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Written by Michael D. O'Brien
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Wednesday, 10 February 2010 15:53 |
Preface to Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture
by Michael D. O'Brien
[to be published spring, 2010. North American title: Twilight of the West: Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture.]
This book grew out of a series of articles which were written over a ten-year period for various Christian periodicals. At first, I had no interest in reading the Harry Potter novels, and indeed felt that I had already expended considerable time researching the field of fantasy literature when writing a book on the subject in the mid-1990’s. Moreover, the constant reviews of the Potter series had given me a general sense about the stories and the popular opinions. Oceans of spilled ink and electronic text seemed to cover the pros and cons well enough. No need for me to add my opinion.
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Read more...
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Written by Michael D. O'Brien
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Friday, 18 December 2009 22:30 |
The astonishing success of the Twilight series of vampire novels written by Stephenie Meyer ranks second only to the Harry Potter series in publishing history, and the two films released to date also repeat this pattern. Meyer’s series builds upon the foundation of older novels and cult films, themselves based on the European legends of vampires. The legends predate even these, for there is a long tradition in ancient religions of supernatural beings who are predators on humans, consuming the blood or flesh of the living, tales that can be found in Babylonian, Greek, Persian, Hindu, and Hebrew lore, as well as throughout Africa and the pre-colonial Americas.
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Read more... [TWILIGHT of the WEST]
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Written by Michael D. O'Brien
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Saturday, 19 December 2009 18:49 |
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Where is the road of modern culture taking us? The real question is not whether there are intriguing, entertaining, and even edifying details along the route, but what is the final destination. Are we Christians asking this question as we consume contemporary cultural material? Or are we gradually losing our bearings, the moral compass spinning aimlessly? What is the dominant terrain, the pitch of the slope? I believe it is heading downward, and the occasional bumps in the road that offer a sense of upward mobility (such as the “values” in the Harry Potter books) contribute to an illusion. In order to see clearly the extent to which we have been absorbed by the illusion, we first must recognize how strong is the need in human nature for confidence in the world, and the instinctive aversion to the threat of “negativity” or “intolerance.”
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Read more... [War in the Heavens]
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Spiritual Strategies in the Pagan Tsunami |
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Written by Michael D. O'Brien
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Monday, 11 January 2010 17:21 |
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Christian parents everywhere are facing the dilemma of raising their families in the midst of a tsunami of cultural corruption—and extremely invasive corruption it is! We sense the dangers but so often do not know what to do about it. We know that our children are especially vulnerable to the spirit of the times, and that the older they get the more they must live with one foot in the family and one foot in the world around them. As they move outward from the foundation of the family into the wider community, which is a necessary stage in the process of maturing, they will need wisdom and grace in a way different than any other generation before them.
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Read more... [Spiritual Strategies in the Pagan Tsunami]
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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 29 August 2005 17:24 |
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Welcome to the official online gallery presenting the works of painter, novelist, and essayist Michael D. O'Brien
Dear Guests,
In all my work I seek to contribute to the restoration of Christian culture. I try to express the holiness of existence and the dignity of the human person situated in an incarnational universe. Each visual image and each work of prose is an incarnation of a word, a statement of faith. At the same time, it asks the questions: what is most noble and eternal in man? Who is he? Why does he exist? And what is his eternal destiny?
I thank you for visiting and invite you to reflect on further issues in Christian art, literature, and culture by subscribing to my (somewhat irregular) newsletter.
There are more than a hundred articles, interviews, and transcripts of talks available on this site, which can be accessed by selecting the specific category under Writings in the menu on the upper left side of the home page. There are also four visual art categories for you to explore (see the categories in the Gallery menu on the left side): the Profiled Works gallery contains several pages of paintings completed during recent years, and available for purchase. The Modern and Byzantine galleries contain images painted during the past forty years, which are no longer available for purchase. In the Recently Sold gallery are images purchased within the past year. Please note that most of the galleries have several pages of "thumbnail" images. In all galleries you may click on the thumbnail for a larger version of each image.
Note to Newsletter subscribers: Several subscribers have written in to say they registered for the newsletter and have never received it. This may be due to you not receiving, or to overlooking, the auto-confirm e-mail that is sent to you upon registration. It is important to click on the confirm link in this e-mail, a procedure that prevents people from signing others up for the newsletter without their knowledge. Another reason you may not be receiving the newsletter is strict filtering of "junk-mail" by your e-mail server. In order to avoid this problem, go to your personal e-mail account on your server site, and under "permissions" or "approved" or "contacts" or "safe sender", please type in the following address from which the newsletter is sent out:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(please note this is not the web address)
Due to a great amount of creative work ahead of me, and many backlogged projects, I'm no longer able to send out a monthly newsletter. From time to time an occasional one will arrive in your inbox.
Michael D. O'Brien
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