Sightings Articles
Eminem: Hip-Hop Hype — Jon Pahl
Somewhere near the middle of rapper Eminem's new film, 8 Mile, it dawned on me why I was uneasy. I had looked forward to the "semi-autobiographical" coming-of-age story by the Detroit hip-hop artist, expecting some good prophetic cultural critique. T...
January 16, 2003
Carter's Civil Christianity -- Jon Pahl
George Will's recent, crabbed critique of Jimmy Carter's reception of the Nobel Peace Prize, in Newsweek (October 28, 2002) contrasts remarkably with the agenda of Carter's own civil Christianity -- and thus ironically highlights how worthy Carter is...
November 14, 2002
“The Next Christianity,” A Reply -- Jon Pahl
A secular form of apocalyptic mythologizing, an anachronistic analogy, and debilitating denial make Philip Jenkins’ “The Next Christianity” a poor piece of public prophecy. The basic logic of the piece is a syllogism: a “supernaturalist” Christianity...
September 27, 2002
Saved by Zero? -- Jon Pahl
Connections between religion and advertising are mutual and frequent in American public life. Yet the post-September television advertisements of two major automobile companies seem to have crossed a troubling threshold. Like most people, I d...