Male order...
It’s fascinating to watch yet another Evangelical/Republican homo-sex scandal erupt. After Rep Mark Foley was introduced to the world by a White House page, Rev Ted Haggard hits the media courtesy of a Denver prostitute called Mike Jones. Not only did the (now former) president of the National...
A China moment?...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Presidential politics on 10 3rd, 2006 | No Comments
Stanley Fish says that it’s time for Bush to go to China.
I don’t mean that literally, but metaphorically. It’s time for George Bush to do what Richard Nixon did – perform an act whose effectiveness is a function of the fact that he is the last man anyone would have expected to do it. What...
More on Bush and Katrina...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Environment on 08 28th, 2006 | No Comments
With the one year anniversary of Katrina at hand we will be deluged by a Hurricane of commemoration and analysis over the next few weeks. What strikes me so far is the similarity of all the assessments I have read so far.
Sheryl Gay Stolberg in today’s NYT begins with a focus on that same image...
Back with Bush in New Orlean’s...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Environment on 08 27th, 2006 | No Comments
I am back after taking six months leave of absence from this project currently focusing on getting together a stronger structure for my thesis.
In the news everything circles around the same issues. With the first anniversary of Katrina and the fifth anniversary of September 11 both approaching there...
Fundamentalist Occultism...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Uncategorized on 04 23rd, 2006 | No Comments
From a review of David Kats’ The Occult Tradition from the Renaissance to the Present Day in today’s Australian:
His most provocative claim however, is that “messianic fundamentalist Christianity” belongs firmly within the occult tradition. It is not difficult to see why fundamentalism...
The corporate-religious-complex...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Religious identity on 05 22nd, 2005 | 4 Comments
Interesting quote from a Sunfell post on Daily Kos that I picked up via Jesus Politics, a good blog that I just discovered which seems to be collecting lots of stufff about religion and American politics/culture:
Rev. Rod Parsley, a pastor of the World Harvest megachurch in Ohio…declared, “We’re...
Bush and Star Wars...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Film & popular culture on 05 15th, 2005 | No Comments
Word from Cannes is that the final installment in the Star Wars saga: Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is making the links between the Empire and the Empire.
The last episode rounding out the seminal sci-fi saga Star Wars screened at the Cannes film festival today, capping a six-part series...
Myth and passion in the Schiavo case...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Religious identity on 03 27th, 2005 | No Comments
As many commentators have noted (see the Howard Kurtz round-up) the battle over Terri Schiavo’s life, death and consciousness is the latest episode in the culture wars. An interesting article in USATODAY surveys some of the opinion in European newspapers. The European newspapers point out the...
Bush on good and evil...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Uncategorized on 03 2nd, 2005 | No Comments
Howard Kurtz has an interview with Bush’s former press secretary, Ari Fleischer about his memoir Taking the Heat. Mostly a critique of the “liberal media” but one interesting insider insight on Bush:
“Taking Heat” makes clear that Fleischer is a true believer who got a...
Catholics vote Bush...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Uncategorized on 02 7th, 2005 | No Comments
Interesting new poll data from a Pew survey about religious affiliation and voting patterns:
Among
non-Hispanic Catholics, Kerry won the support of 69 percent with those
with liberal or "modernist" beliefs, while 72 percent of
"traditionalists" favored Bush. But importantly, 55 percent...
Myth and structures of feeling...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Uncategorized on 11 17th, 2004 | No Comments
Over at the ever interesting Revealer, Gregory Grieve expands on an earlier post about "moral values" as a Barthian myth.
The
category of “moral values” was rhetorically powerful because it
operated as an empty signifier, similar to Barthes’ notion of "myth,"
onto which...
A new evangelical politics...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Religious identity on 11 8th, 2004 | Comments Off
The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank sees the emergence of a new kind of evangelical politics in the recent US election. She argues that while organisations like the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition may have previously mobilised voters for Reagan, this time it was grass roots Christian...
New doco extols Bush’s faith...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Presidential politics on 10 1st, 2004 | No Comments
Arts > Frank Rich: Now on DVD: The Passion of the Bush” href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/arts/03rich.html?oref=login”>Review in today’s Time’s of an extraordinary new doco about Bush’s faith. Produced by pro-Bush forces it is to be released on DVD this...