The Religious Treehouse

Boo! It's a spooky season and that means Jodie and Matthew get to review a religious horror movie: Midsommar. Matthew’s advice is to never watch this movie, but that’s mainly because he doesn’t like horror movies. Jodie’s advice is to follow us on social media, but that’s unrelated. But Jodie and Matthew discuss some of the religious themes and tropes that pop up throughout Midsommar and discu...

Jodie and Matthew begin their discussion on religious violence and extremism by offering a brief introduction to religious violence. Following Mark Jurgensmeyer’s book: Terror in the Mind of God, Jodie and Matthew will explore various care studies of religious extremism before delving into the logic and justification of these horrific acts of violence. Works Referenced and Recommended Readings: Ju...

Jodie and Matthew delve into a sensitive topic as they review a PBS Frontline Documentary about how religious faith changed in the aftermath of 9/11. While this is a relatively unknown documentary, it acts as a great introduction to religious extremism and hopefully will act as a good starting point as The Religious Treehouse starts an extended series on religious extremism, fundamentalism, and vi...

This week, Jodie and Matthew delve into the New Testament to discuss Jesus’ parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard… if that’s what we want to call it. As with most parables of Jesus, historical and modern interpretations have vastly differed, but how would Jews that Jesus was speaking to have understood the parable? To address this, Jodie and Matthew set off to explore the variety of ways it has...

Jesus Camp is an Oscar-nominated documentary from 2006 that looks at a Pentecostal children’s summer camp and the conflation between this branch of evangelicalism and the Republican party. Jodie and Matthew discuss why the leaders of this camp act the way they did, why the children reacted the way they did, and how Jodie and Matthew’s personal experience in religious circles similar to this parall...

This is a re-release of episode 8, Jonah and Satire. Jonah is a well-known story for kids, but why do people stop talking about it after they’ve grown up? Jodie and Matthew attempt to strip away the Veggietales-ification of this fascinating story to get into the fascinating Biblical satire that is the Book of Jonah. And no, it’s not a whale. It’s a fish. Last week we released a review of the Veggi...

Perhaps one of the most well-known pieces of Christian media is Veggietales, and Jodie and Matthew are delving into the Veggietales retelling of the story of Jonah. Whether you grew up with Veggietales or not, you should enjoy this conversation as Jodie and Matthew discuss the interpretive choices that may occur when adapting a text for a children's movie. Likewise, how does an explicitly Chri...

The Bible has some pretty freaky creatures in it, and that is certainly the case for Seraphim. Burning, 6-wings, human-snake hybrids should certainly sound scary, and that is the point of these creatures: to be intimidating and deadly. Listen along as Jodie and Matthew discuss seraphim and how they appear in the Bible - especially in Numbers 21 and Isaiah 6. How are they used, what is their role,...

Jodie and Matthew watch (what they learn to be an absolutely amazing movie/musical) Fiddler on the Roof, and how it portrays Russian Judaism at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. Likewise, how does the theme of “Tradition” transcend this small community and present a universal message that is relevant to all religions and all cultures? Please, let us know in the comments what...

Jodie and Matthew AND Faith (That’s right! We have a special guest this week) get together to talk about one of the best, if not the best, stories in the Bible: the binding and attempted sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. There is a lot to unpack here, so instead of trying to unpack it all, we talk through the drama and story of Genesis 22, appreciating it as a text, immersing ourselves into the narra...

The Passion of Joan of Arc is often included on lists of the best movies of all time, and often tops the lists of best religious movies of all time. This silent French film condenses Joan’s trial and death into a single day and by using famously beautiful cinematography and acting, it depicts the harrowing final few hours of her life. Listen along for a brief discussion on the historical figure, a...

This week Jodie and Matthew delve into the New Testament to discuss Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed. It’s a short parable that is only a couple verses long in each of the synoptic gospels, but much like a mustard seed, it packs a punch. However, it’s brevity can make it difficult to interpret, so Jodie and Matthew set off to explore the variety of ways it has been interpreted, for better or for...

You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah is a lot of things: a coming-of-age movie, an Adam Sandler movie, and a deeply Jewish movie, to name a few. This week, Jodie and Matthew talk about how this movie explores and presents modern religious Judaism in a way that is fun and representative of how B’nai Mitzvah ceremonies have come to be celebrated. Listen or watch, and let us know your thoughts! I...

