Julie Potler, in her Culture Watch column in Sojourners magazine, gives a Christian perspective on the religious use of social media. Christians, she observes, are among the earliest adopters of social media. Even the Pope recently called for clergy to take up blogging and other forms of digital communication. Potler, however, cautions against this enthusiasm by giving an analysis of the redefinition of privacy in the era of social media, where users, especially young users, find it normal to have more and more personal information available for potential public access on the Web.
here & there
Announcements, events, and opportunities related to topics of interest to TIF readers are posted here. Additionally you may find round-ups of news items and brief commentary on current events.
For a listing of all of the events announcements, click here.
For a listing of announcements regarding books, click here.
The Politics of Religion
by John D. BoyOn April 16-17, 2010, Macaulay Honors College of The City University of New York is hosting an international conference on The Politics of Religion.
James Hunter on social solidarity
by Ruth BraunsteinThe Ethics and Public Policy Center has posted a transcript of James Davison Hunter's talk, "To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World," at this year's Faith Angle Conference on Religion, Politics & Public Life. Ross Douthat of The New York Times and Amy Sullivan of Time responded to his comments, which addressed the problem of social solidarity.
Apple’s “technological religion”
by Sam HanWhile there has been much discussion at Immanent Frame on the merits and relevance of certain analytical categories for the sociological study of religion, especially "civil religion," there has not been as much talk of what may be called "technological religion." Andy Jordan of the the Digits blog at the Wall Street Journal has just authored a post on Apple's status as a "religion for the creative class" in the wake of this weekend's long-anticipated release of the iPad.
Terry Eagleton: “Of men and monsters”
by Sam HanThe New Statesmen has run an edited extract from Terry Eagleton's new book, On Evil (Yale University Press, 2010).
Marxism and theology
by John D. BoyAt Monthly Review Zine, Roland Boer asks "why Marxism and theology seem to be so close, why they argue so much, and what it means for both of them," a set of questions he addresses in, not one, but four books (two of which are completed).
“The Death and Life of the Black Church”
by Charles GelmanAt Bloggingheads.tv, Eddie Glaude, Jr. and Josef Sorett discuss what it means to be black and Christian in the present, "post-soul" moment.
Religious freedom and U.S. foreign policy
by John D. BoyOver the past few weeks, The Immanent Frame has been the site of a high-profile discussion on religious freedom. Earlier this week, Foreign Policy ran an article asking, "Why hasn't Obama nominated a religious-freedom ambassador yet?"
Case studies in religion and democracy
by Charles GelmanIn The New York Times, Peter Beinart reviews Ian Buruma's Taming the Gods: Religion and Democracy on Three Continents.
Serving the master
by John D. BoyReligion Dispatches reviews Lake Lambert's Spirituality, Inc.: Religion in the American Workplace (NYU Press, 2009).