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 Network

• The 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 More

• Learn 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.

Credits

• Produced and original music by Ruthie Santiago Productions

In this episode, Jonathan Foster and Jill Elizabeth explore mimetic theory, a framework developed by French thinker René Girard that examines how desire, rivalry, and scapegoating shape human behavior and communities. Drawing on Jonathan’s doctoral work and long engagement with Girard’s thought, they discuss how mimesis influenced his faith, theology, and understanding of conflict within religious systems. Together, they reflect on how scapegoating operates in churches and institutions today, and why mimetic theory offers a compelling lens for reimagining faith rooted in truth, accountability, and nonviolent love.

Learn how the Curian Network serves and credentials pastors, chaplains, spiritual directors, theologians, professors, and other faith leaders seeking a spiritual home. Visit our website thecurian.network and follow us on social media @thecurian.network on Facebook and Instagram.

Produced and original music by Ruthie Santiago Productions

In this episode, Jonathan Foster and Jill Elizabeth reflect on the 2024 film Conclave, using it as a lens to explore the inner dynamics of religious institutions. They examine how power, secrecy, and loyalty shape leadership and decision-making within sacred systems, and what the film reveals about institutional authority. The conversation invites listeners to consider how faith communities might move toward leadership rooted in humility, conscience, and love rather than control.

Learn how the Curian Network serves and credentials pastors, chaplains, spiritual directors, theologians, professors, and other faith leaders seeking a spiritual home. Visit our website thecurian.network and follow us on social media @thecurian.network on Facebook and Instagram.

Produced and original music by Ruthie Santiago Productions