In our last episode of our 4-part series going through Phyllis Trible’s Texts of Terror, Jodie and Matthew discuss the story of Jephthah’s daughter, as found in Judges 11 in the Bible. Looking literally at the unit, Jephthah irrationally sacrifices his daughter as a burnt offering, presenting yet another tragic story for women in a biblical story. Listen along and tell us what you think! Works Ref...

Jodie and Matthew review the 2011 documentary, which recounts the journey of Vikram Ghandi as he impersonates a guru and builds a following in Arizona.  Join us for discussion on the journey. Follow our socials and reach out to us with thoughts or questions! Twitter/X: @TheRELTreehouse Bluesky: @TheRELTreehouse Instagram: @TheReligiousTreehouse TikTok: @thereligioustreehouse  Facebook: TRT Email:...

We are continuing a 4-part series, going through Phyllis Trible’s Texts of Terror, where each week, we will discuss a story from the Hebrew Bible from a Literary-Feminist perspective, following Trible’s book. Feel free to follow along and read with us! This week, we talk about the unnamed woman from Judges 19, a concubine who gets used, abused, and dismembered. Let us know your thoughts! Works Ref...

Jodie and Matthew review the 2014 fantasy/adventure film Noah, which takes a unique approach to the story of Noah. Join us for discussion on the interesting directorial choices made by Darren Aronofsky and Jodie’s obsession with the casting choices. Follow our socials and reach out to us with thoughts or questions! Twitter/X: @TheRELTreehouse Bluesky: @TheRELTreehouse Instagram: @TheReligiousTreeh...

We are continuing a 4-part series, going through Phyllis Trible’s Texts of Terror, where each week, we will discuss a story from the Hebrew Bible from a Literary-Feminist perspective, following Trible’s book. Feel free to follow along and read with us! This week, we talk about Tamar, a daughter of King David who is coveted by her brother Amnon. It’s a tragic story, but an important one in the Bibl...

Jodie and Matthew review the 1979 film Life of Brian, which tells the story of a  Judean man mistaken for a messianic prophet at the time of Jesus. Join us for discussion on Monty Python’s satirical commentary on religion, gender, and more by creating a parallel to the well-known story of Jesus. Follow our socials and reach out to us with thoughts or questions! Twitter/X: @TheRELTreehouse Bluesky:...

We are starting a 4-part series, going through Phyllis Trible’s Texts of Terror, where each week, we will discuss a story from the Hebrew Bible from a Literary-Feminist perspective, following Trible’s book. Feel free to follow along and read with us! This week, we talk about Hagar, an enslaved Egyptian woman who conceived a son for Abraham, but is then banished. It’s a tragic story, but an importa...

Jodie and Matthew review Jerome Bixby’s 2007 film “The Man From Earth,” which explores the concept of what would happen if there was an unaging 14,000 year old man walking among us. While this is an interesting concept for a film, it delves into a conversation on religion that gets a lot wrong Follow our socials and reach out to us with thoughts or questions! Twitter/X: @TheRELTreehouse Bluesky: @...

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is one of the most misused stories of the Bible, often to promote homophobic ideologies despite never commenting on the topic or being associated with homosexuality anywhere in the Bible. So, Jodie and Matthew discuss what the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is actually about and how it has been interpreted by early readers of the text. Let us know what you think! . Wor...

Jesus Christ, Superstar. Who are you? What have you sacrificed? Do you think you’re who they say you are? These are all fantastic questions asked by Judas, scholars of the historical Jesus, and Chrsitian theologians. Too bad we don’t really get into answering those questions from any of those perspectives (though we pontificate on how Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Judas would have thought abo...

This may sound really simple, but belief may be more complicated than we would like to think. In this episode Jodie and Matthew explore what belief is in religious settings and how we have come to see other religions in terms of belief - and how that’s largely due to Chrsitianity’s influence on western culture. What is belief and what do you believe? . Works Referenced and Recommended Readings: Ro...

The Religious Treehouse is back talking about movies! This time Jodie and Matthew look at Dreamworks’ The Prince of Egypt. They talk about the artistic choices made, what it may mean for Val Kilmer to voice both Moses and God, what can be gained by depicting a Biblical story, and about how this film is so beloved by many! GIve us a listen and give the movie a watch and let us know what you think a...