Table of Contents
Preface to the Third Edition
Introduction: Finding Religion in Unexpected Places
Bruce David Forbes
PART I. RELIGION IN POPULAR CULTURE
1. The Origin(s) of Superman: Reimagining Religion in the Man of Steel
Dan W. Clanton Jr.
2. The Oriental Monk in American Popular Culture
Jane Naomi Iwamura
3. Adventure Time and Sacred History: Myth and Reality in Children’s Animated Cartoons
Elijah Siegler
4. Monstrous Muslims: Historical Anxieties and Future Trends
Sophia Rose Arjana
5. The Weight of the World: Religion and Heavy Metal Music in Four Cases
Jason C. Bivins
PART II. POPULAR CULTURE IN RELIGION
6. Christmas Is Like a Snowball
Bruce David Forbes
7. Mipsterz: Hip, American, and Muslim
Kristin M. Peterson Nabil Echchaibi
8. Megachurches, Celebrity Pastors, and the Evangelical Industrial Complex
Jessica Johnson
9. People of the Picture Book: PJ Library and American Jewish Religion
Rachel B. Gross
10. Meditation on the Go: Buddhist Smartphone Apps as Video Game Play
Gregory Price Grieve
PART III. POPULAR CULTURE AS RELIGION
11. It’s About Faith in Our Future: Star Trek Fandom as Cultural Religion
Michael Jindra
12. Shopping, Religion, and the Sacred “Buyosphere”
Sarah McFarland Taylor
13. Losing Their Way to Salvation: Women, Weight Loss, and the Religion of Thinness
Michelle M. Lelwica
14. The “Godding Up” of American Sports
Joseph L. Price
15. Celebrity Worship as Parareligion: Bieber and the Beliebers
Pete Ward
PART IV. RELIGION AND POPULAR CULTURE IN DIALOGUE
16. Yoga in Popular Culture: Controversies and Conflicts
Shreena Niketa Gandhi
17. Mirror, Mirror on Ourselves: Disney as a Site of Religio-Cultural Dialogue
Stephanie Brehm and Myev Rees
18. Can Watching a Movie Be a Spiritual Experience?
Robert K. Johnston
19. Rap Music and Its Message: On Interpreting the Contact between Religion and Popular Culture
Anthony B. Pinn
20. Broadswords and Face Paint: Why Braveheart Still Matters
Curtis D. Coats and Stewart M. Hoover
Contributors
Index