Media Theory, Religion and Theology

Author: Janet H. Murray
ISBN: 9780262631877
Pages: 336
Summary: Stories define how we think, play, and understand our lives. In this comprehensive and readable book—already a classic statement of the aesthetics of digital media, acclaimed by practitioners and theorists alike—Janet Murray shows how the computer is reshaping the stories we live by.

Murray discusses the unique properties and pleasures of digital environments and connects them with the traditional satisfactions of narrative. She analyzes the dramatic satisfaction of participatory stories and considers what would be necessary to move interactive fiction from the formats of childish games and confusing labyrinths into a mature and compelling art form. Through a blend of imagination and techno-wizardry, Murray provides both readers and writers with a guide to the storytelling of the future.

"(cloth published by Free Press, 1997)"

Author: Rory Noland
ISBN: 9780310224716
Pages: 352
Summary: This book explores issues of character facing Christian artists who want to use their gifts more effectively in church ministry.

Author: John Shelby Spong
ISBN: 9780060675394
Pages: 480
Summary: The legendary Episcopal Bishop tells of his lifelong struggle to champion an authentic christianity based on love, not hatred.

Author: Shane Hipps
ISBN: 9780310262749
Pages: 176
Summary: The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture helps the church navigate its challenges and opportunities in the context of our electronic culture. Author Shane Hipps interprets and explains this culture, as well as the implications for our faith and the church. Providing both history and prophecy, The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture invites us to engage new cultural realities while staying connected to our spiritual heritage.

Author: Quentin J. Schultze
ISBN: 9780801064807
Pages: 112
Summary: Increasing numbers of churches today use high-tech tools such as videos and PowerPoint presentations in their worship services. But without wisdom, those tools can turn their services more into entertainment than worship. How can churches use technology to communicate meaning instead of seducing people with special effects? How can technology be adopted to help people connect with God and each other to foster authentic worship? High-Tech Worship? takes a careful look at these issues, giving readers practical guidance on how they can best use the gift of technology in their churches. Both clergy and lay leaders will benefit from its creative suggestions as they seek to integrate technology wisely into their worship services. Written by nationally known communications expert Quentin J. Schultze, High-Tech Worship? addresses an important yet often overlooked issue that affects the quality of worship in every church.

Author: Michael Medved
ISBN: 9780060924355
Pages: 416
Summary: Why does our popular culture seem so consistently hostile to the values that most Americans hold dear? Why does the entertainment industry attack religion, glorify brutality, undermine the family, and deride patriotism?
In this explosive book, one of the nation's best known film critics examines how Hollywood has broken faith with its public, creating movies, television, and popular music that exacerbate every serious social problem we face, from teenage pregnancies to violence in the streets.
Michael Medved powerfully argues that the entertainment business follows its own dark obsessions, rather than giving the public what it wants: In fact, the audience for feature films and network television has demonstrated its profound disillusionment in recent years, with disastrous consequences for many entertainment companies. Meanwhile, overwhelming numbers of our fellow citizens complain about the wretched quality of our popular culture--describing the offerings of the mass media as the worst ever. Medved asserts that Hollywood ignores--and assaults--the values of ordinary American families, pursuing a self-destructive and alienated ideological agenda that is harmful to the nation at large and to the industry's own interests.
In hard-hitting chapters on "The Attack on Religion," "The Addiction to Violence," "Promoting Promiscuity," "The Infatuation with Foul Language," "Kids Know Best," "Motivations for Madness," and other subjects, Medved outlines the underlying themes that turn up again and again in our popular culture. He also offers conclusive evidence of the frightening real-world impact of these messages on our society and our children.
Finally, Medved shows where and how Hollywood took a disastrous wrong turn toward its current crisis, and he outlines promising efforts both in and outside the industry to restore a measure of sanity and restraint to our media of mass entertainment.
Sure to elicit strong response, whether it takes the form of cheers of support or howls of enraged dissent, "Hollywood vs. America" confronts head-on one of the most significant issues of our times.

Author: Aaron K. Ketchell
ISBN: 9780801886607
Pages: 344
Summary: Over the past century, Branson, Missouri, has attracted tens of millions of tourists. Nestled in the heart of the Ozark Mountains, it offers a rare and refreshing combination of natural beauty and family-friendly recreation -- from scenic lakes and rolling hills to theme parks and variety shows. It has boasted of big name celebrities, like Wayne Newton, Andy Williams, and Petula Clark, as well as family entertainers like Mickey Gilley, the Shanghai Magic Troupe, Jim Stafford, and Yakov Smirnoff.
But there is more to Branson's fame than just recreation. As Aaron K. Ketchell discovers, a popular variant of Christianity underscores all Branson's tourist attractions and fortifies every consumer success. In this lively and engaging study, Ketchell explores Branson's unique blend of religion and recreation. He explains how the city became a mecca of conservative Christianity -- a place for a "spiritual vacation" -- and how, through conscious effort, its residents and businesses continuously reinforce its inextricable connection with the divine.
Ketchell combines the study of lived religion, popular culture, evangelicalism, and contemporary American history to present an accurate and honest account of a distinctly American phenomenon.

Author: Glenn Greenwald
ISBN: 9780977944002
Pages: 146
Summary: Glenn Greenwald was not a political man. Not liberal, not conservative. Politicians were all the same and it didn’t matter which party was in power. Extremists on both ends canceled each other out, and the United States would essentially remain forever centrist. Or so he thought. Then came September 11, 2001. Greenwald’s disinterest in politics was replaced by patriotism, and he supported the war in Afghanistan. He also gave President Bush the benefit of the doubt over his decision to invade Iraq. But, as he saw Americans and others being disappeared, jailed and tortured, without charges or legal representation, he began to worry. And when he learned his president had seized the power to spy on American citizens on American soil, without the oversight required by law, he could stand no more. At the heart of these actions, Greenwald saw unprecedented and extremist theories of presidential power, theories that flout the Constitution and make President Bush accountable to no one, and no law. How Would a Patriot Act? is one man’s story of being galvanized into action to defend America’s founding principles, and a reasoned argument for what must be done. Greenwald’s penetrating words should inspire a nation to defend the Constitution from a president who secretly bestowed upon himself the powers of a monarch. If we are to remain a constitutional republic, Greenwald writes, we cannot abide radical theories of executive power, which are transforming the very core of our national character, and moving us from democracy toward despotism. This is not hyperbole. This is the crisis all Americans—liberals and conservatives--now face. In the spirit of the colonists who once mustered the strength to denounce a king, Greenwald invites us to consider: How would a patriot act today?