God in the Details: American Religion in Popular Culture - Softcover

"The insights explored in this volume provide rich resources for the student of missiology for the crucial task of engaging contemporary American culture, not only from an anthropological, but also from a missiological perspective.." -Eddie Gibbs, "Missiology: An International Review "Mazur and McCarthy present a rich collection of ethnographic research detailing the religious myths and practices exhibited through a variety of expressions of popular culture.." -"Religious Studies Review, January 2002 ..."lively and fun-filled... Recommended for all readership levels." -D. W. Ferm, "Choice "With this book's smart and insightful authors acting as your guides, you can leave behind the seemingly secular surface of American popular culture, come to understand the religious impulses coursing through music and television, feel their pulse, tap their energy, and in the end reach another country where ordinary things reveal unexpected significance. Be a hero. Take the journey." -Joel Martin, co-editor of Screening the Sacred: Religion, Mythology and Ideology in Popular American Film "Seeking not 'religious things' but religious meanings, the authors in this excellent collection address such diverse and pervasive interests in North American culture as football, dieting, southern barbeque, cop shows, rap, and religion on TV. Simultaneously sympathetic and critical, they propose new ways of thinking about popular culture and its effects." -Margaret R. Miles, author of "Seeing and Believing: Religion and Values in the Movies

Religion occupies a place of surprising importance in American culture. It pops up where we least expect it: on daytime talk shows, in the lyrics of Selena and Bruce Springsteen, cartoons, the Burning Man festival, even the Super Bowl. On the other hand, pastors of megachurches use the language of commodities, speaking of "target markets" and "product positioning". God in the Details seeks to account for this fascinatingly blurred boundary between religion and pop culture. It addresses a range of generational perspectives and will appeal to both Baby Boomers and GenXers, as well as scholars of religion, dopular culture, American studies, sociology, film and media studies.