Tag Archives: judaism

cultural

More Than You Ever Wanted to Know on Black Panther and Religion

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Black Panther rules the box office worldwide and is a cultural phenomenon. As such, it’s being viewed from every possible angle and through every available lens. And, to paraphrase Ian Malcolm, the thinkpiecers were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.

So, without comment, here is a short sampling of the various ways Black Panther, with its roots in comics, is being applied to the subject of religion, of religious intolerance, censorship, and interfaith relations. Your mileage may vary.

We’ve loosely grouped them below as “Black Panther and…”

…Religion in General

What The Movie ‘Black Panther’ Teaches Us About Religion

‘Where Is Your God Now?’ 3 Religious Objects of Worship in ‘Black Panther’

http://dailycaller.com/2018/02/23/black-panther-is-a-quasi-religious-atonement-for-white-guilt/

…Judaism

Black Panther Is a Jewish Creation

Why ‘Black Panther’ might also be a milestone in black-Jewish relations

http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/256186/black-panther-is-a-great-zionist-movie

The Defeat of Killmonger in ‘Black Panther’ Holds Lessons for Israel

…Spirituality

Black Panther’s Spirituality Pulls from Reality

Spiritual Reflections on the Black Panther Movie

https://aleteia.org/2018/02/17/is-the-hero-in-black-panther-secretly-spiritual/

African cosmologies: spiritual reflections on the ‘Black Panther’ movie

…Hinduism

http://www.freepressjournal.in/entertainment/black-panther-cbfc-muted-hanuman-reference-due-to-not-hurt-any-kind-of-religious-sentiments/1225555

CBFC Offended by ‘Hanuman’ in Black Panther Is Divine Stupidity

http://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-in-india/black-panther-fans-in-india-angry-over-beeping-out-hanuman-reference-twitter-reactions-5073987/

…Islam

Is the Black Panther Islamophobic?

Is Black Panther Islamophobic?

Is Black Panther Islamophobic? A Somali Canadian Perspective

Black Panther Shows Muslims Too Can Escape Tokenism

Black Panther Makes A Nod To The Boko Haram Kidnapping in Nigeria

…Christianity

What “Black Panther” Means for Christians

Four Lessons the Church Can Learns from Black Panther

Clergy’s View on Black Panther

http://www.jesusdaily.com/inspire/black-panther-movie-review-christian-perspective/

‘Black Panther’ and the Longing for Home

At Home in Wakanda

Do it For the Diaspora?: The Moral Question Behind Black Panther

https://crtvchurch.com/why-christians-need-to-see-marvels-black-panther/

https://aleteia.org/2018/02/23/black-panther-star-boldly-proclaims-i-fell-in-love-with-jesus/

Christian actress Sope Aluko says ‘Black Panther’ set felt ‘almost like church’

In several of these cases, the charge could be levied that groups ostensibly unrelated to Black Panther are ‘making it all about them,’ but, in others, there are some legitimate linkages to be made. It says something, though, when so many religious communities want to comment on or be reflected by a cinema blockbuster — almost as if it means more than superhero popcorn entertainment…

academic, contributors, podcast

Elizabeth Coody and Biblical Shock through Comics – 003 Sacred & Sequential Audio

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Those not fortunate enough to attend the 2017 American Academy of Religion annual conference, particularly its final morning of presentations, are in luck: We’re joined by a frequent Sacred & Sequential contributor, Iliff School of Theology’s Elizabeth Coody, for a redux of her paper, “The More Savage Sword: A Theory of Biblical Text Used for Shock.” For the podcast, visual input is offered by host A. David Lewis, but online audiences can follow her accompanying Prezi here.

academic, contributors

The Tangled Relationship Between Religion and Comics

[The following piece was originally published at Women Write About Comics in two parts; and it is reposted here with the author’s permission, for the first time in its entirety.]

