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About Religion

Economies of Faith in Virtual Culture

"Religion," Mark C. Taylor maintains, "is most interesting where it is least obvious." From global financial networks to the casinos of Las Vegas, from images flickering on computer terminals to steel sculpture, material culture bears unexpected traces of the divine. In a world where the economies of faith are obscure, yet pervasive, Taylor shows that approaching religion directly is less instructive than thinking about it.

Traveling from high culture to pop culture and back again, About Religion approaches cyberspace and Las Vegas through Hegel and Kant and reads Melville’s The Confidence-Man through the film Wall Street. As astonishing juxtapositions and associations proliferate, formerly uncharted territories of virtual culture disclose theological vestiges, showing that faith in contemporary culture is as unavoidable as it is elusive.

The most accessible presentation of Taylor’s revolutionary ideas to date, About Religion gives us a dazzling and disturbing vision of life at the end of the old and beginning of the new millennium.

Table of Contents

About About
1. Discrediting God
2. Denegating God
3. Politics of Theory
4. Minding the Brain
5. Terminal Condition
6. Christianity and the Capitalism of Spirit
7. The Virtual Kingdom
8. Apprehension
9. Learning Curves
10. Indifference
Notes
References for Illustrations
Index

Awards

American Academy of Religion: American Academy of Religion Awards for Excellence
Shortlist

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