MAY 18, 2004

SUMMER
10 hot story ideas for the lazy, hazy days

The pews may be empty, but movie theaters, book stores, beaches, video game galleries, meditation centers, camps and weddings are full of ideas for religion-related stories. Here are our top 10, with resources for reporting them.

Jump to:
1. Silver screen theology
2. Video games: good vs. evil
3. Are we there yet? spiritual travel
4. Beyond VBS: a spectrum of youth faith camps
5. Pages of sages: books for the beach
6. Sacred hearth: decorating with devotion
7. Hey Good Lookin': the spiritual side of beauty
8. Here comes the bride - and a whole lotta other issues
9. Kwan Yin: Compassion in action
10. Food for thought

Silver Screen Theology

The Passion has cooled off at the box office, and The DaVinci Code won't crack the theaters until next year. But in between, there is more than enough morality, spirituality and plain old-time religion on the big screen to keep journalists in the dark - scribbling notes, of course.

The slackest months for worship attendance are the biggest months for the studios, and experts say Hollywood is more than happy to take up the churchgoing slack by providing films with religious themes, as noted by this May 10, 2004, New York Times story, "At the Movies, at least, Good Vanquishes Evil" (registration required).

Experts say the unsettled world situation, especially the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq, is the critical backdrop to divining the appeal behind many of the movies. They also say that the blockbuster success of films such as The Passion of the Christ and The Lord of the Rings guarantees that the religion wave in cinema will continue to wash over into next year.

ReligionLink has four past movie-related tips that provide a host of sources, nationally and regionally, who can speak about religion on the big screen:
• A Jan. 20, 2004, tip explored Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.
• A Nov. 18, 2003, tip focused on religious themes in the blockbuster films of The Lord of the Rings.
• A Sept. 29, 2003, tip looked at "Jesus" films as a genre.
• A March 29, 2004, tip looked at the faith-based marketing that fueled The Passion of the Christ's success.

For a rundown of the summer movies, see a New York Times special section.

THE MOVIES
• Every story embodies at least one great religious theme - disgrace, redemption, pilgrimage, to name a few - but recent movies have been explicitly adopting and adapting moral themes, experts say.
• In the category of overtly religious themes, this summer will see the long-awaited Exorcist: The Beginning (opens Aug. 20), a prequel to the famous 1973 thriller.
• There will also be grand epics that will pick up on the eternal - and nondenominational - clash of Good vs. Evil that made the Lord of the Rings series so appealing. Among these will be Troy (opened), a re-telling of the Homeric war adventure, starring Brad Pitt, and King Arthur (July 7).
• Comic-book action figures have always been fertile ground for exploring issues of virtue and the burden of sacrifice for others. Watch for themes in Van Helsing (opened) and the much-anticipated Spider-Man2 (June 30).
• The release of the third in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (June 4), is sure to prompt another round of debate about the religious themes - for good or evil - in the movies and books. See a June 2, 2003, ReligionLink tip, Harry Potter's biggest battle: religion.
• Experts say terrorism and insecurity are also feeding apocalyptic fever. The summer's premier disaster epic, The Day After Tomorrow (May 28), about a cataclysm of global warming, reflects the broad anxiety explored in the widely watched May miniseries on NBC, 10.5, about an earthquake that destroys California.
• A restored version of the original Godzilla, which embodied Cold War fears about nuclear destruction, was released in May on the film's 50th anniversary. Also note a French film, Time of the Wolf (May 28, limited release) which depicts an apocalypse in which people survive a large-scale disaster and then try to cope with the destruction of civilization. The themes echo those of last year's harrowing 28 Days Later.
• Science fiction and science fact intermingle again this summer, following the release of Godsend (April 30), the Robert DeNiro thriller about grief-stricken parents who clone their dead son. Code 46 (Aug. 6) also takes up the cloning theme. The ethics of technological innovation will be featured in a remake of The Stepford Wives (June 11). I, Robot (July 9) is a detective story set in 2035, starring Will Smith and based on a series of Isaac Asimov stories.
• Director M. Night Shyamalan has made his reputation on religion-infused brain-teasers. His latest thriller, The Village (July 30), will add an extra dose of suspense and fable. The movie is set in a small town in 1897 Pennsylvania. No one can leave because the woods surrounding the village are filled with mythical creatures.
• Despite the largely reverent tone that many movies seem to have been taking toward religion, at least one summer film, Saved! (May 28), is betting that Christians can poke fun at their faith. The movie stars Macaulay Culkin (of Home Alone fame) as a born-again Baptist at a Christian high school who thinks he might be gay. The film has already received mixed reactions from Christian focus groups.
• In a more serious vein, Saints and Sinners (June 18) is a documentary recounting the efforts of two gay men in a seven-year relationship to get married in the Catholic Church. The film explores a number of issues making headlines these days.
• Several small, intense dramas will reprise eternal religious and moral questions. Among them is A Home at the End of the World (July 23), based on a novel by Michael Cunningham, who wrote 2002's The Hours. Stander (Aug. 6) is based on a true story about a white South African policeman who has an epiphany and decides to fight apartheid. In My Country (Sept. 3) turns a nonfiction book about South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission into a love story between an American journalist (Samuel L. Jackson) and an Afrikaans poet (Julianne Moore).

