The Pope met Spider-Man
Also, be not afraid of biblically accurate angels
Hello and welcome to Throwaway Relics, the newsletter where I take a look at religion, pop culture and the internet. It’s a bit late this week because I spent all last weekend and much of this week in Queensland (before the border closed and lockdown began!) for a friend’s wedding.
This is edition five of Throwaway Relics, and I’m interested to hear your feedback. What do you like, and what would you like to see change? You can always email me or comment on this post.
Are we giving Biden communion or not
One of the biggest stories on my newsfeed this week is something that (I think?) has crossed over into the mainstream after brewing in religion news circles for months - should President Biden receive communion?
The Catholic Church typically withholds the wafer and wine from everyone except baptised Catholics who have been taught what it means. So, for most presidents, it’s not an issue because they are Protestant and wouldn’t get it anyway - but not Biden!
Michael J. O'Loughlin points out that what’s happened isn’t technically targeted at Biden, although RNS journalist Jack Jenkins points out it really is only a technicality.
It goes to show the complexities of reporting on church matters, because the President’s pro-LGBT+ and pro-abortion policies have absolutely angered US Catholic bishops. But TECHNICALLY it’s in response to many Catholics in the USA not knowing or understanding what the church believes about the sacrament. Reporting the story with too much precision can obscure what’s really going on, but ignoring the details can also convey the wrong idea.
This newsletter is supposed to be about posts and memes, so I won’t get too into it, but Vox has a good explainer.
My Muslim friends are all loving this meme
Who killed Mars Hill?
For once, Twitter’s suggested topics ‘feature’ has actually come through. It suggested a tweet by Mike Cosper, who is currently Director of Podcasting at Christianity Today, the flagship publication for evangelicalism in the United States.
I mentioned Mark Driscoll in my last edition, and as it happens, CT is doing a podcast series about how his leadership (and the church he founded, Mars Hill) imploded after 18 years of ministry. The first episode is pretty good, although it is certainly made from an evangelical Christian perspective and contains a bit of jargon other listeners might find alienating.
Still, give it a listen! It’s an interesting spin on the true crime podcast genre at the very least.
The Pope met Spider-Man
One visitor at the Pope’s weekly audience stood out among the crowd, and the images subsequently went viral. As it turns out, Spider-Man was Matteo Villardita, a 28-year-old Catholic who cheers up sick children in the hospital by dressing in the costume.
During the meeting, he gave the pontiff his own Spider-Man mask, which is very, very funny to me. He absolutely has tried it on, I just know it.
Biblically accurate angels
Why do angels in art and popular culture lack any resemblance to those described in the biblical texts of Ezekiel or Daniel? This incongruity became popular on Tumblr in 2016, and still crops up on other platforms often enough that it has its own Know Your Meme page.
Of course, most of the time angels in the Bible are just some dude who shows up, does something weird, then leaves, but I still love this meme.
That one above has also become an exploitable image where the guy says various sexual things to the angel. Anyway, apparently the most common commandment in the Bible is “do not be afraid” but fear does seem like the correct response in this situation.
Somewhat related: Here’s an old Onion video about meeting God, proving once again the Babylon Bee needs to step up its game or get out.
More angels:
A bit of sectarian fun
Beavers and Christians
People have noticed one of the ass-obsessed beaver from the Netflix show Sexy Beasts looks like Mr and Mrs Beaver from the BBC’s adaptation of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.
Mr Beaver I know you are ruled over by an evil witch but you really must respect women.
Another tweet just for you
A few links you might like:
- Medieval cats licking their butts (Twitter thread)
- “You people need Sharia law” (potentially NSFW tweet?)
- Devil Mario (short video)
- Another potentially kinda NSFW video
- Is Vatican II a legitimate council of the Catholic Church? (video)
- Classic vid of kids fighting over who’s the priest
Have you noticed a mistake or an omission? I’d like to know! You can email me. You can follow me on Twitter: @RJSalmond.
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