Sinners (2025): Faith, Violence, and the Long Shadow of Oppression | EP 5

In this episode, Jonathan Foster and Jill Elizabeth reflect on Sinners, the 2025 supernatural horror film directed by Ryan Coogler. They approach the film as a cultural and theological text, exploring the deeper questions it raises about faith, oppression, and moral responsibility.Together, they consider how horror can illuminate the dynamics of power, communal fear, and inherited trauma. The conversation engages themes of religion, violence, and belonging, asking what stories like Sinners reveal about the human condition and the systems that shape it.Thoughtful and probing, this dialogue invites listeners to reflect not only on the film itself, but on the spiritual and cultural realities it mirrors.About The Curian NetworkThe Curian Network (formerly opentable.network) is a denominational space credentialing and resourcing pastors, chaplains, spiritual directors, and counselors in this wild day and age we live in, which is as extremely irreligious as it is hyper-religious.We believe that what works out on the extreme edges and all the spaces in between is love. Not love that simply makes space for people within the terms set by existing structures, but love that allows difference to enhance the entirety of who we are.Top-down religion is no longer viable in a world shaped by algorithms, micro-communities, and interconnected networks. What’s needed is something relational and rhizomatic—a way of being that sends out roots in all directions, grows horizontally, and has no fixed beginning or end.The Curian Network connects faith leaders and communities without demanding conformity to specific creed or covenant. We are networked rather than hierarchical, woven together by relationship across digital and physical space—an ecosystem emphasizing the one thing that matters: faith expressing itself through love (Gal 5:6).We are a 501(c)(3) organization and a recognized endorser with The Board of Chaplaincy Certification and The Association of Professional Chaplains.Learn MoreLearn how the Curian Network serves and credentials pastors, chaplains, spiritual directors, theologians, professors, and other faith leaders seeking a spiritual home.Visit thecurian.network and follow @thecurian.network on Facebook and Instagram.CreditsProduced and original music by Ruthie Santiago Productions