Video games: good vs. evil

Don't look for kids, boys particularly, in apple trees or sandlots this summer. Look for them in darkened rooms in front of video screens, since summer represents a no-holds-barred chance to indulge in marathon gaming.

Absent from many adults' radar, video games generate revenues rivaling those of the most popular movies. Given their mesmerizing hold on players and the huge amount of time spent playing, video games are easily one of the greatest influences on the minds of young people.

Reacting to the prevalence of occult themes in video games, a community of Christian game developers has arisen. These industry professionals are trying to create content that they hope will be both engaging and morally and spiritually uplifting.

Religion figures prominently in video games, offering numerous avenues of exploration for reporters of religion and ethics. The battle between good and evil and the choices that entails for players are constant themes. Sometimes religion is dressed as science fiction, fantasy or metaphysics. Sometimes religious figures - monks, priests, priestesses, Buddhas and avatars - are portrayed as good or evil characters. And sometimes players create whole worlds, becoming "gods" themselves, even to the point of being worshipped.

ANGLES
• Talk with a historian of the Christian church about the medieval era, when sport and games were under church control. Interestingly, video games frequently evoke that time, too.
• Read Religion & Ethics Newsweekly's May 30, 2003 story on values in video games. Experts disagree about the effects - if any - of video game violence on players. The story quotes Dr. Susan Valenti of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, who, speaking at a hearing, said: "Violent video game play was a predictor of delinquency compared to all other factors. There was a positive correlation between violent video games and aggressive personalities." It also quotes Professor Henry Jenkins, who teaches media studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology: "I don't believe kids are brainwashed by the medium that they consume. I don't believe that the media in and of itself will turn a kid into a psycho-killer. I believe that media is most powerful in our lives when it reinforces our existing values and least powerful when it contradicts them."
• Take a quiz written by a player at a trivia site to test your knowledge of references to religion in video games.
• Read a Beliefnet dialogue that discusses the premise that an increasing number of video games have religious or church figures as villains.
• Read another Beliefnet dialogue that debates the idea that video games are good for society.
• Read Christ Centered Game Reviews, the online gaming magazine with a Christian perspective.
• See ChristianGaming.com for purchase of games with religious orientation, links to the Christian gaming community and a description of Project X, a fund-raising effort by professionals who build an elaborate, virtual world in which many players in different locations may simultaneously interact.
• Read about the Christian Game Developers Conference, to be held July 30-31, 2004, in Portland, Ore. It is organized by the 3-year-old, nonprofit Christian Game Developer Community, comprised of industry professionals "who are called to glorify God through the administration and application of our interests and abilities within the gaming industry."
• Ask these developers, non-Christian developers and scholars why they think the occult is prevalent in video games.

Are we there yet? spiritual travel

Summer, for many, means a time to get away from life's regular routines with trips, long or short. Sometimes the goal is to not just get away but also to get in touch with the religious or spiritual side of life through retreats, pilgrimages, cruises and visits to sacred sites.

