Religion: A Contemporary Perspective

Religion: A Contemporary Perspective locates religion and the secular study of religion in the context of contemporary culture including the areas of entertainment, technology, art, literature, media, and politics as well as the rich history that has shaped the present. We live at a time when reality is under siege, when technology and media create hyperrealities that shape every aspect of life. Today we might expect that religion would be dated, perhaps considered quaint or the subject of nostalgia, given its signature creation of and connection with fantastical myths and all manner of spirits and gods, with its willing-to-die-for beliefs and dogmas, and its persistent practice of baroque rituals. To some extent this assessment is accurate, yet it is surprising that in the current world, where all knowledge is accessible from a smartphone, religions remain deeply influential in daily life and public discourse having, arguably, both negative and positive effects. The foremost concern of Religion is understanding and appreciating human distinctiveness by means of a contemporary perspective on religion. How can we not be delighted by the remarkable array and plethora of evidence religions offer as testament to human imagination and creativity?
The articulation in Religion of the details of this contemporary perspective on religion engages an extensive swath of topics, many based on the author's experience, including masking, playing, dancing, moving, mapping, comparing, perceiving, as well as posture, skill, violence, story, creativity, and how abiding difference is essential to knowledge and creativity. Religion mines fun and fascinating examples for careful explication from the genres of film ("Barbie" to "Ex Machina"), literature (Shelley to Heinlein) and folklore (Pygmalion to Thumbelina), history of science (Pythagoras to Kepler to Edison), dancing (ballet to salsa), television ("Doctor Who" to "Westworld") and the arts (Navajo sandpainting to Yuja Wang), and also biology (proprioception and kinesthesia) and philosophy (Maine de Biran to Merleau-Ponty to Baudrillard and Serres). The novelty and potential of the proposed contemporary perspective is demonstrated by rich and innovative applications in such areas as technology (especially AI/robotics), Native American cultures, Australian Aboriginal cultures, Christian and Cartesian worldviews, theories of harmony and color, theories of religion, and theories of gesture posture and prosthesis. Religion includes a broad critical reflection on the secular study of religion, especially in the period beginning in the mid-1960s. Complementing current practices Religion offers innovative alternatives with extensive potential application. The impact of this contemporary perspective is extended to the nuts-and-bolts methods of the study such as definition, comparison, transduction, and revealing blind spots that have unfortunate consequences.