The Religious Studies Project

I’m interested in religion and the history of religion, but each episode has been dry, pedantic or both. This is the kind of closed worldview and discussion that give academics a bad name. A positive note: most of the contributors seem like they’d be nice enough people to talk to about topics outside their areas of expertise, and I’d probably trust them to take care of a cat or indoor plants.

Lost and blinded by academic “correctness.”

Taking religious studies as an undergraduate was one of the best decisions I made in life, so when I stumbled upon this podcast, I was excited to continue engaging with such interesting topics. However, the problem I encountered with religious studies in general is the problem I encountered with this podcasts. Many of the topics and interviews seem so distant from the reality of religious people as they are. Occasionally, there will be an episode that avoids the elitist/reductive disposition this podcast often has towards religious belief, however they are few and far between. Religious Studies is not some observational analysis of “goofy” people who believe “silly” things. It is a study of real human beings with richly diverse and intensely complicated cultures, world views, and histories. Sadly, I’ve tried many times to listen for the sake of engaging with the interesting topics presented, but am always confronted with the elitist academic tone found too often within the study of religion.

Literal nothingness. Not a discussion. Just people taking turns trying to create sound bites. I’ve learned nothing expect how important quality sound engineering is.