ANGLES
• What religious retreat centers exist in your area? What about noteworthy spiritual sites? Are individuals or local organizations planning or leading journeys to places holy to them? What do people doing spirituality-oriented vacations get out of them - or fail to get out of them? Are people rediscovering traditional religious practices or dabbling outside their own faith?
• Read "Spiritual Retreats: Om-ward Bound," a 2001 Travel + Leisure magazine article.
• Beliefnet.com has posted a multifaith listing of spiritual retreat centers.
• Travel With a Challenge online magazine posts a resource list that includes a "Wellness and Spiritual/Pilgrimage Travel" category (scroll down).
• Edward F. Bergman, chairman of geographic studies at Lehman College of the City University of New York, wrote The Spiritual Traveler: New York City (HiddenSpring, 2001), which lists noteworthy spiritual and sacred sites. He will be in Vancouver during summer 2004. Contact edwbergman@aol.com.
• Dianne Aprile is a journalist and author whose books include Making A Heart For God: A Week Inside a Catholic Monastery (SkyLight Paths, 2000) and The Abbey of Gethsemani: Place of Peace and Paradox (Trout Lily Press, 1998). She lives in Louisville, Ky. Contact dian@sheaf.win.net.

Beyond VBS: a spectrum of youth faith camps

Summer camp can offer more than memories of campfires, mosquitoes and poison ivy. Parents and religious organizations frequently consider the temporary community of religious-based camps not merely a wholesome activity, but also a technique for awakening or confirming faith among the young. In fact, Christian Camping International USA calls it "unsurpassed for igniting faith, instilling character and implanting ideals in participants, regardless of age or background." Belief in this method of infusing identity and conviction is so strong that camps exist for children and youth representing virtually every religious tradition - and for those whose families eschew religion altogether.

ANGLES
• What faith-based camps for youth are available in your area? What goes on there that makes religious organizations consider them such powerful tools for inspiring and forming belief and service among the young? What about on-site day camps - such as vacation Bible schools - at houses of worship? How do children and teens articulate their experience and the effect it has on them? How do camps from various religious world views differ and resemble one another? How has the camp experience changed over the years? What new themes, trends and techniques are emerging?
• Christian Camping International USA's web site says, "Camping has long been considered one of Christianity's most effective mediums for impacting lives and growing the Church." CCI/USA says its database of Christian faith-based camps, conference centers and retreat centers is the Internet's most comprehensive.
• Larry Beatty, executive director/president at the Christian camp and retreat center Jumonville in Hopwood, Pa. is chairman of CCI/USA. Contact 1-800-463-7688 or 724-439-4912, larry@jumonville.org.
• MySummerCamps.com's listing of religious camps includes names, locations and phone numbers for camps in the categories of Anglican, Baptist, Bible, Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Muslim, Presbyterian and Other Religious.
• Read a Moment magazine article, "Camping and Continuity: The state of Jewish summer camps and their relationship to Jewish identity," posted by MyJewishLearning.com. Read an article from About.com on Jewish summer camps in America.
• Camp Young Judaea is a Jewish summer camp near Wimberley, Texas. Camp director is Frank Silberlicht, 512-847-9564, frank@cyjtexas.org.
• Many mosques and Muslim groups offer summer camps, ranging from a VBS-style day camp format to residential camps of several weeks or more. Inquire at your local mosque. For examples, see Alimy, a residential summer "leadership institute" for Muslim youth in Bedford, Va. Contact 540-297-8708. Muslim Youth Camp encourages Muslims of all ages and entire families to attend from Aug. 15-21, 2004, at Camp Loma Mar in northern New Mexico. Contact the Islamic Education Institute in Palo Alto at 650-967-9000. A May 8, 2004, Iowa City Press-Citizen article reports that after a year of controversy, plans are advancing for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to lease land for the Muslim Youth Camp of America to build camping facilities.
• Sikh summer camps are on the rise as a way to inculcate youth in their faith. Read a June 18, 1998, New York Times story posted on Sikhspectrum.com.
• Camp Quest in Union, Ky., was started in 1996 by the Free Inquiry Group Inc. as the first U.S. residential summer camp for "the children of Atheists, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists, Brights, or whatever other terms might be applied to those who hold a naturalistic, not supernatural, world view." Contact 859-384-2324, Helen@camp-quest.com.
• Seeds of Peace International Camp in Otisfield, Maine, works to end the cycle of violence in warring nations by bringing together teenagers from both sides. The program selects participants from the Middle East, the Balkans, South Asia and Cyprus. During the summer months, contact 207-627-7202, camp@seedsofpeace.org.
• Nearly 40 percent of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 have been a camper at least once at a summer camp run by a religious organization with religious teachings or songs in its program, according to a study by the National Study of Youth and Religion.

