2009 Dewey Decimal Project: 261.0973
Aug. 4th, 2009 06:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rsadelleA year or more ago, I stumbled onto Daniel Radosh's blog, probably because of his New Yorker Anti-Caption Contest. He also frequently posts on such things as media self-censorship, celebrity deaths, and Christian teen girl pop groups. I've been thinking about reading his book for a while, and I finally got a copy via interlibrary loan. The book is Rapture Ready! Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture, and I couldn't put it down.
I found the music chapters to be the strongest, but I'm not sure how much of that is the fact that he writes about Christian music a lot and how much of it is that the last six months have been a time of music for me. The second strongest parts of the book that deal with Christian books. It was in that section that I was reminded of "Why do Heathens Make the Best Christian Films?" by Thom Parham, and then I realized that I'd gotten to that article via one of Radosh's blog posts.
Radosh eventually concludes, which parts of his book made me think, which means he successfully took us there, "Personally, I'm not sure how successful it really is in leading people to Christ, but I can attest that it's a very successful method for generating positive feelings about Christians" - an interesting contrast to Gandhi's "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
The most moving portraits he draws of people are people who are Christians trying to be like Christ. I found Aaron Weiss, the frontman of Christian band mewithoutYou, particularly compelling: "That's why more than anything else, I come back to God being merciful, and I say, 'Thank you, that I don't have to be perfect.' I don't have to figure everything out. I can strive to be perfect, and insomuch as I fall short, I just walk humbly and say, 'I'm sorry, please forgive me, please guide me to a better place.'" "Deep down I think we all have this suspicion that really none of this makes sense. I mean, honestly, come on! Nothing matters! There's no God. But there's also this small point of hope or of faith or of purpose or meaning - I guess love is the best way for me to put it. It transcends any of the material or scientific or philosophical doubts about our existence, but those doubts seem so much larger, so we have to keep them confined. My guess is, to actually open the Bible and read what it says is to force yourself to come face-to-face with those doubts. Like: Do I really believe this? It's easier to just show up once a week at a building and have somebody tell you what you need to hear." Love: yes. That's what matters. I'm all for that. I'm all for love, all for living a life of love.
In another chapter, Radosh talks about meeting the guy who plays Bibleman: "R.T. asked if he could pray for me, which didn't surprise me. And then he prayed that my book would help Christians see some hard truths about themselves, even if it hurt. Which I hadn't expected at all."
I found the book as a whole entertaining, well-written, and thought-provoking. If I'd written this entry as I read, I'd be able to recreate some of that thought for you. As it is, I can't seem to corral my thoughts very well. So instead, let me just pull out four bits I found interesting.
First, he includes the Jonas Brothers under the category of Contemporary Christian Music, which I found interesting. I've been listening to them for the last couple of weeks, and I would never pick their music out as Christian, even though I know they themselves are evangelical Christians - and I'm usually pretty good at sniffing out the evangelical origins of things.
Secondly, in the chapter on Christian rave, or the preferred term of "DJ-led worship," he visits an electronic dance music (EDM) event: "But the performers pressed on, and it occurred to me that if they were proselytizing for anything it was EDM - trying to win over Fall Out Boy fans to the one true faith."
Thirdly, the book also has a connecting website Get Rapture Ready! where Radosh has media of much of the things he talks about in the book. Interestingly, I found the actual media far less compelling than Radosh's discussions and descriptions. (Also, I found it fascinating that he includes a link to the video for Fall Out Boy's "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race" in the associated media for the rave chapter.)
Fourthly, he talks about the way a lot of Christian pop culture creators can get away with less than great art because just the fact that it's Christian is going to be enough for much of the audience, even if it's not very good. But what Radosh misses is that this only makes Christians like other groups. How many times have I had someone tell me a movie is good only to watch it and grumble, yet again, "Having gay and lesbian characters doesn't necessarily make a movie worth watching"?
If you're reading my LJ, you're probably interested in pop culture, and I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in pop culture - or evangelical Christianity in the US, or even just good writing.
I found the music chapters to be the strongest, but I'm not sure how much of that is the fact that he writes about Christian music a lot and how much of it is that the last six months have been a time of music for me. The second strongest parts of the book that deal with Christian books. It was in that section that I was reminded of "Why do Heathens Make the Best Christian Films?" by Thom Parham, and then I realized that I'd gotten to that article via one of Radosh's blog posts.
