Christianity and the Manipulation of Power

Category: religion

I don’t remember the first time I heard Regan Youth’s “Jesus Was A Communist” (also titled “Jesus Was A Pacifist”), but I remember the impact it has had on me. On the song, Dave Rubinstein sings, over and over again for four verses, “Jesus was a communist/Jesus was a pacifist/Jesus was a communist/Jesus didn’t like the rich.” Reagan Youth pointed out the intersections between … Read More Christianity and the Manipulation of Power

February 15, 2024 + american literature, georgia literature, lillian e smith, Literature, race, religion, strange fruit

Lillian Smith and the “Sex-Race-Religion-Economics” Tangle

by Matthew Teutsch

Over the past week, I’ve been reading Lillian Smith’s Killers of the Dream for my Women in the Civil Rights Memoir course and her debut novel Strange Fruit for a book club at the end of January. If memory serves, this is the third, maybe fourth, time I have read each of these books. However, I have never read them at the same time, moving back and forth between the … Read More Lillian Smith and the “Sex-Race-Religion-Economics” Tangle

November 28, 2023 + memory, mineral, music, religion

Mineral’s “The Power of Failing,” Birth, and Death

by Matthew Teutsch

During college, I wouldn’t bat an eye at driving four to five hours one way for a concert then driving back home the same night. We’d drive to New Orleans or Little Rock to see bands like the Juliana Theory or to Lake Charles to see acts like Pop Unknown or Baton Rouge to see The Gloria Record. On a trip to Lake Charles, … Read More Mineral’s “The Power of Failing,” Birth, and Death

November 23, 2023 + christianity, five iron frenzy, mewithoutyou, music, religion, tool

Christian Punk/Hardcore and Evangelicalism

by Matthew Teutsch

During the late 1990s, I was a undergrad in college and heavily involved in the “Christian” hardcore/punk scene. I started in this scene while in high school when I found out about Tooth and Nail Records during youth group events. The promotional material would compare bands on the label to “secular” bands, saying for example that if you like Smashing Pumpkins you’d probably like … Read More Christian Punk/Hardcore and Evangelicalism

April 20, 2023 + christianity, dante stewart, football, jesus christ, race, religion

“Who touched my garments?”: White Supremacy and the Desire of Absolution

by Matthew Teutsch

Each of the synoptic gospels detail Jesus’ raising of Jairus’ daughter after she passes away while Jesus travels to Jairus’ home. On his way to Jairus’ house, a crowd of people swarmed around Jesus and his disciples, hoping to be close to him. In the crowd, a woman who “had had a flow of blood for twelve years” (Mark 5:25) and who had sought … Read More “Who touched my garments?”: White Supremacy and the Desire of Absolution

Interminable Rambling

Christianity and the Manipulation of Power

Category: religion