Pages of sages: books for the beach

Three of the top five best-selling books for 2003 dealt with religious or spiritual topics - The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren (Zondervan, 2002) , The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Doubleday, 2003) and The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (Hyperion, 2003). Glorious Appearing: The End of Days by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins (Tyndale House Publishers, 2004), the last of the Left Behind series of apocalyptic novels, was a best seller even before it appeared on bookstore shelves in March

Religion is clearly a hot publishing subject, and summer brings with it time to read on the beach - or wherever else vacations are taking place. Local and regional interest influences book sales. What religion-themed books will people be catching up on in your area?

ANGLES

Fiction: Fiction is an especially flexible medium for religious themes and a burgeoning one, a medium that traditionally provides the kind of engrossing read that vacationers indulge in. What fiction titles are moving? What about older but still popular titles - called backlist in the book trade - such as Anita Diamant's The Red Tent (Picador USA, 1998)? What about evangelical Christian fiction, which is growing in popularity?

Theology: Authors' takes on religion topics are wildly diverse. The DaVinci Code, which proposes a marriage of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene and a conspiracy theory of Christian history, and Glorious Appearing, which predicts the second coming of Christ, couldn't be further apart theologically. Ask local booksellers who's buying what titles; ask readers or clergy why people are reading what they're reading. Does theology matter?

Politics: 2004 is an election year, bringing the publishing and sales of political books. President George Bush has made his faith an explicit part of his image. Two recent books look at Bush's faith: A Man of Faith: The Spiritual Journey of George W. Bush by David Aikman (W Publishing Group, 2004) and The Faith of George W. Bush by Stephen Mansfield (J.P. Tarcher, 2003). The latter has appeared on some best-seller lists. Are these or other politics and religion titles in demand?

What about non-Christians? Though Albom's heaven might be nondenominational, the top-selling books mostly deal with Christian topics. What about readers who aren't Christians? Ask booksellers and non-Christian congregations or groups whether their summer reading choices will incorporate religious themes.

Background: The trade publication Publishers Weekly provides number of copies sold in an analysis of 2003 best sellers. Books by Brown, Warren, Albom remain on this year's lists. The magazine compiles hardcover and paperback religion best sellers monthly. Other religion best-seller lists: Amazon.com; best sellers in the evangelical Christian market, distributed by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.

Sacred hearth: decorating with devotion

Home is a popular space to entertain in during the relaxed days of summer, and hospitality is a practice with spiritual and religious meaning. With the cultural mainstreaming of evangelical Christianity come Christian takes on a variety of lifestyle topics, and interior decorating is one. Beautiful Places, Spiritual Spaces: The Art of Stress-Free Interior Design by Sharon Hanby-Robie and Deb Strubel, to be published in July, combines a decorating guide with Christian devotional that Northfield/Moody Publishers touts as an alternative to the use of feng shui in decorating. Decorator Laurie Smith from the popular Trading Spaces cable TV show is a speaker at a number of Women of Faith conferences this year. Even the artsy decorating magazine nest gives a tongue-in-cheek nod in its spring issue to traditional Christian symbolism in the home.

