Dear Revealer readers,

I’ve had the opportunity to do a bit of travel this summer and one thing that has struck me is that I can’t get away from noticing religion. It is everywhere. That fact, I should say, does not surprise me. I’ve asked students in several classes to do a religion mapping exercise where they write down every manifestation of religion they see or hear within four city blocks. Students have never returned with fewer than five examples. But as I found myself in rather diverse locations this summer – an island off the coast of Africa, continental Europe, the boroughs of New York City, and the American Midwest – I couldn’t help but notice religion’s pervasiveness. I witnessed religion on people’s phones, in a remote village church, on billboards, in popular streaming shows, in restaurant designs, in Supreme Court decisions, and countless other settings. As I observed religion in each location, I thought about how commonly religion changes. Religions transform because of geographic region, local culture, time period, and myriad other influences. Religion may be everywhere, but it is often in a different form.

Revealer Editor, Brett Krutzsch

The Revealer’s Summer issue explores religion in places where one might not typically look and religious ideas not commonly known. Our Summer issue starts with Kelsey Osgood’s “How They Met Their Mother,” where she investigates how Mormon women are turning to Instagram and podcasts to start conversations about Heavenly Mother, a little-discussed divine female figure in the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints. Then, in “Putting Buddhism Back in Buddhist Meditation,” Shira Telushkin explores how meditation centers, often thought of by secular Americans as places to relax and recharge, are now presenting Buddhist meditation as a way to overcome attachments and escape the cycle of rebirth, not as places to relieve one’s anxiety. Next, in “Fashion and Religion,” Jeanine Viau and Otto Von Busch turn our attention to clothing and have a conversation about why fashion matters if we hope to understand religion’s place in society. Then, in “Treating Pornography as an Addiction that Requires Faith,” an excerpt from The Pornography Wars, Kelsey Burke examines an evangelical church program that treats pornography viewership as an addiction that necessitates religious intervention. From there we take a different view of religion, sex, and mental health and turn to graphic novels in “The Mystic Torment of Binky Brown,” where Andrew Lenoir looks into a trailblazing publication that shaped generations of comic artists. And finally, in our exploration of religion in less-than-expected places, in “Establishing Reagan’s Religious Outlook for the U.S.,” an excerpt from Righting the American Dream, Diane Winston illustrates how mainstream news media normalized Ronald Reagan’s religious views and transformed the country in the process.

Our Summer issue also includes two episodes of the Revealer podcast. In the first, “Reagan’s Religious Vision for America and the Impact Today,” Diane Winston joins us to discuss Reagan’s religious views, how they shaped his politics, and how they transformed America in ways that are still felt today. In the second episode, “Muslims Using Female Pronouns for God,” we have a conversation with Hafsa Lodi about Muslim women who refer to Allah as “She,” what they believe doing that can achieve, and what conversations about pronouns and God can reveal about broader issues of gender within Islam today. You can listen to both episodes on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

As this summer of constant climate crises continues around the globe, I hope the articles and podcast episodes in this issue help you think about the pervasiveness of religion in new ways. Religion is everywhere, which can be wonderful and horrifying. So, whether you find yourself traveling this summer or staying closer to home, I hope you remain safe, healthy, and better informed about religion’s many roles throughout our world.

Yours,
Brett Krutzsch, Ph.D.