The Stanley cup craze was caused by Mormons and more specifically by Mitt Romney

Modern Relics is the newsletter about digital religion and popular culture, and all the things associated with all that. It's fun!

Latter-day Saints gave us the Stanley cup

I'm just going off what this one religion historian said on TikTok, but honestly it passes the sniff test for me. Okay, not quite — here's an article from Deseret News from 2022 about how Stanley cups are "the hottest new trend among Utah moms" and draws a lot of the same conclusions. Anyway!

Basically, Paul Matzko says the prohibition on "hot drinks" (tea and coffee) found in the Word of Wisdom means that Latter-day Saints get their caffeine hit somewhere else: soft drinks/sodas.

When Mitt Romney ran for president in 2012, it was reported that ALL caffeinated beverages were forbidden — this was a grey area for many Mormons at the time — but the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints clarified that sodas were ok.

This caused several chains of "dirty soda shops" to open, which sold enormous quantities of soft drink I think mixed with coffee sweeteners(??) Also, at-home soda mixing became popular (WATERTOK, ANYONE?) and these folks needed something to store all their frankensodas in that would keep them cold for a long time.

Enter the Stanley cup. Mormons are above-average college educated and relatively wealthy, making them a perfect market demographic. Stanley collaborated with The Buy Guide, which was also founded by graduates of the LDS-owned Brigham Young University, and had a lot of connections to Mormon influencers. The trend went viral, and we got the Stanley cup craze of 2023/4.

Paul has written a further reflection on all this on his Substack, about how social media allows pockets of expertise like his to surface on news and culture stories.

Please don't panic but Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday coincide this year!

I love you! Remember you are dust!

God’s Gang is the interfaith cartoon I'm not sure anyone asked for?

I saw this cartoon advertised on X and I am having an out of body experience. It's called "God's Gang" and it's about four superheroes from different faiths who all work together for The Almighty. The bad guys are corporate devils, scientists, aliens and (I am not joking) off-brand KKK.

The show seems to be made with the best of intentions (also with the help of an interfaith council and advisory board) but I still have questions. Are the religious stereotypes offensive, or cute? How should I feel about the name "Ninjew"? How does the Hindu character feel about working for a monotheistic deity? These are just some of the questions I have!!

Do you want a Sumuslim tote bag or Ninjew travel mug? What about a Takewonhindo baby onesie? The God's Gang online store has got you covered.

Also did you know Pope Gregory XIII was the last one to have a child (that we know about)

I'm not a Calvinist

Internet reporter Katie Notopoulos is documenting what comes up on her Instagram Reels and the first thing she posted was this video which... I am not saying it is good... but I am saying it was made specifically for someone like me.

Other highlights:

• Muslim cat
• Prayer closet warrior
• Resist the devil
• POV: somone tells me a good Christian doesn't drink alcohol

Katie, thank you for doing the Lord's work.

From the Modern Relics Discord

Thanks for posting Moose!

If you want to join the Modern Relics Discord please feel free! It's a very good way of getting in touch with me.

This is a video

Never quite sure how to alert you that something is a video if I can't embed it. But this is a short video it's funny and nice.

Internet atheism's predicted revival

I really enjoy Read Max, the newsletter by Max Read about... the passions of Max Read? Anyway, in his new year's post, Max predicts the return of the internet atheist in 2024. Internet atheism was a big deal about ten years ago, but lost its shine when Dawkins et al turned out to be just hugely Islamophobic. However...

From Read Max:

...in the absence of internet atheists and their earnest commitment to arguing with people to the point of madness, huge populations of extremely annoying zoomer trad-Christians and “mystical” post-rationalists have been allowed to flourish on the internet. The mass adulation of the pony-tailed guy who refused to debate the annoying Christian TikToker is a reflection of a latent desire to reintroduce a natural predator to counteract the unfortunate proliferation of obscurantism, mysticism, and religiosity online.

Can a theologian please explain to me how this is a heresy

I'm pretty sure it's heretical I just don't know how.

Free time

Hey thanks for sticking with me on the migration to Ghost! I was fully expecting open rates to plumet, but so far I'm maintaining my average. I've lost a lot of subscribers in the migration though. Oh well. Other than that everything seems to be working well! Don't forget to share the new site with your friends and ask them to subscribe!