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PaperclipPerfector  7d ago (text post)   23416 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of June 22, 2026

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The Bible’s influence is everywhere in our culture. The year’s biggest game so far is Resident Evil Requiem. The most anticipated launch next month is Halo, about the savior “John 117” and a covenant, flood, and ark. The most popular movie this year is Project Hail Mary. Not to mention that the Bible is essential for understanding Western music and literature before 1900. If we were thinking objectively about what readings to include in public education for the purpose of cultural literacy, easily half the readings would just be the Bible. Probably more like 80% of the readings.

The most popular movie this year is Project Hail Mary

It's Super Mario Galaxy: https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/world/

Project Hail Mary doesn't have anything to do with Christianity thematically, it's a sci fi alien story.

Resident Evil Requiem doesn't seem to have anything to do with Christianity in the game. The word itself doesn't carry much weight.

The most anticipated game of 2026 is GTA 6, which is a pretty unchristian game thematically given it's all about shooting police, robbing people and girls in bikinis. GTA is a 5x bigger franchise than Halo too. The Combat Evolved remake isn't even a new game or a new remake (they already remade it in MCC)

The one part I agree with is that the Bible is needed to understand pre-1900 culture.

The cultural power of an iron age desert cult does not extend to a post-industrialized hyperurban internet economy. We are not shepherds, we don't give servants talents of gold to invest. We pick and choose various interpretations of biblical verses to suit our arguments at any given time, you of all people must be sick of the good samaritan being waved around as a leftist sigil. In that case, it's Christian arguments being made for fundamentally secular reasons, objectification of Christianity as a bludgeon, not actual sincere belief which would probably be smeared as fundamentalism. And it is kinda crazy to try to live by these rules in a thoroughly different society.

Project Hail Mary doesn't have anything to do with Christianity thematically, it's a sci fi alien story.

Ah yes, the story of Ryland Grace, the man whose existence throughout the story constitutes an undeserved favor to others and who ultimately has to decide freely whether or not he must sacrifice himself utterly in order to deliver the entire human race from disaster after they put him to death. The man whose sidekick is a "rock". Yeah nothing Christian to see here, pure coincidence. I guess the characters literally talking about God didn't lay it on thick enough.

The cultural power of an iron age desert cult does not extend to a post-industrialized hyperurban internet economy.

You just think it doesn't because you are as a fish asked about water. What water?

All those examples look like shallow references where a thing was named after a biblical or Catholic thing to sound slightly cooler. Are any of those media Christian beyond that?

What's called a 'Hail Mary pass' in the USA is called a Garryowen over here, or at least that's the nearest thing to it. Upon first encountering the term, I had to look it up as to why it was called that. Do so, and you find out Notre Dame, and then you find out it's a Catholic prayer:

Crowley often told the story of a game between Notre Dame and Georgia Tech on October 28, 1922, in which the Fighting Irish players said Hail Mary prayers together before scoring each of the touchdowns, before winning the game 13–3. According to Crowley, it was one of the team's linemen, Noble Kizer (a Presbyterian), who suggested praying before the first touchdown, which occurred on a fourth and goal play at the Georgia Tech 6-yard line during the second quarter. Quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, another of the Horsemen, threw a quick pass over the middle to Paul Castner for the score. The ritual was repeated before a third and goal play, again at Georgia Tech's 6-yard line, in the fourth quarter. This time Stuhldreher ran for a touchdown, which sealed the win for Notre Dame. After the game, Kizer exclaimed to Crowley, "Say, that Hail Mary is the best play we've got." Crowley related this story many times in public speeches beginning in the 1930s.

Even on Tumblr, I've seen people making direct connections between the ship name and the name of the main character: Hail Mary, full of Grace.

Learning the origins of common terms is not a bad thing. "Why is this called that?" decreases ignorance, you don't end up going "Dunno" and sounding like you are dumber than a box of rocks.

Are any of those media Christian beyond that?

Although the Project Hail Mary title is a play on words, the movie itself takes the time for a pretty on the nose and fairly-needless-to-the-plot discussion about belief in God, which I would say is far from a shallow reference.

Mainstream Hollywood films with a fairly overtly Christian message aren't actually all that rare (see Unbroken, Silence, Hacksaw Ridge, etc.) and for every one of those there are two that take Christian ideas seriously, even if it's in more subtle ways. I was recently watching the Fallout show and one of the characters reaches for the Golden Rule, not as part of a come-to-Jesus sideplot, but because it's an important moral principle - obviously not one unique to Christianity, of course.

The first 5 Halo games are arguably far more "Christian" in both message and tone than many churches these days. Ditto Project Hail Mary though I don't have a effort post I can link for that one.

Specifically the themes of hope in the face of hopelessness, and the idea that the righteous and honest will always find themselves in conflict with the worldly.

In Halo 3, the Master and Savior of humanity sacrifices himself in the “gravemind”, says “it is finished”, and is then entombed cryogenically frozen and later “resurrected”, all of which is very Biblical. But this is shallow because most things in our culture are shallow. To Kill a Mockingbird? Lord of the Flies? Not just shallow but actively detrimental to cultivating wisdom. Just worthless slop.

What is the complaint against To Kill a Mockingbird? (And no fair bringing up Go Set a Watchman.)

Presumably because it shits on secular morality in the same w as y that the story of Jonah does.

Do you means shits on "non-secular" morality? Jonah can be easily read as a critique of religious righteousness. Personally, I think the critique is fairly trenchant.

The heuristics it teaches about life and history are inaccurate.

[Contains mild spoilers for Lord of the Flies]

Can you expand on this criticism of To Kill a Mockingbird? I consider the novel as offering very powerful lessons about (e.g.) conformity and the nature of the legal system.

Also, what's the criticism of Lord of the Flies? I've always been partial to interpreting it as an anti-war novel - by having the boys rescued by a warship, Golding's emphasizing the parallels between modern and primeval expressions of savagery.

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