Iron Man: A Cinematic View on the Military Industrial Complex
The summer of 2008 will be remembered as a superhero blockbuster. Among the year’s biggest box office hits were Batman, Incredible Hulk and Iron Man. Their release coincided with US status as a super-power at a crossroad. The war in Iraq did no go as planned. And the US military involvement in Afghanistan is likely to drag on for years. Russia is flexing its geopolitical muscles in strategic parts of the world. Domestically, the country is going through the worst economic crisis since the great depression. As a result, the country’s political status as a super-power is put in question. What better way to alleviate the current setback than to call upon Hollywood’s pantheon of gods to save the day and prop up America’s image.
Post-Modern Perspective on Myth
Superman: A Mythical American
When I first introduced the idea that Superman was a mythical hero in 1992, the notion came as a surprise to many. Over time it became acceptable to most. Today we can safely say that mythology plays a similar role in American culture and ideology that it did in ancient Egypt, Greece or Rome.
Culture, Ideology and Religion
Religio and American Civil Religion
With this essay we propose a reassessment of American civil religion developed by Robert N. Bellah. The recent Religious Right’s political activism has somewhat changed the landscape of American civil religion, inaugurating a state of religious and political exceptionalism. Shattering the idea of a cultural and political inclusiveness inherent in civil religion. As a result of the changes, a reevaluation was deemed appropriate. To do so we examine Roman religio as a case study of civil religion.
Media, Internet and Spirituality
A Discourse on Spirituality
An outline and basic developments about the concept of Spirit and spirituality.
Washington National Monument
A step by step re-enactment of the building and inauguration of the giant obelisk. The erection of the Washington National Monument stands as a visible sign that celebrates the mythical foundation of its founding Father, revealing in the process how myth and politics blend-in together to generate an ideological consolidation of power.
New Testament Tradition
God the Son: The Scapegoat
A portrait of Jesus in terms of whom he chose to share his presence with; the outcasts and the powerless. Paying the price for his love of God and his followers. This love was seen as threat to the established order by ignoring the religious and political authority.
Old Testament Tradition
Book Job: A Vision of God
This essay is among the more popular essays on this site. It outlines the principle of the Lord-victim. Job who at the beginning of the story was God’s preferred character, is suddenly and for no reason, cast out of favor. Our hero who once at the top of system that he controlled is now an outcast and rejected from that world. As a pariah, he sees the system as an outsider and is able to perceive the whole reality of lordship and victim.
Additional Articles
The Second Sex (Introduction), Simone de Beauvoir
Philosophical discourse on Being by atheists reveal that some might be more spiritual than so-called religious people. This observation certainly applies to Simone de Beauvoir. The Introduction to The Second Sex shows the depths of her humanity and clarity of perception in regards to her depiction of the Other as an essential part of the essence of Being. Our posting of the Introduction of her book is a small tribute to a most influential philosopher of the 20th century.
