KtBlog

Victim-Blaming After the Zombies Come
Is preserving our own beliefs better than reaching out to help others no matter what the personal cost? I contemplated this thorny issue watching “JSS,” the second episode in season six of the zombie apocalypse TV juggernaut The Walking Dead. The question centers on the actions of two good, kind men: Morgan and Aaron. In…

Televised Prayer: Rev.
People don’t pray on television. Let me rephrase that: when people pray on television, they pray badly. They ask God for stuff, and then they get it. Television prayer is usually depicted as a quid pro quo. That’s why it was surprising, in one of the final episodes of the BBC series Rev., to see…

Confessions of a Former Purist
I’m not such a huge fan of the TV show Homeland these days, but the second episode of Season 3, which aired Sunday, might be winning me over. Brody’s daughter Dana has long been my favorite character and she’s getting more so. With that complicated way she wrinkles up her brow, her round innocent face…

Kathryn Lofton’s Oprah Trilogy
Kathryn Lofton, one of the cleverest young religion scholars out there nowadays, has a trio of op-eds celebrating (sort of) the last episode of Oprah’s TV show: “What Was Oprah?” – The Washington Post‘s On Faith “How Oprah Became a Messiah” – CNN’s Belief Blog “Oprah Winfrey’s last show: Finale marks end of an era…

Stephen Colbert’s New Religion Consultant
Our very own Stephen Prothero is the new Religion Eye for the Colbert Guy.

Buddha-Killing on Network TV
My good husband brought this to my attention. In this recent episode of Fringe, Pacey from Dawson’s Creek gives the book If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him! to the Nordicly blond FBI agent he works with on supernatural cases, and, apparently, does not have sex with for some stupid TV-reason. You…