I returned recently from the annual convention of the Catholic Theological Society of America in San Jose, CA where I presented a paper called “’I’m a Human, Not a Statue‘: Saints and Saintliness in the Church of Punk Rock.” I may post a revised version of the paper online. Until then, here is a summary:

In agreement with theologians who are noting how popular music fulfills a religious function in people’s lives, this paper gives a brief overview of the emergence of punk rock communities in the 1970s and ‘80s and the various ways that punk functions “religiously” for its participants. It then analyzes the way punk rock lifts up exemplars or “saints” who embody the diverse and often conflicting ideals of this movement and the ways in which punk rock “saints” challenge mainstream rock’s patterns of “rock star religiosity.” Finally, it argues that this internal debate about the meaning of “saintly” figures in rock music has much to teach the Roman Catholic Church in its current debates about the meaning of saints in postmodern culture and that it can also provide an important critique of the enthusiasm with which emerging theologies of popular music approach rock music as a “religion.”