Avatar vs. Avatar: A Christian Case for Nonviolence Even in the Face of Injustice
It’s by Christ’s death that we can love our enemies, seek peace with those that want to harm us, and refuse to take vengeance when we are wronged.
Apostle and the Machinery of Religion: What Makes It Work?
Does religion guarantee us deliverance out of the predicaments of being alive? Is it a machine we operate to tame and exploit transcendent reality?
Of Monsters and Men: Classic Horror DNA in Marvel’s Werewolf by Night
In the age of the “gritty” anti-hero, rare is the genre story that begins with the assumption that evil is real and must be dealt with.
100 Years Later, Nosferatu Still Casts a Long Shadow
Nosferatu is a relic of a day when people were not afraid to make moral judgments and make their monsters monstrous.
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor and the Spiritual Lessons of Dark Lords
By compromising the connection between player and hero-protagonist, Shadow of Mordor sets up the player to identify as the villain, with no prior warning.
Following in the Footsteps of Sophie Scholl’s Misfit Messiah
The film’s intentional depiction of an all too real history invites reflection on the nature of the conscience and urgency of becoming a misfit.
Luke Cage and the Problem of Compelling Villains
When the villains are the most compelling part of your story, then the story ultimately becomes all about villainy.
Louis’s Sins and Mine
Art doesn’t reduce our questions and conflictedness; it multiplies them.
God’s Hand in Bill Paxton’s Frailty
It’s shockingly awful and shockingly compelling as horror because Paxton’s character remains so upsettingly loving and so fatherly throughout, clearly, sincerely believing in the killing he’s doing.
Mindhunter Spots the Evil Inside Us All
Instead of showing us how the good guys can go bad, Mindhunter wonders if maybe the good guys have been just as evil all along.
What The Sound of Music Reveals about Our Flawed Character(s)
Engaging stories as a Christian means I don’t just cheer for the hero, but I consider what the flawed characters—and even the villains—reveal about myself.
Don’t Embrace the Power of the Dark Side
God’s word, and our own stories, teach us to overcome evil with good. Why don’t we listen?
Horror Games: They Aren’t All Bad
Yes, it is possible for horror video games to have redeeming qualities.
Having Coffee with Our Devils: Regina Spektor’s Remember Us to Life
In ‘Remember Us to Life,’ Regina Spektor encourages us to remember the beauty in the world and our capacity to give grace to others in the same way grace was given to us.
John Carpenter’s Halloween and the Problem of Horrendous Evil
Sometimes evil doesn’t have a backstory; it exists for its own sake. This is what makes John Carpenter’s Halloween so effective.
LOL Interwebz: The Doom That Came to ‘The Doom That Came to Atlantic City’
In Lovecraft’s world, evil is external, overwhelming, and no responsibility of ours to control; the reality is that most of us stumble into evil one innocent step at a time.
