This weekend “The New York Times” offered a bounty of articles that parse religious and spiritual trends within realms as diverse as Ben Affleck’s new movie ventures to authors of literary fiction.
Don’t miss the following:
Tyler Perry’s confession that he wants to heal the masses spiritually through showbiz in Ruth La Ferla’s article “Sometimes Piety Isn’t Squeaky Clean.”

Tom Perrota’s adventure into the world of evangelical purity culture for his new novel “The Abstinence Teacher” in Motoko Rich’s “A Writer’s Search for the Sex in Abstinence.”
Ben Affleck’s attempt to get back to his Boston roots and dig deep on behalf of “Gone Baby Gone,” his new movie venture, in “Redemption Hunting” by Charles McGrath.
And my personal favorite: Alessandra Stanley’s foray into the whys behind television audience’s intense craving for all things vampire and occultish, in her article “A Person Could Develop Occult.”
Read away.