Princesses scare me. It isn’t their volatile behavior, creepy step-mothers, or the ferocious fire-breathing beasts that often accompany them that worry me. Rather, it’s the mind control they have over my daughter. When she sees a princess, her pupils dilate and her head cocks. It’s like invisible fairies are whispering spells in her ear. Then she turns to me and says, “Daddy, can we buy that?”

Disney’s “Princess” brand campaign was launched in 2000, when the company’s new chairman of consumer goods brought together Disney’s favorite heroines under one banner. Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Jasmine, and Ariel became a marketing dream team generating billions of dollars. They appeared on everything from DVDs to Band-Aids. The Disney spell was cast upon my daughter literally minutes after she entered…

My friends at New Community Covenant Church in Chicago are hosting a conference July 17-19. I’ll be speaking about how consumerism impacts our faith, communities, and worship. The event is free so if you are in town be sure to check it out. You can read more about the conference here.

Friday at 7:00pm, Worship & Teaching: Consumerism & Christianity

Rather than being illuminated by the mind of Christ, many Christians’ imaginations are held captive by our consumer culture. This seminar will uncover how three facets of Consumerism (commodification, alienation, and branding) reduce our vision of God, diminishes the importance of Scripture, and make Christianity an image rather than a calling. In response we’ll see how we can illuminate the Christian imagination once again with an alternative vision of life…

Last year during the presidential campaign, an interesting trend was observed. The Christian segment of the population once believed to be a monolithic voting block turned out to have more diversity of thought and opinion than previously believed. The hold of the Religious Right, Christian Coalition, and other GOP-leaning groups over the evangelical brand started to loosen.What emerged was a new, generally younger, more urban, and less politically idealistic group of Christian voters. Michael Lindsay, author of Faith in the Halls of Power, refers to them as “Cosmopolitan Evangelicals.” According to Lindsay they have the following characteristics:● They reject signifiers of “populist” Christianity such as the Left Behind books and Thomas Kinkaide paintings.● They are less involved in local churches, but highly involved with parachurch organizations.● They may not…

Barack Obama has changed everything. No, I’m not talking about the economy, foreign relations, or the health care system. President Obama has rewritten the assumptions about names and success. Honestly, who would have believed just a few years ago that a man named Barack Hussain Obama could be elected President of the United States?

Politico has an interesting story about the growing popularity of uncommon names among elected officials. The article states:

Having a unique name used to be a political liability. But election records suggest out of the ordinary increasingly appeals to voters. The names of incoming freshmen have grown more unusual over the years, thanks in part to a combination of the nation’s increasing diversity and, in the age of Barack Obama, a rising generation of voters with…