Religion, Politics, Media in the Broadband Era

Biblical Theology Bulletin, Winter, 2006 by Carol Stuart Grizzard

RELIGION, POLITICS, MEDIA IN THE BROADBAND ERA. By Alice Bach. The Bible in the Modern World. Edited by J. Cheryl Exum. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2004.

Bach is a biblical scholar interested in women's studies, politics, and most other things. Since there isn't much that doesn't involve religion, politics, or the media, this well-documented book covers everything from the TV kiddie show Veggie Tales to American First Ladies to the handling of 9/11 in the USA to the recent Bernal debate in Classical Studies (the section that seemed least integrated into the work). She is interested in interdisciplinary studies, as this book makes clear; the issues she discusses are well presented and, as she says, connected by "strong interactivity between subject and audience" (p. 4). While the variety of subjects she discusses can lead to some confusion, she does offer great food for thought.

On her first page Bach says "Popular religion is expressed within our culture in rock videos, televangelism, political rhetoric, children's books.... The tightly woven pattern of religion, politics, and media has been part of the American fabric since the country was founded" (p. 1). In Chapter 5 ("Buying God: American Myths and Mainstream Media") she explores the "Christian messianic franchise" that has at times influenced American policy (citing John Winthrop, William McKinley, and Robert Lowell on pp. 68-70), making a case that the expression of religion in public policy and media is not new.

Whether she it talking about "Mel Gibson and his gang of soggy cinematographers" (p. 9) or George W. Bush ("Perhaps none has been so noisily pious as our current President, George Bush 43, who has east himself as the American action figure of Moses," p. 71), Bach is not a woman who is afraid to make her opinions known. Her analysis of the Bush family and President George W. Bush's policies, particularly post-9/11, are not favorable. Those who disagree with her analysis (and I am not among them) should be warned.

Chapter Three ("Cracking the Production Code: Watching Religionists Read Films") discusses movies dealing with Christianity, including Greatest Story Ever Told; Life of Brian; The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Brother Sun, Sister Moon; Dogma; Last Temptation of Christ; and The Gospel of John. I teach a course in religion in film and found this section interesting and helpful. She does not discuss the movie Passion of the Christ, but she does deal with its marketing on pp. 63-5.

Two of the strongest chapters are Six and Seven. Six ("And God Created Woman: Marketing Women from Proverbs to First Ladies") deals with images of the ideal woman in the Bible, Chaucer, American advertising, and modern politics (she discusses Hilary Clinton, Teresa Heinz Kerry, Laura Bush, and Condoleezza Rice). It would be of help to anyone who is working or teaching in the area of Women's Studies.

Chapter 7 ("You do not See Me: Resistance from Rizpah to Women in Black") builds on the story of Rizpah's vigil over her beloved dead in 2 Samuel 21:10-14 to discuss rape in the Bible (both the heterosexual rapes that do happen and the homosexual ones that do not) and modern women who, like Rizpah, bear witness to the abuses borne by the innocent in their countries (Palestinian women in the Occupied Territories, the American Rachel Corrie who died in Rafah, and Elizabeth McAlister of Jonah House in the USA).

Bach offers an interesting, somewhat idiosyncratic treatment of issues with which the USA is becoming increasingly concerned and divided over: the interrelationship between religion and politics. It will intrigue you, enrage you, make you laugh, and probably make you rush out to buy more books and rent more movies. Not bad for 159 pages of text!

Carol Stuart Grizzard

Pikeville College

Pikeville, KY 41501