https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to parody and performance art en https://religiondispatches.org/2024/03/13/katie-britt-wants-you-be-afraid-its-fuel-feeds-conservative-power Last week, Katie Britt, one of Alabama’s two Christian nationalist senators, provided a now-notorious rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. If nothing else it was compelling television (and it even inspired a widely shared Saturday Night… Wed, 13 Mar 2024 03:35:22 EDT Daniel Schultz 4db3a443-6a1d-41bc-844f-e261c539f64d https://religiondispatches.org/2022/09/15/dear-amazon-prime-im-not-racist-why-are-you-destroying-my-precious-middle-earth-black Dear Amazon Prime,* As a loyal customer I’m appalled at your latest WOKE stunt and have some questions for you before I cut to the chase. I’ve been watching the new Rings of Power series based on the works of… Thu, 15 Sep 2022 02:17:12 EDT Mary Rambaran-Olm f6afed5a-e02f-4d95-9887-afed1345319f https://religiondispatches.org/2018/04/27/hank-azaria-offers-stop-doing-apu-sothank-you This week, Emmy Award-winning actor Hank Azaria finally offered to stop doing the voice of Apu, the Indian caricature on The Simpsons. It only took nearly 30 years. While Azaria is getting some kudos for his willingness to acknowledge the… Fri, 27 Apr 2018 11:32:29 EDT Murali Balaji 340e75fe-20f5-4954-9271-68800915fdbb https://religiondispatches.org/2016/07/22/welcome-rncs-elmer-gantry-tent-revival I took Trump as my savior; you take him too—NOT. Fri, 22 Jul 2016 11:57:11 EDT Paula Cooey 9d239b78-5fe7-432b-9489-25594635d92e https://religiondispatches.org/2016/05/09/problem-christian-gentlemen-short-goodbye-ted-cruz-mr-pecksniff-presidential-politics Credit where credit is due. Ted Cruz has a way about him. A way that is sanctimonious, oleaginous, and false. I have been reading and hearing that there is considerable mourning among the ranks of the good Christian soldiers of… Mon, 09 May 2016 12:10:06 EDT Peter Laarman b19254d1-dd23-407e-8b65-7464b55d95df https://religiondispatches.org/2015/12/24/praise-lard-holiday-season In the spirit of the annual evangelical Christian push to “Keep the Christ in Christmas,” the United Church of Bacon (UCB) placed a holiday themed billboard in Las Vegas, Nevada featuring two strips of bacon hiteheadearing a Santa hat and… Thu, 24 Dec 2015 09:59:55 EST Becky Garrison a71776ac-0cf3-4891-ad86-d978d4fe201e https://religiondispatches.org/2015/12/10/i-volunteer-root-out-christian-extremism Dear Director Comey & Secretary Johnson: Director Comey, I sympathize with the frustration you expressed in your testimony before the Senate. I recognize that your agency is understaffed in the face of the unprecedented challenge of Internet-based radicalization and extremist… Thu, 10 Dec 2015 10:34:06 EST Peter Laarman 88a4f8f7-4662-4d17-bf60-de819e0f63a2 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/07/09/can-you-make-comedy-about-ufo-cult-mass-suicide Austin-based filmmaker David Jones is going to try. Thu, 09 Jul 2015 12:57:39 EDT Joseph Laycock b5c39961-991a-4610-a513-7ca4280fda34 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/01/08/how-do-we-talk-about-islam-after-charlie-hebdo It’s all too depressingly predictable and sickeningly familiar. Thu, 08 Jan 2015 02:18:31 EST Asma Afsaruddin 1d4bd0ab-a4a7-440a-baab-43c004b7b3f6 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/01/07/interview-muslim Q: So where does this leave us? Do Muslims condemn terror? A: If I speak, it is used against me, and if I do not speak… Wed, 07 Jan 2015 03:32:00 EST Haroon Moghul 9d0dfd0a-529e-41c7-9bc4-40b80c2cb6d5 https://religiondispatches.org/2013/12/12/satanist-monument-shines-light-christian-privilege Will the challenge to build “an homage to the historic/literary Satan” at Oklahoma’s capital actually change anything? Thu, 12 Dec 2013 01:35:12 EST Joseph Laycock 186092ae-583f-49e3-8b66-790458373e77 https://religiondispatches.org/2013/07/23/politically-incorrect-guide-ramadan Musandam is Arabic for ‘the Hamptons.’ Tue, 23 Jul 2013 01:49:33 EDT Haroon Moghul 5ac900e9-e359-4fb0-bdb4-b44eaa433070 https://religiondispatches.org/2013/05/08/free-arabs-satire-disobedience-and-disclaimers Free Arabs describes its work as “a unique combination of investigative journalism, trendy reporting, arty activism and impertinent satire”—all enshrined in the site’s slogan: “Democracy, Secularism, Fun.” Wed, 08 May 2013 06:29:25 EDT Nabil Echchaibi 798fbe9d-018f-4403-9732-dfb79e432377 https://religiondispatches.org/2013/05/06/scope-bacon-twttr-hoaxes-joel-osteens-big-reveal In the wake of a series of high-profile April Fool’s pranks and a hoax at the expense of mega-preacher Joel Osteen, the question remains: what makes us believe in bacon-flavored mouthwash, a Martian invasion, or the renunciation of faith by one of the world’s most famous Christians? Mon, 06 May 2013 07:39:14 EDT Deborah Whitehead c3df07ad-5752-4fe1-9db1-7aaf82d2ff1f https://religiondispatches.org/2012/10/26/god-responds-mourdock-comment Hint: He’s not happy. Fri, 26 Oct 2012 08:41:18 EDT Evan Derkacz 0fde186c-4648-45cc-9518-3c5fed83343a https://religiondispatches.org/2012/09/24/when-blasphemy-was-riot-didnt-cause-one Why on earth is an orthodox Jew pushing a turbaned Muslim man in a wheelchair on the cover of Charlie Hebdo, the French baby-boomers’ favorite satirical magazine? Don’t bother looking for any deep symbolism—you won’t find it. Mon, 24 Sep 2012 01:10:29 EDT Sophie Gherardi 69c771d4-b069-484e-a0ed-2e1652c900cf https://religiondispatches.org/2012/05/25/there-no-religious-freedom-lesson-pastafarian-stunt The religious are free, but not because they enjoy religious freedom. They are free insofar as all are free. In a liberal society, we all inhabit an equal space of personal and associative liberty in which to worship, blaspheme, or just fix our suppers. Fri, 25 May 2012 09:38:33 EDT Austin Dacey ca0c8e37-2d25-42fb-ba75-d59176a12d97 https://religiondispatches.org/2011/12/21/creators-missing-lowes-ad-tell-all After Lowe’s bowed to pressure from a regional conservative Christian group and pulled its advertising from TLC’s All American Muslim, a satirical video began to circulate. RD interviews the masterminds behind it all. Wed, 21 Dec 2011 03:29:10 EST Hussein Rashid 3947801d-6ec4-4ddd-90a8-606ae5f8903a https://religiondispatches.org/2011/11/14/revolujah-will-be-performed-reverend-billys-reality-joke In order to restore meaning to the ideas of freedom and community, Rev. Billy exposes their current bankruptcy through a “religious” performance drawn from institutional, theatrical, and cultural realms. But make no mistake, it is real. Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:11:12 EST Nathan Schneider aed1420d-9af9-4765-8c52-634962ebd3c0 https://religiondispatches.org/2011/10/17/god-dissolves-occupy-movement Saturday’s surge of Occupy Wall Street-themed actions could be a turning point. There’s obviously more to be felt and said about this than any journalistic treatment could hope to engage; nonetheless, four RD contributors, moderated by Senior Editor Sarah Posner, shared their own thoughts about a movement that remains fluid and thrilling and quite literally indescribable. Mon, 17 Oct 2011 05:45:53 EDT Nathan Schneider 7845628e-5e78-4b3a-9a59-2ffd0d285710 https://religiondispatches.org/2011/07/10/santorum-satire-gone-wild I get a hinky feeling when we’re invited to leer at a woman’s body in order to derive righteously indignant moral lessons. Sun, 10 Jul 2011 11:10:15 EDT Sarah Morice-Brubaker 073cf74f-7729-4bdd-a30e-beef2dccc37e https://religiondispatches.org/2011/06/23/bristol-palins-new-book-reveals-heterosexual-agenda Yes, they do recruit. Thu, 23 Jun 2011 06:19:22 EDT Candace Chellew-Hodge 0f4c0548-1e4b-4b9b-9a52-e563d8a471d8 https://religiondispatches.org/2011/03/28/frodo-and-mormon-share-stage-south-park-mormon-musical After years of anticipation, The Book of Mormon—the Broadway musical from Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, and Robert Lopez, one of the people behind Avenue Q—is in previews; it opens March 24. Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:14:58 EDT Seth Perry fe396218-d802-4d4c-9e85-f8409677c2fd https://religiondispatches.org/2011/03/14/birther-criticism-causes-computer-brain-freeze-daily-show A birther group sees a “cover-up” in the words of an NPR employee, but Jon Stewart will set the record straight. Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08:46:13 EDT Julie Ingersoll 4c6c6d45-1354-4297-b65c-cc524a784f0e https://religiondispatches.org/2011/02/08/lds-church-responds-south-park-mormon-musical Faced with a Broadway send up, Mormon PR plays it cool. Tue, 08 Feb 2011 06:47:46 EST Joanna Brooks f5f1f7b6-6dd0-432d-af81-5093cc74cb99