Saturday, May 17, 2008 | Reason : In the News | print version

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Pop Goes Christianity

by Slate

Thanks to SPS for the link.

http://www.slate.com/id/2190482/

Pop Goes Christianity

The deep contradictions of Christian popular culture.
By Hanna Rosin

One night, a couple of years ago, I walked in on a group of evangelical college boys sitting on a bed watching The Daily Show. I felt alarmed, and embarrassed, as if I had caught them reading Playboy or something else they had to be shielded from. Jon Stewart, after all, spends at least one-quarter of his show making fun of people like them. But they eagerly invited me in. I soon learned that they watched the show every night it was on, finals or no finals. So strong was their devotion to Jon Stewart that I was tempted to ask: If Jesus came back on a Tuesday night at 11, would you get off the bed?

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http://www.slate.com/id/2190482/

Posted: Saturday, May 17, 2008 | Permalink

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1. Comment #181435 by Colwyn Abernathy on May 17, 2008 at 8:26 am

Alla sudden...I got the strangest urge to belt out Jesus Christ Superstar...or The Who's Tommy, I'm never sure which.

EDIT:

Once, after I'd met Jon Stewart, they all crowded around and asked the same question: What does he really think of us?

I'd've asked in return, "Why do you give a shit?"

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2. Comment #181444 by Colwyn Abernathy on May 17, 2008 at 8:35 am

Worried that American popular culture leads people and especially teenagers astray, the Christian version is designed to satisfy all the same needs in a cleaner form.

Of COURSE it does! It's modern, up-to-date, and NEAT! A bronze age text spouting barbaric traditions is EXTREMELY difficult for new generations to relate to. Henry Rollins talks about this. It's like getting a kid who's into rap, R&B, read "The N Word", saw "8 Mile" and "Dangerous Minds" to buy into the idea that black people are inferior because his own race is superior. NO kid who's been exposed to the "target" of hatred/intolerance/inferiority firsthand is gonna buy that. And therein lies hope, at least for me.

EDIT:

Most non-Christians are aware that there is something called Christian rock.

You think THAT'S an oxymoron? Try Christian DEATH METAL! ;)

....wait...

EDITEDIT:

There are Christian raves and Christian rappers and Christian techno,

Oh, they just HAD to provoke me...

http://jesusraves2006.ytmnd.com
http://laserjesusrave.ytmnd.com/
http://raptorjesusfullsong.ytmnd.com/

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3. Comment #181447 by HoyaSaxa87 on May 17, 2008 at 8:40 am

More power to them. Honestly, who really cares? If they want to have a deluded subculture, it's not for the secular among us to stop them, but instead to try to make our viewpoint accessible to those on the fringe and to not allow them to force their views on others.

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4. Comment #181457 by Colwyn Abernathy on May 17, 2008 at 8:51 am

What does commercializing do to the substance of belief, and what does an infusion of belief do to the product?

"It's Jesus for Miller! I was dead for three days, resurrected, raised to heaven, and waited 2,000 years to return to Earth...It's Miller Time...'Y'know, Jesus it don't get no better 'n this." -Bill Hicks

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5. Comment #181472 by Szymanowski on May 17, 2008 at 9:17 am

I'm always stunned whenever I read a new article on the US, at the extent to which faith-based madness has taken root within its culture. This is no exception.

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6. Comment #181491 by kkelly on May 17, 2008 at 9:44 am

Crikey, an evangelical AND a John Stewart fan? They must be the worst people ever.

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7. Comment #181497 by mordacious1 on May 17, 2008 at 10:01 am

COLWYN How about a link to the website where they tell christians that strap on dildos are o.k. I would like to see that one. "Strap one on for jesus".
"Poke the Pope" "Dildos for dildos" etc.

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8. Comment #181499 by clunkclickeverytrip on May 17, 2008 at 10:02 am

"evangelical college boys" (ecb)
As a chemist, I'd equate this to a short term intermediate state in the cycle:
-> delusional adults -> indoctrinated children -> ecb -> delusional adults -> etc.

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9. Comment #181524 by Duff on May 17, 2008 at 10:53 am

The thing that has always confused me, is why, if Jesus is out there helping those who believe in him, is the music about him so universally horrible?

If I hear really bad rock, I automatically know its christian rock without even listening to the lyrics.

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10. Comment #181535 by mikecbraun on May 17, 2008 at 11:25 am

Just when I thought that there could be no idea more zany and ludicrous than professional wrestling, I read about Christian professional wrestling. My mind instantly boggled at the comedic possibilities. Is there a priest character who gets excited over the tight man-panties his opponent is wearing and tries to put him in the full Father Nelson? Is there a character who chastizes the others for their violent ways? Do they have a story arc where the head good guy winds up being caught on tape snorting meth off a male prostitute's back and he becomes the biggest bad guy in the biz?

