Hank’s Comments (group member since Jun 27, 2012)

Hank’s comments from the Geekklesia group.

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I'm finishing up Holy Superheroes! Revised and Expanded Edition: Exploring the Sacred in Comics, Graphic Novels, and Film: Exploring the Sacred in Comics, Graphic Novels and Films, right now, and then looking to start Marvelous Myths: Marvel Superheroes and Everyday Faith soon. Any interest in starting a discussion on this?

I'll start:

I saw the first Star Wars movie at 11, in the theaters in its initial run. I am a preacher's kid. I have a BA in Radio/Television/Film production, but received my own calling (independent of my parents') while in college, and am now a full-time pastor and agency executive. I have not forgotten my geeky roots; I try to game when I can (time is the limiting factor), love SF/F/Superhero movies, and consider this a Renaissance/Golden Age of genre television. I have a small collection of Old Time Radio series and an even smaller collection of comics (where I am conversant, but not fluent), maintain the Geekklesia blog page as well as the Geekklesia FB and G+ pages. My dream is to get a Master's degree in Biblical studies/theology and how it informs/is informed by popular culture (especially genre fiction). I am always on the lookout for great quotations from TV/Film/Comic books, etc. that illustrate biblical truths, which makes up one facet of this ever deepening thing we call #GeekTheology.

Just added books that I've completed to the group's shelves. Which, if any have members of this group read?

What should we read?

Looks like a nice variety!

New read is Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book . I'm about half way through, but its much better than I expected.

New book for me: The Vampire Defanged by Susannah Clements


http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005Q5V...

M. J., first of all let me thank you for your reply and apologize that its taken me so long to respond. I have been doing a LOT of traveling lately, in places where it has been difficult to get a reliable internet connection, and I hate replying to message boards on my phone.

Having said all of that, its interesting that you mention B5, as Cowan spends a great deal of time looking at that series in his book. I think its interesting that series with atheists/secular humanists as the main creative forces B5, Buffy/Firefly, Star Trek franchise) seem to have the most exciting things to say about religion.

At this point, I'm not sure if I was referring to SF or human religion when I wrote that. Although, the question does resonate with a quotation from Carl Sagan that Cowan included in his opening chapters that referred to how small the god of most human religions (including Christianity) seemed when compared with the infinities of space. So perhaps I was asking about the fairness of the statement against religion, i.e., do we present a limited version of God?

I've been reading Douglas Cowan's _Sacred Space: The Quest for Transcendence in Science Fiction Film and Television_, and today I saw this statement: ""(A)lthough science fiction does not abjure religion, it points out in no uncertain terms how limited, how pedantic are our terrestrial religious notions." (p 88)"

Is this fair? What do you think?

As for me, I'm just starting Douglas Cowan's Sacred Space, and really looking forward to it.

Sacred Space: The Quest for Transcendence in Science Fiction Film and Television