Mashup Religion: Pop Music and Theological Invention

Appendix 2 - Mashup and Theological Invention

185 Appendix 2 MASHUP AND THEOLOGICAL INVENTION AN ACADEMIC CASE STUDY This appendix provides an example of an academic theological mashup in the form of a blog. In the blog referred to below is a mashup of a set of readings that were on my bookshelf and desk at home. I had been reading several journal articles and books on a variety of only partially related subjects: desire, love, modernity and postmodernity, mass communication, consumerism and religion, preaching, practical theology, the psychology of religious experiences , dialogue, ethics, public theology, deconstruction, ethics, the environment, the emerging church, cultural criticism, and theologies of the human condition. These readings were widely interdisciplinary in nature. Two of the primary theological books I chose to mash up were by Wendy Farley: Eros for the Other and The Wounding and Healing of Desire, along with Edward Farley’s Good and Evil. In these books, Wendy Farley and Edward Farley argue that the basic rhythm of theology is the wounding and healing of desire for the human other and for God. I was aware, as I read these materials, that there were some significant ways in which, using something similar to the audile technique possessed by many mashup artists, I might potentially make these readings work together in a mashup of Farley’s work. Like a 186 — Mashup Religion DJ confronted with several crates of vinyl records, I saw my goal as finding the important “breaks” and “beats” in each work and beginning to integrate them into a unified composition, deconstructing, embellishing, and re-creating the Farleys’ work. The mashup could have become an essay or lecture, but, given the range of materials, I decided to introduce the material on my blog, Mashup Religion, for comments, input, and further mashing up. As with any form of theological production, I endeavor to include all four tracks (see chapter 2): Scripture, theology, culture, message.The blog format permits me to track culture by including videos and links to other websites. The reader can go to the blog to see items of interest. As with most blogs, the first post is the most recent, so if the reader desires to view this in a serial form, it will be necessary to begin with the final post and work backwards. It may be easier to accomplish this online. ...