tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post6900643122425303207..comments2023-03-20T10:14:37.879-04:00Comments on One Step Closer: Religion & Popular Culture: Cool Christianity?Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12359553690204479581noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-52761688532000998992013-07-31T01:41:13.983-04:002013-07-31T01:41:13.983-04:00Great thoughts here.
I like that many TV shows ha...Great thoughts here.<br /><br />I like that many TV shows have started to make the "strange/unusual" person the savior figure. Take "Monk" or the prof/FBI guy from "Perception" or the Asperger's female cop in "The Bridge." (I'm sure other examples could be found.) These characters are profoundly misunderstanding the world/misunderstood by the world. They aren't really cool or relevant. They're not even "reverse cool", the geek/nerd/outsider. They are "deficient" humans, with no hope of worldly success. They have to be cared for, and in turn care for others (albeit in weird ways).<br /><br />Of course, these shows are playing on our culture's greater awareness of the spectrum of human experience (a great thing). But I wonder if it's also a kind of repressed desire for a difference that matters -- that makes an impact on the world. Not the same old; not the human as we expect it. To be in relation is to experience a different form of caring.<br /><br />In the *Anti-Christ*, Nietzsche accuses Jesus of being a psychological weirdo (an "idiot" to be exact -- from Gr. idios -- idiosyncratic, perhaps). Jesus really believes that you should love everyone. He forgives, and doesn't resent. He forgets with grace. Surely, Nietzsche argues, this displays psychological issues (Jesus doesn't "do anything!"). But Nietzsche can't bring himself to condemn Jesus. At least this person was without guile -- he wasn't a hypocrite, he wasn't exploiting others. <br /><br />I would like to think the Church gets serious when it follows Jesus into a caring that looks like foolishness to everyone else (a "doing nothing").Brian Shollnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-34278424461217331382013-07-30T13:02:22.083-04:002013-07-30T13:02:22.083-04:00Relevance is largely an idol to a church that held...<i>Relevance is largely an idol to a church that held hegemonic sway for well more than a millennium.</i><br /><br />I think that it is less "relevance" that has been an idol than the notion that the church is an "insider" in our culture. As we have been marginalized, the church may be coming more and more into its ancient identity as a champion of the marginalized, even as we mourn the fact that we are no longer at the center.<br /><br />I prefer to think of "relevance" as being profoundly incarnational. If we are not addressing the concerns of the world and preaching Good News in ways that the world can understand, we risk simply being yet another fringe cult with strange ways and impenetrable ceremonies. While we don't ever want to be trendy, neither do we wish to be irrelevant.Tom Sramek, Jr.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17891982131922786298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-90718971753749614132013-07-30T10:39:16.003-04:002013-07-30T10:39:16.003-04:00Part of the beauty of the Gospel is that its follo...Part of the beauty of the Gospel is that its followers are its followers and don't much care whether any of it is cool. If cultural awareness leads to higher levels of participation (and if as a result some congregations can be brought back from the crust of collapse), that's a nice benefit. I think, though, that I would tend to side with Held Evans in maintaining that attaining hipness is generally a distraction.<br /><br />Relevance is largely an idol to a church that held hegemonic sway for well more than a millennium. That's especially true in our current time, where things can pass into obscurity almost the minute they achieve some sort of visibility.The Rev. Torey Lightcaphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11575889913001493762noreply@blogger.com