Brandon Ambrosino has written for The New York Times, The Boston Globe, BBC, The Economist, Pacific Standard, and The Atlantic. He lives with his partner in Delaware.
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3 New September Shows with Religion Subplots
Image via RNS/NBC/Ron Batzdorff
This Is Us is tough to describe because the last few minutes of the first episode contain a major game-changing surprise. But without giving too much away: Several characters from completely different walks of life are turning 36. Each of them feels stuck and knows it’s time for a change: An overweight woman determines to lose the weight, and a sitcom actor quits his series. As you might expect, their paths begin to cross in unexpected ways, and we learn just how connected these strangers really are.
Religious themes:
Sure, the whole “show-how-these-strangers-are-connected-even-if-they-don’t-realize-it” device isn’t new — but the show succeeds anyway. In today’s fast-paced, competitive, fragmented world, it’s always a good reminder that we’re all connected to each other, even, and especially when, we aren’t aware of it.
Evangelicals Criticizing Rockstar Trey Pearson For Coming Out Are Missing Something Important
Image via Facebook/Brian Killian
Counseling a gay person to deny his same-sex attraction, to marry a woman, to raise children with her; and then to condemn him when he discovers years later what a futile plan that was — this is not the kingdom of God. What it is is the kingdom of a particular interpretation of the Bible, the kingdom of a theological system turned in on itself, of religious people who, like the older brother in Jesus' story of the Prodigal, refuse to believe that God could be so extravagant with grace.
Why This Rabbi Wants Christians to Know About Judaism and Jews to Know About Jesus
Image via alessandro guerriero/Shutterstock.com
Imagine a test on world religions that asks this question: “Who founded Christianity?”
Jesus, right? Wrong.