APATHY: On being our own worst enemy!

Good & Evil | ESSAYS ON OUR TIMES

HT: Good & evil | THE BLACK KETTLE

Truth doesn't sell! Goodness and righteousness don't sell! Ergo Christianity doesn't sell! Perhaps this piece by David Warren will explain why!

... I am in favour of good, and against evil. (And be warned: few with the opposite bias are prepared to declare it.) In my own defence, I will state that my preferential option for good is not entirely self-interested. In the longest view, I trust that it will be. But in the short term, and on this planet, I don’t see people getting points for it.

As John Milton discovered (and William Blake famously nailed), evil tends to win the theatrical competitions. Milton’s Lucifer was the livelier and more exciting cosmic presence in Paradise Lost. The journalist in Milton intuitively grasped what publishers have been betting through the intervening centuries: that the life of a sinner is easier to sell than the life of a saint. And this, perversely enough, even though the lives of the saints are often more interesting.

The Devil trades on plausibility, and his argument that "the saints are boring" repays the very little thought most people are willing to devote to the issue.

The glorious truth is: Jesus is the Truth, the Life, and The Way, but He is not in sales.

The sad truth is: 57% of those who profess to be followers of Jesus as the only way to eternal life [HT: Black Kettle], believe there are other ways to that life and the vast majority of Americans long for goodness and righteousness to win [HT: Black Kettle] ... publicly ... but contradict that behavior privately.

Cristophobes may appear to carry the day, but they don't and they won't. But it would be a lot easier to combat cristophobia if we all took up our swords and trowels and stood in the gap.

Apathy, Apostasy, Christianity,
Cristophobia, Laziness, Religion

PARODIC SATIRE: Being Christian means being tough skinned!

A Heavenly Candidate | Washingtonpost.com

Hat Tip to - WaPo Lauds Liberal Jesus-for-Prez Novel: He's a 'Unitarian Porn Star'? | NewsBusters.org

When people mock our faith or our Lord, we, as Christians, are frequently torn between outrage and wisdom. The arrival of this book is one such time ... at least it has the feel of such a time.

I like to believe I prefer wisdom to outrage ... sadly I employ the latter more often than not. Yet wisdom is winning on this one!

American Savior is, I believe, a comedic parody (or as the publisher says a "bitingly clever satirical novel") of Christian nationalism ... an issue that I believe is fair game for non-believers.

Too many of those I call brothers and sisters claim to be Evangelical or conservative Christians, but they are, in reality, Christian Nationalists ... believing that "saving" America is a command of God straight off the pages of the gospels.

Somehow they seem to think any evil done in the USA is a direct threat to the Church and God Himself. They seem to overlook Jesus' words concerning "the gates of Hell."

We, as believers, must remember what parody ...

1. a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing ...
2. the genre of literary composition represented by such imitations
3. a burlesque imitation of a musical composition
4. any humorous, satirical, or burlesque imitation, as of a person, event, etc.

and satire ...

1. the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.
2. a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule
3. a literary genre comprising such compositions.

are! They are tools of the cultural, social and political critic.

Based on the Ron Charles review in the Washington Post, I'd say Roland Merullo's new novel America Savior is the genuine article - a satirical parody or, if you wish, a parodic satire.

American Savior is a remarkably innovative novel that challenges our perceptions and beliefs while it wags a finger at the folly of our self-righteousness. It is sure to cause controversy among those for whom politics itself has become a kind of religion. [Algonquin]

Many will see Merullo's novel as Cristophobic, I do not! I am secure enough in my faith and my Lord is secure enough in me, that I don't fear this kind of secular criticism. We should not always see darkness when there's so much light.

Merullo is obviously not trying to propagate spiritual truths or encourage others to hate Christians or Christianity; but, rather, the author seems to be encouraging us (i.e., conservative Christian nationalists, evangelicals and fundamentalists) to wake up and see the image on the Jumbo Tron.

Savior is narrated by a former newscaster named Russ Thomas who quits his job to help elect Jesus. The campaign brings Jesus into contact with Merullo's other target — the media with its bloviating superstars: i.e., the suspender-wearing Lenny Queen. [USAToday]

I need a copy of the book to review ... maybe Merullo or Algonquin will send me one?

Books, Christianity, Cristophobia,
Parody, Religion, Satire

HOLLYWOOD: Brideshead Revisited refurbished!

Chuck Colson has been to the movies and would like you to avoid the negative portrayals of Christians in Brideshead Revisited ...

On the surface, with its period settings and costumes, the new film Brideshead Revisited looks like a faithful adaptation of the classic novel by Evelyn Waugh. Underneath, it is anything but faithful. On the contrary, it presents a deeply flawed and inaccurate picture of the Christian faith that Waugh embraced.

[...]

Even the New York Times got it right in its review of the movie. And I quote: “In Waugh’s book . . . religious commitments and social relations were part of a thickly detailed, complicated and ancient lived reality. . . [T]his is what makes ‘Brideshead Revisited’ live and breathe as a novel. None of it registers with any force in this lazy, complacent film, which takes the novel’s name in vain.”

That is why the film is not worth your time. If your friends invite you to see the movie, instead invite them to read the book with you . . . so you can remind them that the Christian faith is not about guilt, but about grace.

CW agrees the entertainment industry has the right to produce all the material it wants to and the law allows ... and present it however they wish ... our only point is that they would not use the same nuances or insinuations on blacks, American Indians, Jews, or (Allah forbid) Muslims.

Go to Breakpoint for complete article ...
HT: The Black Kettle

Brideshead Revisited, Catholicism,
Christianity, Cristophobia,
Hollywood, Religion