My cocktail party introduction of myself is basically, “I’m a religion scholar working on a dissertation that uses a comics to interpret religious text.” Maybe it’s not the smoothest handshake, but it’s a place to start. When I tell people this, I occasionally get quizzical looks from strangers who wonder how comics relate to religion at all. Either that or they are wondering if they are going to need another cocktail before we get into a conversation. The comics/religion relationship is a fantastic tangle that needs to be sorted out when we get into deep discussions. If we talk about religion and comics without sorting this out, we risk all kinds of misunderstandings and hurt feelings, not to mention frustrating cocktail parties.

Religion and comics have been in some sort of relationship for millennia. Stained glass church windows are a familiar Christian example; they tell the stories that are important to the builders of particular churches in different styles. Ancient peoples used comics-type language in cave paintings and Egyptian tombs to express their relationship to the supernatural. Although my own work centers mostly on Christian relationships to comics, I want to stress that there is much more out there to be discovered in comics from all the world’s religions. Comics are a medium that can deliver a particular message where text and images interact to create narrative and emotional results—something that religions of all stripes often strive to do and that comics can do with religious effect.

I conceive of the relationship between comics and religion in four categories: comics as religion, comics in religion, religion in comics, and religion and comics in dialogue. In this month’s installation, I’ll give you the first two categories (comics AS religion and comics IN religion), but be sure to follow along for the exciting conclusion soon. These categories are modeled on the four relationships between religion and popular culture more broadly as outlined in by Bruce David Forbes in his introduction to this great popular culture book with Jeffrey Mahan. They are solid tools for tackling a very messy relationship.

Continue reading The Tangled Relationship Between Religion and Comics →

academic, contributors

Martin Lund on the Possibilities of “Pantheonic Bricolage”

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[The following piece was originally published at MartinLund.me and it is reposted here with the author’s permission.]

The Marvel Universe pantheons

Is It a Thing? “Pantheonic Bricolage.”

If you are at all familiar with my work, you know that I have a particular interest in the intersections between comics and religion. I have spent countless hours studying comics in relation to Judaism and Jewishness, on editing a book about Muslim superheroes (the release of which is so close now I can almost taste it!), and I’m currently drafting a book about the recently deceased evangelical comics propagandist Jack T. Chick (about whom I have written here and here).

In addition to this, I’m also working on a guide to comics and world religions with a couple of fellow scholars of the topic. We have hashed out a rough structure and are working separately on our chapters. In addition to writing about the Abrahamic traditions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), I will also be tackling what we have chosen, for now, to call “Archaic Traditions.” (I just might make another “Is it a thing?” post about that label somewhere down the line.)

This means that I am writing about Greco-Roman, Egyptian, and Old Norse religions. And I am loving it to no end. There is so much interesting material to work with here, and I will be sharing thoughts and reviews as things progress.

But for now, I want to bounce a thing off the internet and see what happens.

I want to talk about what I have been calling, for lack of a better term: “pantheonic bricolage.” It sounds complicated, but it really isn’t.

Continue reading Martin Lund on the Possibilities of “Pantheonic Bricolage” →

contributors, cultural, events

Sacred & Sequential Report from the San Diego Comic-Con, Part 1

Dr. Samantha LangsdaleSacred & Sequential has its own special correspondent Samantha Langsdale reporting exclusively for us from the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) – known more formally as the International Comic-Con San Diego. She has been sending us short blasts from on site concerning relevant events and products she has spotted:

A MINYEN YIDN coverToday [Thursday] there is a comics panel at 12:30 in 24abc called “A Bunch of Jews (A Minyen Yidn)”

With Hope Nicholson, Trina Robbins, and artists Jen Vaughn, Elizabeth Watasin, Miriam Libicki, and Willy Mendes.

As for the panel’s subtitle, A Minyen Yidn:

The title of the panel refers to an anthology they are creating.

Continue reading Sacred & Sequential Report from the San Diego Comic-Con, Part 1 →