ANGLES
• Contact interior decorators. Are they getting special requests from Christian clients or clients of other faiths?
• Contact local Christian home and family life groups. What kinds of resources are they using for home decorating? How important is their faith and its symbols in the look of their homes?
• Interior designer Sharon Hanby-Robie says she gets many requests to design prayer closets for her clients. Contact the co-author of Beautiful Places, Spiritual Spaces through Northfield/Moody Publishers publicity manager Janis Backing, 312-329-2108.
• Read a story posted by ChristianityToday.com about Trading Spaces decorator Laurie Smith in the November-December 2003 Today's Christian Woman. Contact her through her agent, Valerie Summers, at the William Morris Agency's Nashville office, 615-963-3000.
• Georgia-based decorator Terry Willits is the author of a number of decorating books and a contributor to Marriage Partnership magazine. Contact twillits@aol.com.
• Brenda Gay Shumaker of Danville, Pa., is an interior designer and author of Decorating Your Heart and Home (Harvest House Publishers, 2001). She hosts the syndicated radio show Designs for Living. Contact 570-275-9695.

Hey Good Lookin': the spiritual side of beauty

In art, the divine is almost always represented by great physical beauty. The fact that most religions teach that true beauty is on the inside is apparently cold comfort to the millions of women who diet, have plastic surgery and Botox injections, or pour themselves into skimpy summer clothes. In a culture obsessed with physical appearances, does spiritual and religious teaching have any impact on perceptions of beauty? How do women view the connection between spirituality and beauty, if at all? Do people perceive that those who are good-looking are more spiritual and those who are less attractive are less spiritual? What do women say could change their perception of what makes them beautiful?

ANGLES
• Lilian Calles Barger is the author of Eve's Revenge: Women and a Spirituality of the Body (Brazos Press, 2003), an examination of women's relationships with their bodies and how that affects their Christianity. She is president and founder of the Damaris Project, a nonprofit based in Dallas, Texas, that does research in feminist thought and women's religious issues. Contact 214-373-7765, lilian@damarisproject.org.
• R. Marie Griffith is associate professor of religion at Princeton University in New Jersey and author of Born Again Bodies: Flesh and Spirit in American Christianity (University of California Press, October 2004), an investigation into Christian fitness and diet culture. Contact 609-258-4515, Griffith@princeton.edu.
• Richard Viladesau is author of Theological Aesthetics: God in Imagination, Beauty and Art (Oxford University Press, 1999), in which he discusses how beauty can reveal the divine. He is a professor of theology at Fordham University, a Catholic institution in New York, N.Y. Contact 718-817-3253, viladesau@fordham.edu.
• Madeline Crabb is a Christian and self-proclaimed "modesty consultant" who believes that many Christian women need a dose of restraint in their appearance. Crabb is the author of Dressing to Please God: Clothing the Mind, Body, and Spirit, a Training Manual, which offers biblical guidelines for female fashion and personal care. She lives in Bloomington, Ind. Contact 812-336-8581, morethanconquerors@morethanconquerors.us.
• The Rev. Sheron Patterson is known for her books and her radio program, The Love Clinic. They focus on Christian relationships, particularly of African-American women. She is senior pastor of St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Dallas. Contact 214-922-0000, revscp@stpaulumcdallas.com.
• Read an essay by beliefnet.com columnist Frederica Mathewes-Green about how cosmetic surgery can move people further away from the idea of being made in God's image.
• Read an essay by Rebbetzin Feige Twerski, who is Jewish, about the relationship between beauty and God as expressed in the form of the human body.
• Young children struggle with issues of beauty, too. Etan Boritzer's book What is Beautiful? (Veronica Lane Books, 2002), aimed at children ages 4 to 10, explores religious and physical aspects of beauty by emphasizing "the inside stuff." Contact Boritzer in Santa Monica, Calif., at 310-315-9502.

Here comes the bride - and a whole lotta other issues

June is traditionally the month for weddings. But debates over same-sex marriage have shown that ideas of "the perfect couple" are highly subjective and deeply divisive. As couples rush to marry in Massachusetts, the state of unions between same-sex couples is precarious at best, with clergy facing civil and religious sanctions and with couples weighing opportunities for civil marriage that change with legislation and court rulings. Meanwhile, most Americans remain opposed to same-sex marriage, and campaigns for a constitutional amendment barring gay marriage press forward. What effects have gay unions had on the economic, religious, civil and emotional side of weddings?

