Author Archives: Nathan Rein

Laptops and theory in the Religious Studies classroom

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Nathan Rein

Do you let your students bring their laptops to class? Personally, I’m torn. I love gadgets and hate to sound like a Luddite, but most of the research I’ve seen — not to mention my own experience — suggests that … Continue reading →

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“Because he is Jewish he can talk smack about other Jews”

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Nathan Rein

I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that the weirdest religion news story you missed last month was the so-called ”Jewish scandal that wasn’t” (as it was labeled by the National Post of Toronto). Here’s the scenario: … Continue reading →

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Picture Book: Rick Perry at The Response

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Nathan Rein

If you follow the U.S. Republican presidential candidates, you’ll remember that back in early August of this year, Texas Governor Rick Perry addressed a large prayer meeting in Houston’s Reliant Center. The event, called “The Response: A Call to Prayer … Continue reading →

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“A softening of religiosity” in America

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Nathan Rein

In a two-week-old Associated Press story, Mark Chaves is quoted at length as saying that a “decline,” or at least a “softening,” is concealed behind the apparent resurgence in American religion over the past few decades. Chaves, a sociologist of … Continue reading →

Posted in Theory in the Real World | 1 Comment

Now that we know the Norwegian killer was a Christian and a white male, which storyline are we more likely to see in the media?

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Nathan Rein

Option one: Lots of stories asking, “Is Christianity inherently violent? Is Christianity compatible with democracy and civil society?” Option two: Lots of descriptions of the killer’s pathological tendencies, violent inclinations, and eccentric habits, showing that he was a dangerous madman … Continue reading →

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The Most Embarrassing Book Meme (a guest post from Russ McCutcheon)

Posted on December 17, 2010 by Nathan Rein

[The indispensable Russell T. McCutcheon has sent us his own version of the Embarrassing Book Meme. It's a long one -- brace yourself. Russ's text and photos follow, verbatim. -- Ed.] When I got Craig Martin’s invitation to contribute to … Continue reading →

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Theological punctuation?

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Nathan Rein

What do you think? Clever use of punctuation to make a pithy, postmodern, metatheological comment? Or something else? Via The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks. UPDATE: If anyone’s curious, this appears to be the Ellis Theatre in Perryton, Texas. A … Continue reading →

Posted in Nathan Rein, Theory in the Real World | 3 Comments