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Idol Chatter

As I promised in my earlier report from the Nashville premiere of “Chronicles of Narnia,” I’d like to pass along snippets of conversations I had with various contemporary Christian music artists who attended the event. Durring the long, long trip home (after two days stranded in the Nashville airport), I came up with a better…

You’ve probably heard about an important movie with spiritual implications that’s based on a best-selling novel and made an impressive opening this past weekend. Only this one didn’t have anything to do with lions or witches, though wardrobe was front-and-center. “Memoirs of a Geisha” features a Chinese actress playing a Japanese character in an American…

Who needs family and community on Christmas, when you can just stay home? It falls on a Sunday this year–and who wants to go to Church on Christmas morning anyway? Not the memvbers of some of the nation’s biggest megachurches apparently: They’re canceling worship services altogether on Christmas Day and encouraging members to stay home…

Hoping to get a push from the “Narnia” release, an Atlanta-based organization called Art Within is “looking for the next C.S. Lewis,” according to a press release. The 10-year-old group runs a year-long screenwriting fellowship program, “Art Within Labs,” that aims to cultivate Christian screenwriters and playwrights. The ultimate goal is to ensure that mainstream,…

Bree Osbourne (Felicity Huffman) is nearing the end of the psychoanalysis required for gender reassignment surgery. She takes hormones, lives as a woman, and tries her best not to stand out. She is a walking, talking contradiction: an ultraconservative woman living in the body of a gender dysphoric man. But that’s only the beginning. Bree…

After waiting for months to see “The Chronicles of Narnia” (and feeling tortured by the fact that some of my fellow Idol Chatterers have already seen it), I finally had my chance last night to walk through the wardrobe for myself. I was surprised by my journey, but certainly not disappointed. (Note to those who…

Each year on December 13th, Swedes celebrate the feast of Santa Lucia, a festival marked by candlelight (Lucia means light) at one of the darkest times of winter in this northern country. The day still finds young girls donning crowns of lit candles to represent the celebrated saint (a fire hazard waiting to happen, yes,…

Though I’ve never been to the Oscars or the Emmys (except in my dreams, where I imagine I am tall, skinny, blonde and my name is Nancy O’Dell), I did finally get to attend my first real red- carpet event for the Nashville premiere of “Chronicles of Narnia.” Since several of the contemporary Christian music…

Think John Lennon and religion, and what springs to mind is his loose-cannon observation in 1966 that “The Beatles are more popular than Jesus” (which led radio stations to sponsor record burnings and others to make death threats) and assorted jibes Lennon took at organized religion in his two books. On the political site Counterpunch…

“Law & Order” takes such care to get New York right–its people, its cultures, its attitude–that I am always surprised when it messes up the small stuff. Last night’s episode revolved around a synagogue that couldn’t seem to decide whether it was Orthodox or Reform. Perpetually-yarmulked men and head-covered women who talk like they went…
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