Articles : Carmen Andres
May 13 issue
-
After Christendom, what?
Our culture is undergoing a profound post-Christian shift. Pew Research continues to track a growing number of those who claim no religious affiliation. Barna Group recently released a study evaluating 15 measures of nonreligiosity that indicated 37 percent of Americans are post-Christian. As a culture, we are moving away from shared language and assumptions of Christianity. The church as we’ve known it is moving to the margins.
April 15 issue
-
Valuable viewing
The Barna Group conducted an online survey about people’s movie-watching habits and attitudes last year. They found the average American saw 1.7 movies in the theater, 10 more on DVD or streaming and still more on cable. Evangelicals saw 2.7 movies at the theater — more than the average.
March 4 issue
-
The Bible as a story
When I was a kid in the late 1970s, I loved the 1960s television series Star Trek. A friend and I transformed junk we found in our garages into tricorders and communicators and spent hours pretending to captain Federation starships. We even attended a Star Trek fan convention.
Dec. 10, 2012 issue
-
The (rare) sound of silence
I read a post on Twitter by a man who was on his way to a silent retreat with a group of monks. In the midst of my stay-at-home-mom, noisy, constantly-moving life, I thought to myself: Carving out time for silence is a luxury in our culture.
Oct. 29, 2012 issue
-
Crime drama comfort
My husband and I recently added Vegas, Longmire and Elementary to our digital video recorder. These are the latest in a long line of criminal procedural dramas we’ve watched over the years — from older series like Cold Case and Law & Order to more current ones like The Mentalist, BBC’s Sherlock, Bones and Blue Bloods.
Sept. 17, 2012 issue
-
Stories of Christ-like life inspire others
Recently I finally saw Invictus, the award-winning 2009 film based on events that took place in South Africa in the year leading up to the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Aug. 6, 2012 issue
-
The best job
As part of its “Thank you, Mom” campaign leading up to the 2012 Olympic Games, Procter & Gamble released a two-minute ad directed by the award-winning Mexican film director Alejandro González Iñárritu.
June 25, 2012 issue
-
Why all the fairy tales?
Fairy tales have been with us for centuries. Most of us have read the children’s versions or seen Disney’s classics and more modern fare. But recently, there’s been a surge in the genre’s popularity — and a movement back toward its more grownup and darker origins. Grimm and Once Upon a Time have modernized the settings on the small screen. Two Snow White films — Mirror, Mirror and the much darker Snow White and the Huntsman — have been released on the big screen within months of each other, and there are more tales in the Hollywood pipeline, including versions of Jack and the Beanstalk, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, and Beauty and the Beast.
May 14, 2012 issue
-
What’s good in dystopia
When The Hunger Games hit theaters in March, it set box-office records. With a built-in fan base from the best-selling post-apocalyptic novels, the success was no surprise. The story centers on 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who takes her 12-year-old sister’s place in the Hunger Games, a televised battle-to-the-death competition that the totalitarian Capitol uses to impose its rule. Each of the 12 downtrodden districts of Panem must contribute two children between the ages of 12 and 18 to compete each year.
April 2, 2012 issue
-
Stories that are true
I love good stories. Most of us can name favorites — a novel, short story, film, television show, something we read in a magazine or newspaper or heard somewhere.
Download