Radosh eventually concludes, which parts of his book made me think, which means he successfully took us there, "Personally, I'm not sure how successful it really is in leading people to Christ, but I can attest that it's a very successful method for generating positive feelings about Christians" - an interesting contrast to Gandhi's "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
The most moving portraits he draws of people are people who are Christians trying to be like Christ. I found Aaron Weiss, the frontman of Christian band mewithoutYou, particularly compelling: "That's why more than anything else, I come back to God being merciful, and I say, 'Thank you, that I don't have to be perfect.' I don't have to figure everything out. I can strive to be perfect, and insomuch as I fall short, I just walk humbly and say, 'I'm sorry, please forgive me, please guide me to a better place.'" "Deep down I think we all have this suspicion that really none of this makes sense. I mean, honestly, come on! Nothing matters! There's no God. But there's also this small point of hope or of faith or of purpose or meaning - I guess love is the best way for me to put it. It transcends any of the material or scientific or philosophical doubts about our existence, but those doubts seem so much larger, so we have to keep them confined. My guess is, to actually open the Bible and read what it says is to force yourself to come face-to-face with those doubts. Like: Do I really believe this? It's easier to just show up once a week at a building and have somebody tell you what you need to hear." Love: yes. That's what matters. I'm all for that. I'm all for love, all for living a life of love.
In another chapter, Radosh talks about meeting the guy who plays Bibleman: "R.T. asked if he could pray for me, which didn't surprise me. And then he prayed that my book would help Christians see some hard truths about themselves, even if it hurt. Which I hadn't expected at all."
I found the book as a whole entertaining, well-written, and thought-provoking. If I'd written this entry as I read, I'd be able to recreate some of that thought for you. As it is, I can't seem to corral my thoughts very well. So instead, let me just pull out four bits I found interesting.
First, he includes the Jonas Brothers under the category of Contemporary Christian Music, which I found interesting. I've been listening to them for the last couple of weeks, and I would never pick their music out as Christian, even though I know they themselves are evangelical Christians - and I'm usually pretty good at sniffing out the evangelical origins of things.
Secondly, in the chapter on Christian rave, or the preferred term of "DJ-led worship," he visits an electronic dance music (EDM) event: "But the performers pressed on, and it occurred to me that if they were proselytizing for anything it was EDM - trying to win over Fall Out Boy fans to the one true faith."
Thirdly, the book also has a connecting website Get Rapture Ready! where Radosh has media of much of the things he talks about in the book. Interestingly, I found the actual media far less compelling than Radosh's discussions and descriptions. (Also, I found it fascinating that he includes a link to the video for Fall Out Boy's "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race" in the associated media for the rave chapter.)
Fourthly, he talks about the way a lot of Christian pop culture creators can get away with less than great art because just the fact that it's Christian is going to be enough for much of the audience, even if it's not very good. But what Radosh misses is that this only makes Christians like other groups. How many times have I had someone tell me a movie is good only to watch it and grumble, yet again, "Having gay and lesbian characters doesn't necessarily make a movie worth watching"?
If you're reading my LJ, you're probably interested in pop culture, and I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in pop culture - or evangelical Christianity in the US, or even just good writing.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-08-05 08:15 am (UTC)I remember when I read it I thought I should try to find more Christian contemporary music, just because it sounded like some of the artists were doing interesting things with it. (Up until that point my impression of CCM, formed mainly by the fact that my dentist plays it all the time and that hilarious South Park episode where Cartman becomes a Christian star by replacing "baby" with "Jesus" in all sorts of love songs, was pretty negative.)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-08-05 03:18 pm (UTC)I thought that too, but then I didn't like most of the stuff I listened to via his page. I keep being reminded of the thing about how it doesn't have to be that good, just Christian. I actually really like well done Christian music, but then I get tangled up in not wanting to support/sing along with things I don't believe in. I so loved P.O.D.'s "Youth of the Nation" that I had their album on my Amazon wish list for years, but could never bring myself to buy it, and eventually lost interest and took it off. (Heh. There's a Simpsons ep with that same joke in reverse - a Christian star makes the crossover to pop by changing "Jesus" to "baby.")