Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Columbia Sanctum - Spring 2011
Columbia Sanctum - Spring 2011
Spring 2011
Sanctum Staff
CARLY SILVER Editor-in-Chief NANA AMOH, SHRUTI KULKARNI, LEAH GREENSTEIN Editors STEPHANIE RIEDERMAN, LEARNED FOOTE Senior Editors DANA SEGAL Art Editor EMILY GOLDSTEIN Layout Editor AKIVA BAMBERGER Webmaster
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Editorial Note
Carly Silver
What does it take to make a Bad Romance between the religious world and pop culture? Not much, if Lady Gaga is any example. With the release of her latest single, Judas, the pop superstar has managed to reignite a long-standing battle between art and faith with provocative lyrics like Jesus is my virtue, and Judas is the demon I cling to. The music video depicts Lady Gaga as Mary Magdalene, stirring the pot even further. The tune has already drawn criticism from the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, which criticizes the singer as trying to rip off Christian idolatry to shore up her talentless, mundane, and boring performances. This conflict is an age-old one: a rebel challenges the beliefs of a religious figure, resulting in a war of words, music, and art. Can the world of pop culture, in which celebrities are often virtually worshipped as idols, and modern religion, which usually eschews such practices, co-exist peacefully? The spiritual war between celebrity and religion has come under increasing scrutiny by scholars in recent years. The University of Saskatchewan has launched a Journal of Religion and Pop Culture, which examines not only high art as it relates to religion, but what is commonly dismissed as common and petty: that is, mass media. Because pop cultureranging from reality shows to contemporary musicis often dismissed as base and detached from the internal spirituality of religion, many believe the two are incompatible. In fact, the conflict resulting over inflammatory pop lyrics such as Lady Gagas Judas proves otherwise. It does not matter whether or not these two sectors can agree on every issue. The mere fact that they seem to be in constant dialogue, oppositional or otherwise, indicates that there is a need for further investigation into the connections between the two. In this issue of Sanctum, we explore the relationship between religion and pop culture. Jazmin Malani Graves writes about how spirituality and hip-hop intersect in the figure of Columbia graduate Cyrus McGoldrick. Lindsay White endeavors to examine how rock music can transform from sound to sacredness. We explore how various avenues of religion and selfexpression, whether through music or spiritual practice, can affect each individual life. Carly Silver, Editor-in-Chief Questions? Comments? Want to get involved? Email Sanctum at columbia.sanctum@gmail.com
Bibliography A Brief Introduction To Hasidim A Life Apart: Hasidim In America. 1998. <http://www.pbs.org/alifeapart/intro.html>. Erickson, Kai. The Wayward Puritans: A Study In The Sociology of Deviance. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1966. Jacobson, Mark. Escape From the Holy Shtetl. New York Magazine. July 2008 <http://nymag.com/news/features/48532/>. Katz, Samuel. The Self-fulfilling Prophecies of the Ex-Hasid. 18 June 2010. <http://www.unpious.com/2010/06/self-fulfilling-prophecies-ex-hasid/>. Taussig, Michael. Transgression. Critical Terms For Religious Studies. Ed. Mark Taylor. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998. 349-362.
A Jew in Kathmandu
Sara Lederman
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Creating Sacred Spaces Within Secular Society: The Religious Nature of Rock Music
Lindsay White
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No Other Hands Than Our Hands: The Economic Empowerment Programs of Two Harlem Churches
Natalie Shibley
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Endnotes 1. Harlems Banker-Priest, Ebony, March 1969, 100. 2. Will Lissner, Powell Is Backed by Congregation, New York Times, January 16, 1967, 22. 3. Moran Weston, Black Religion and Economic Development, New York Amsterdam News, June 26, 1976, B3A. 4. Harlems Banker-Priest, Ebony, March 1969, 93. 5. Stephan Patrick McKinney, Secularization Theory and Black Protestantism: Patterns of Differentiation in a Contemporary Black Church (Ph.D. diss., Drew University, 2010), 213. 6. Ibid. 7. Ibid. 8. St. Philips Works in Central Harlem, New York Amsterdam News, July 10, 1965, 6. 9. 400 Harlem Youth Served in Church Community Center, New York Amsterdam News, August 2, 1969, 29. 10. Police Review Unit Urged by Rector, New York Times, July 26, 1965, 32. 11. George Dugan, St. Philips at 150 Starts a New Life, New York Times, May 6, 1968, 76. 12. Dugan, St. Philips at 150 Starts a New Life, 76. 13. St. Philips Weston recipient of award, New York Amsterdam News, May 6, 1978, B10. 14. J. Zamgba Browne, St. Philips housing program, a big success, New York Amsterdam News, October 3, 1981, 3. 15. St. Philips Marking 170th Anniversary, New York Amsterdam News, May 10, 1980, 16. 16. Ibid. 17. McKinney 249. 18. Ibid., 262.
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19. Ibid., 261. 20. Ibid., 263. 21. Ibid., 250. 22. Orde Coombs, The New Battle for Harlem, New York, January 25, 1982, 27-28. 23. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Adam by Adam (New York: Dafina Books, 1971), 37. 24. Ibid., 43. 25. Adolphus Lacey, Congregation as Community Developer: A Socio-Historical Reading of the Social Ministry of the Abyssinian Baptist Church (Ph.D. diss., Northwestern University, 2002), 194. 26. Ibid. 27. Church Members Would Build Cooperative, New York Amsterdam News, December 6, 1958, 23. 28. Ibid. 29. Adam Powell Lauds Some Southerners, New York Amsterdam News, August 1, 1964, 25. 30. Center Asks for Aid of All Kinds, New York Amsterdam News, March 11, 1961, 8. 31. Reserve Funds for Home for Older Folks, New York Amsterdam News, June 3, 1961, 35. 32. Powell 53. 33. Powell Lectures His Flock, New York Amsterdam News, December 15, 1962, 54. 34. Ibid. 35. Powell Wont Leave Abyssinian Church, New York Amsterdam News, October 9, 1965, 1. 36. Calvin O. Butts, III, The Construction of a Plan for the Effective Influence of an Urban Church on Public Policy (D. Min. diss., Drew University, 1982), 21. 37. Ibid., 73. 38. Ibid, 135. 39. Hans A. Baer, Black Mainstream Churches: Emancipatory or Accommodative Reponses to Racism and Social Stratification in American Society? Review of Religious Research 30 (Dec. 1988). 40. Ibid, 171. 41. Ibid, 172. 42. Lacey,198.
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The River
Elizabeth Keene
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