ANGLES
• Increased interest in gay marriage has spawned a new kind of wedding professional - the gay wedding marriage consultant. Read a Forbes magazine article by Aude Lagorce that theorizes gay marriages could become a $16.8 billion industry.
• Deborah Gordon, a.k.a. Minister Deb, is a graduate of the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta and is an officiant at gay unions. In July, she will co-sponsor the Gay and Lesbian Wedding Expo in Anaheim, Calif. Read an Inland Valley (Calif.) Voice article, posted by latimes.com, about Minister Deb and gay marriages. Contact 800-570-8573, deb@ministerdeb.com.
• Two New York state ministers face misdemeanor charges for marrying same-sex couples without a civil license. Read a May 22, 2004, CBSNewYork.com story.
• A Jan. 31, 2004, New York Times story about religiously observant same-sex couples seeking to consecrate marriages in churches or synagogues. It is posted by the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas.
• See a Feb. 25, 2004, ReligionLink tip on same-sex marriage.

Kwan Yin: Compassion in action

Compassion has become a political catchphrase along with an important value embraced by many religious traditions. Summer has few religious holidays, so this year might be a good time to write about Kwan Yin, the Buddhist goddess of compassion, whose enlightenment is celebrated on June 19. She is a bodhisattva, meaning she attained enlightenment but chose to remain in this world to help others attain it, too. Kwan Yin has becoming increasingly popular with Western women who identify with her or say they look to her for guidance.

ANGLES
• Read a story about Kwan Yin's increasing popularity posted at Beliefnet.com.
• Dr. Maria Reis Habito is a Kwan Yin scholar based in Dallas, Texas. Contact reishabito@hotmail.com.
• Sandy Boucher is the author of Discovering Kwan Yin, Buddhist Goddess of Compassion (Beacon Press, 1999). Read an excerpt posted on Beliefnet.com. Contact 617-776-7416.

Food for thought

In Islam, food is considered one of God's greatest blessings. In fact, most religious rituals, no matter what the faith, seem to involve food. When faith communities gather for festivals or dinners, it's a good time to look at how food contributes meaning to faith and practice. Whether it's Aunt Dora's casserole or Grandma's tamales, the food of faith says a lot about a community. As faith communities become more diverse and many cities have a wider array of religions, food is a good gateway for explaining new and changing traditions.

ANGLES
• Read an interview with Daniel Sack, author of Whitebread Protestants: Food and Religion in American Culture (St. Martin's Press, 2000). He is associate director of the Material Religion Project. Contact him 630-579-6954, dansack@earthlink.net.
• Peter Harle, a visiting lecturer, has taught a course on Religion and Food at Macalester College. Read a syllabus. Contact him at 612-824-5353, harle@macalester.edu.
• Charlie Wallace, a chaplain and associate professor of religious studies, has taught a course called Soul Food: Eating and Drinking in Western Religion at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. Read a syllabus. Contact him at 503-370-6213, cwallace@willamette.edu.
• Jerome Bauer teaches at Washington University in St. Louis and has a special interest in food and religion, as well as South Asian religions. For example, he teaches a class on Hindu medicine and Indian food, explaining that understanding Hindu medicinal and nutritional theory is critical to understanding the religion. Read about the class. See Bauer's web site on religion and food. Contact Bauer at jhbauer@artsci.wustl.edu, 314-725-1470.
• Jenna Weissman-Joselit, a visiting professor of Jewish History at Princeton University, gave at talk on "Jewish in Dishes: Food, Faith, and Community in Modern America" at a 2002 symposium on Food and Judaism. Contact her at 609-258-4710, joselit@princeton.edu.
• Vegetarianism has long been associated with different religions. The International Vegetarian Union has a web site on religion and vegetarianism.
• The Better Health Channel sponsors a web page on the importance of food in religion.
• The Dallas Morning News posts a page of recipes for funerals.
• Visit eBay.com to get an idea of the range of church cookbooks sought by collectors.
• Read a Jan. 14, 2004 Associated Press story posted at kansas.com, "Cooking's spiritual dimensions inspire cookbooks," a review of modern cookbooks seasoned with spirituality.