One of the most sacred activities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints– or Mormons— is the act of serving as a missionary. When a young man reaches age eighteen, or when a young woman reaches age twenty-one, they have the opportunity– and believers say privilege– to serve for eighteen to twenty-four monthsContinue reading “Mormon Missions v. Martin”

Overview There are all kinds of tattoos that people get whether out of how it looks or to symbolize a specific person, thing, or event that impacts their lives. For the purpose of this blog, the tattoos being discussed are religious/tribal tattoos or relating to religion is some way. Religious tattoos can have a wideContinue reading “The Power of a Tribal Tattoo”

There are several artists in our cultural that have large fan followings, such as Beyonce, Justin Bieber, and Travis Scott. Although, there is one fan base in particular that stands out to me and that is those of Taylor Swift, or otherwise known as “Swifties.” These are some of the most loyal fans to theContinue reading “The Taylor Swift Fan Base”

Isaiah Shembe legitimated indigenous Zulu practices within Christian contexts and Christian tradition to followers of indigenous Zulu religion by to his healing practices, interpretation of the Christian Bible, and claims to prophetic dreams.  Shembe drew on well-established practices of healing within the Zulu culture, which were one of the social functions of religion as theContinue reading “Not a White Man’s Messiah”

As of late, there has been a lot of talk about who Jesus is. Whether that is one side saying he is loving and would never promote hate and exclusiveness, or the other side saying that Jesus was clear that there was one and only one way to be saved and that the Bible wasContinue reading “Jesus the White, American, Republican Savior”

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/horoscope Initially, when I sat down to write this blog essay, I was stumped. I was not sure whether to analyze an episode of The Office, as it seems to hold a lot of importance in the gen Z mindset, or to uncover how one legitimizes, authorizes, and authenticates a cowboy hat. However, it seemsContinue reading “The Horoscope”

Commercialism versus Christian Meaning When looking at a cultural artifact I chose A Charlie Brown Christmas for my case study. Although this short film already has religious themes to it, I believe Charles M. Schultz uses legitimation, authenticity, and authority throughout the film to critique the commercialization of Christmas that has strayed away from theContinue reading “Case Study: A Charlie Brown Christmas”

Individuals are often good at mistaking practices and beliefs to be the “right” or “only” way to go about certain things in life. This stems from followers of various religions taking scripture and practices out of their original context and placing them into categories that benefit personal agendas. One such example of this is theContinue reading “The True Missions Behind Self-Proclaimed Missionaries”

Delving into the meaning behind leaders taking photos with the Bible. Throughout the United States’ history, it has been a long tradition that the president elect be sworn into office with their hand on a Bible, of their choice; however, there have been instances where presidents have been deliberately photographed holding a Bible. This is … Continue reading American Presidents and the Bible →