Deconstructing — through song!

There’s been a small flurry of new subscribers over the past few days. If you are new, welcome. Feel free to introduce yourself in the comments and share other thoughts too.

Before we get to the main bit, let’s do this week’s religion roundup. Try and guess which of these headlines I straight-up stole from AWildJoshAppears1 in the Modern Relics Discord (which you can join).

I hope this is not in bad taste but: Salman Rushdie in no rush to die. Hillsong beset by scandal! No not that one… not THAT one… not that one either… yeah that’s the one. MTG declares GOP party of Christian nationalism. We’re still writing about Dimes Square Catholics even though I still can’t work out what that is. Meanwhile, what if the Pope was in a coma? Former Japanese prime minister assassinated for links to Unification Church; current prime minister clears cabinet of similar ministers. Australian Anglicans go Lambeth 2: Southern Cross Boogaloo.

Also, remember the Stranger Things Baptist Church in inner-city Sydney? This is what it looks like now and it proclaims a different strangest thing:

How can there be two strangest things? So what’s the truth??

Rhett deconstructs his faith — through song!

I will never stop reminding you that I was on YouTube in 2007 — not because it’s cool but because it unfortunately comprises a foundational aspect of my adult personality.

Despite that fact, I never really got into Rhett & Link and their Good Mythical Morning show which came later, but I was vaguely aware they were Christians Online. Anyway, in an interview with RNS, Rhett McLaughlin reveals that’s no longer the case — and he’s written a country album all about it.

It’s releasing under the stage name James and the Shame. The first single just dropped and it’s really good.

From RNS:

The album, coming out Sept. 23, is a total abandonment of the traditional, evangelical perspective. Some songs are written for his wife, another is about him and his parents reconciling their spiritual differences. His first single, “Believe Me,” dropped on July 15 and was written directly to God.

If you’re not familiar with the big names of early YouTube, Rhett McLaughlin is right up there. Unlike a lot of people who made it big online in the early 2010s, Rhett & Link are still successfully navigating the choppy waters of digital media while maintaining a fan base. According to the RNS article there’s been some backlash to their public struggles with faith, but I hope that doesn’t discourage them from keeping that conversation going.

Dominicans preaching — through song!

While on the topic of country music, my dad sent me a text asking if I’d heard of The Hillbilly Thomists before and I had not! They are a band of Dominican friars that play bluegrass music.

I like this song called Hard Times, which was recorded in March 2021, which means it was probably written in COVID times as well.

Gregorians gaming — through chant?

And while we’re on the topic of holy men singing unusual things here’s a video of Gregorian monks singing the Halo theme song.

Let’s a-go (to heaven)

This image is poetry to me. Mario for some reason. The juxtaposition of renewal and waste. The ‘s’ on “Revelations”. Huge Italian chef’s kiss.

Timmy the Termite

Austin J Clements, who posted this on his Twitter, is completing his PhD at Stanford about the history of American politics and religion with a focus on fascism and the far right. Well worth a follow!

Addison Rae’s Trinity bikini controversy

Have a read of this post from the newsletter Dirt about “Praying, a pseudo-religious minimalist brand for the Very Online and performatively pious” and the related controversy surrounding the above post by Instagram influencer Addison Rae.

From Dirt:

Maybe the current appeal [of Praying’s brand] is more about prayer’s aesthetic function: Claim the symbols of devotion without committing to the spiritual bit. As society grows more secular, the easiest “rebellion” is to reject modernity and embrace tradition. The “cool-girl-gone-quasi-Catholic” persona born online is not really about God, after all.

A few digital culture newsletters I read have linked to Dirt’s explainer, and honestly thank God they did, because it functions as a Rosetta Stone for this tweet by Tyler Huckabee which otherwise made no sense to me.

More context.

Cult of the Lamb

This cute/horrifying game by Australian studio Massive Monster is about being a cult leader. It’s got local media pretty interested, but I was pleased to see it’s causing buzz overseas as well. I haven’t played it yet, but the trailer looks fun.

It will never not be monsoon season

It’s been a few weeks, so I’m going to go ahead and assume that everyone who cares already knows.

Here’s a clip of Drag Race All Stars 7 winner Jinx Monsoon cackling about sticking it to gentrification and being a witch.

Biblically accurate angels – but whose Bible?

We love a biblically accurate angel here at Modern Relics but I recently learned Christian and Jewish angelology are different!

This seems obvious to me now but I hadn’t thought about it before and I want to talk to an expert for more info. In lieu of that, here’s a Twitter thread lol.

Finally, here’s a meme my boyfriend made about me

I’m sorry if I don’t include enough context to some of these posts — I’m always afriad of over-explaining the joke. If you missed the link at the top in the religion roundup, this is about the newly-founded Southern Cross Diocese in Australia.

My tweet explains why he made this.