Dietrich Bonhoeffer
February 4th 2006 marked the 100th year anniversary of the birth of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A remarkable German theologian. Bonhoeffer was involved in several clandestine missions to help Jewish people escape Nazi Germany. He also participated in failed plots to overthrow and assassinate the Fuhrer. His unpatriotic actions led him to the gallows. He was executed on April 9th 1945. Only three weeks prior to the end of the war.
Corporatism
Similarities between the rise of Fascism in Italy and forays of US Corporations in the Capital, resulting in the creation of a new body politic. The subsequent advent of the consumer who has unceremoniously displaced the citizen as the pillar of Democracy.
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.
President Obama Inaugural Speech and American Civil Religion
This essay is a follow-up to “Religio and American Civil Religion” in response to President Obama’s inaugural speech. The contents will reveal a continuity with traditional themes delivered by past Presidents. The speech also includes some departures that show a novel development in respect to typical tenets of American civil religion.
Batman: The Masks of the Gods
An alternative view of this popular American super-hero. The mask is the device of choice to conceal an identity. The question is, what ideology lies behind this identity? A critical analysis of how mythology masks ideology.