her…
Getting Biblical at St. Mark’s Place
Buddha-killer Becky Garrison alerts us to two events of possible interest to NYC-area readers: Those looking for a sacrilegious way to celebrate Purim might want to check out the Horse Trade Theater Group’s Production of Jewqueen This holiday party promises to offer up a slap-dash celebration of the biblical Book of Esther featuring Little Lord’s…
Solidarity
More rallies in New York City showing solidarity with the people facing upheaval and violence in the Middle East. Shameel Arafin, the photographer we introduced you to last week, was back out on the streets. Here are some images…
Bomb Sneak
We’ve got some inside sources over at BOMB magazine who revealed to us an apparent breach in security. Check out this pre-newsstand interview with Jim Shepard about his new short story collection You Think That’s Bad, where he touches on everything from epiphanies to catastrophes. A few highlights… On the stories in the truth: I…
I Am a Muslim, Too
Most of us KtBniks are out of the city at the moment, but last Sunday, New Yorkers were braving bad weather to protest planned congressional hearing on the role of Muslims in homegrown terrorism in New York. Photographer Shameel Arafin was there and his photo essay “‘Today, I Am A Muslim,Too’ Rally” was published today on Illume….
The Douthat Obsession
From the KtB inbox this morning: Dear Killing the Buddha, We have noticed some suspicious internet activity on the part of subject Mary Valle. We observed that she clicked on this article over 500 times in the last 24 hours. Also, we intercepted some suspicious emails to the author of the article. Excerpts are below….
Go Global Religion Journalism!
It’s not often that journalism, especially the kind that deals with global religious issues, gets a stimulus plan. But last year, the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism announced the Knight Luce Fellowship for Reporting on Global Religion. Today, Diane Winston, Knight Chair in Media and Religion at USC Annenberg, announced the 2011 inaugural fellows. We’re…
The Poetry Contest You’ve Been Waiting For
Found in a cafe in Brooklyn.
Zen Master Scandal Talk
Y’all will definitely enjoy our friend Joel Whitney’s “last interview” with the late Zen master Aitken Roshi in Tricycle, complete with sex scandals, wordplay, and mortality. On the first Monday in August, a day overcast with fog, I’d scheduled a 10 a.m. interview with the legendary teacher, who—at 93 and now quite frail—was, I learned, in…
Means of Demolishing Thetans
JonJ in Philadelphia writes, responding to J. C. Hallman’s recent essay, “Killing the Thetan,” a critique of Lawrence Wright’s widely-discussed story on Scientology: Yes, Wright’s piece in the New Yorker is straight journalism, but just because it follows the canons of that branch of literature, I think it is all the more convincing a demolition…
Sin and Sainthood on Valentine’s Day
This Valentine’s Day, the KtBniks have unearthed a gem (or, for the sake of terminological consistency, a bone, a shroud, a hair…) from the dusty shelves of the KtB reliquary. Check out “The Marquis de Sade and St. Valentine,” your one-stop source for Valentine’s Day sin and sanctity. Forgot to buy your loved one a…
Questioning Kinkade’s Karacter
The saga of discussion about Nicholas Laccetti’s “Let There Be (the Painter of) Light™“ continues. Davis Woods-Morse from Portland writes: You wrote a blog post about Thomas Kinkade in 2011 without mentioning that he went bankrupt and got arrested for DUI in 2010? It’s as if you were writing about the escalation of housing prices…
Jesus Died For This? Goes to Beantown
Buddha killer Becky Garrison will be in Boston on March 5th, where she’ll be one of the guides during Episcopal Village’s Mission Event. If you’re in Boston and want to connect, give Becky a buzz at jesusdiedforthis@gmail.com.