In 1990 theologian John Milbank wrote Theology and Social Theory. The book was (and continues to be) a radical critique of modernist humanism particularly of the social sciences as being an intellectual cover for a more power-grabbing, secular agenda. Milbank argued that while the social scientific disciplines—particularly economics, political…
Red Pill
Spoiler Warning for Matrix Resurrections One of the earliest pieces I wrote at Limited Hangout is entitled The Red Pill is a Psyop. In this piece I’m going to look at the most recent Matrix film (Matrix: Resurrections). But in order to get a sense of what I believe…
In a previous piece I explored the path of studying parapolitical/conspiratorial insights as akin, though distinct from, the path of spiritual awakening. It’s not coincidental that the classic metaphor used in conspiracy world is “going down the rabbit hole”, which is after all reference to shamanic initiation and…
This piece is a sequel to this one critiquing the men’s right activism (MRAs) from the perspective of collective initiatory experiences and trauma. In that piece I laid out the conceptual grid of trauma and initiatory movements and how they shed incredible light on the MRA movement—an understanding…
“Traumatic injury in childhood has been equated with a kind of unconscious initiation ceremony—not because it is a spiritual or ceremonial experience, but because the movements within it mimic the movements of the first two stages of real initiation. Understanding the stages of initiation (and the ways in which…
Prof. April DeConick one of the premier religious scholars of Gnosticism has written reviews examining Gnostic themes in Dark City as well as Avatar. Gnostic themes occur in multiple films. The Truman Show would be another oft-cited Gnostic film example. And of course The Matrix (I’ll get back to…
The Red Pill. Everyone remembers Morpheus offering Neo the choice of the red pill which will “show him how far this rabbit hole goes.” Only as it turns out later in the films it doesn’t quite work out that way. This misremembering would simply be an interesting cinematic footnote…