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11. Comment #181544 by rotaTOR on May 17, 2008 at 12:08 pm

I'm always stunned whenever I read a new article on the US, at the extent to which faith-based madness has taken root within its culture. This is no exception.

quack.
are you stunned?
throw some cold water in your face.

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12. Comment #181609 by noodly_noodleson on May 17, 2008 at 4:23 pm

Christian Harlequin novels? Really?

"...just the thought of resisting their animal urges all night long sent waves of pleasure through her body...."

Oh that's sexy.

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13. Comment #181714 by Colwyn Abernathy on May 18, 2008 at 3:26 am

COLWYN How about a link to the website where they tell christians that strap on dildos are o.k. I would like to see that one. "Strap one on for jesus".
"Poke the Pope" "Dildos for dildos" etc.

Weeeellll....found this...

http://www.divine-interventions.com/baby.php

And this...

http://www.funked.com/links/dildo/home.htm

OOO! AND THIS! ;)

http://flickr.com/photos/renakosnett/2364050503/

Enjoy! ;)

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14. Comment #181786 by BigJohn on May 18, 2008 at 9:07 am

What is a coopter? I can't find it in any dictionary.

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15. Comment #181789 by Border Collie on May 18, 2008 at 9:15 am

"Evangelizing and commercializing have a lot in common."

Do tell.

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16. Comment #181795 by ThoughtsonCommonToad on May 18, 2008 at 9:25 am

BigJohn

What is a coopter? I can't find it in any dictionary.

I read it as co-opters which still isn't really a word but makes sense considering what co-opt means.

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17. Comment #181807 by mordacious1 on May 18, 2008 at 9:39 am

Colwyn:

Now I know where to go to get gifts for my christian friends. hahaha

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18. Comment #181809 by Colwyn Abernathy on May 18, 2008 at 9:41 am

Mordacious, make sure they've got fully intact senses of humour first. ;)

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19. Comment #181975 by Creeping Jesus on May 19, 2008 at 1:51 am

Ha! It was always the same.
When I was a teenager learning to play guitar my pals were learning Rolling Stones songs while the wee Christians were all singing 'Kumbaya' down the youth fellowship.

Umm..... what to choose........?

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20. Comment #182004 by Johnny O on May 19, 2008 at 5:27 am

Every American pop phenomenon has its Christian equivalent, no matter how improbable.

Can you get Christian Porn??

loving Christ... just like loving your boyfriend,

Oh, apparantly there is?

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21. Comment #182139 by JFHalsey on May 19, 2008 at 9:11 am

I was brought up in that horrible faux-pop culture. I would never listen to Christian radio, though, because I knew all the songs were absolute crap--worse than crap, they were synthetically, purposefully engineered crap. I thought I was doing better by only listening to the "underground" Christian rock, but then I was always confused what made them Christian when they never sang about God? (Case in point--Chevelle's first album was actually sold in Christian bookstores)
I eventually migrated to mainstream bands that I thought were secretly Christian--you know, the ones where, if you ignore certain lines in a song, the rest of it could pass for Christian... U2, Live, and, of course, the not-so-subtle Creed.

If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend watching the Southpark episode "Hard Christian Rock" (or something like that). It's the most hilarious parody of the Christian faux-culture I've ever seen, and it gave my little heathen heart great pleasure to see Cartman say "F@ck Jesus!" in front of a giant crowd of fundies ^_^. ("My ears are bleeding!")

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22. Comment #183297 by mikecbraun on May 21, 2008 at 7:08 pm

@JFHalsey:
I would say that U2 is openly Christian, since Bono is a big Catholic. But there's good music and shite music. As long as it's not pushing some openly evangelical message, it's probably not going to be too cloying. For instance, Bob Dylan's "Masters of War" is a great song even though it relies on a mention of Jesus to hammer a point home. I like music that goes on that deep spiritual search, as long as it comes up for air every once in a while, if you know what I mean. To me there's quite a difference between, say, Pearl Jam, with their introspective lyrics and worldview grounded in reality, and their bizarro-clones Creed, with the singer holding a Christ pose in every shot and singing lyrics that sound like they were written by a Sunday school teacher. No wonder the guy ended up wandering around drunk in an airport.

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23. Comment #184195 by King of NH on May 23, 2008 at 10:19 pm

"There are Christian sex-advice sites where you can read the biblical case for a strap-on dildo or bondage (liberation through submission)."

Are you kidding me?

'''In the sixth chapter of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul details what's needed to become strong in the Lord's mighty power. He closes his famous armor inventory by reminding us to "take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."''' (from Bibleman Website)

Oh, I guess you're not kidding.

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