Is there a line where marketing or a TV show crosses into the realm of sacrilege? I was flipping between several TV shows and landed on an old Good Times episode where Fishbone the Wino was mistakenly thought to be dead and attended his own funeral dressed as a woman. When it was discovered that Fishbone was not dead, Willona, JJ and other cast members began clapping, jumping, and singing about Fishbone in a manner obviously parodying stereotypical black church exuberance (notice I didn't call it worship...that's a completely separate topic) in celebration of Fishbone not being dead. Was this sacrilege?
The second thing I came across to today was this post about the Christian imagery and themes used to promote LeBron James. Is Nike simply consistently using a transcendental motif to market and uplift "King James" to the rare, crossover, iconic status of M.J. and Tiger Woods? Or is it taking it over the line and prostituting Christian imagery and text for profit? Is Nike wrong for trying to do so? Or is this reflective of the ends that the producers capitalism will go in order to feed itself. Can Christians be upset at this infringement of their religion by capitalism when capitalism seems to be welcomed by Christians when people purchase their books, buy their sermons, attend their conferences, and watch their movies? There have been times in the history of Christianity where it has co-oped something pagan and made it Christian (Christmas and Halloween are two examples of such actions). Since Christianity has shown a willingness to lift from that which is pagan, sanitize it, and make it their own, how much of a problem should Christians have when the reverse happens?
Monday, February 25, 2008
Sacrilege or just good old fashion capitalism?
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7 comments:
What do you do with the fact that churches today try to emulate the culture to attract more people to their congregations?
I think that you are right though. Good post
Thanks Matt. The thing I'm challenging is the marriage of Christianity with capitalism, not necessarily the intermingling of church and culture. I think that churches should engage culture, while showing caution to not lose its distinctives. Many times when churches try to emulate culture they fail because frankly culture is better at "doing" culture than churches trying to "mimic" culture. Christians should not divorce themselves from culture. In fact they cannot get away from it as they are apart of it. The question is are they influencing culture more than they are being influenced by it.
It took long enough I know, but anyway here it is
The problem comes when churches are so driven by numbers that they lose the focus of remaining distinctive.
Christians should absolutely be involved in culture, but they should be above culture. The issue of marriage of culture and church is one that we need to address. The crassness of culture breeds apathy towards Christianity, and apathy is one of the biggest threats within the church.
Indeed this is a subject that should be addressed. I would challenge you for clarity on your assertion that Christians should be above culture. Is that possible? How can you be above something that shapes you everyday? The only people who I could think of who could possibly say they are above culture would be someone who is a trend setter. They could claim superiority to culture based on the ability to influence it into mimicry. However, a trend setter is bound by the avenues available to him/her to set trends (such as clothing, music, etc.). So can even that person claim to be "above culture" when they need culture to promote their trend?
Well since you asked for clarification on being above culture, then I guess I am going to have to start quoting from the Bible. First of all I agree that it is hard to be above culture when it shapes you everyday, but Jesus said in Matthew to be a light to the world. We are to let our light shine so that man may see it and see our good works. If we are consumed by culture then how can our light shine to the world. In other words how will we be know if we are just like everyone else.
It is definitely a difficult issue, especially when we are to minister to this culture. That is a large problem especially in youth ministry. How do you minister effectively so that you are apart of the culture, but also set apart from the culture? And to that I do not have an answer.
Considering that Nike plants in Korea contain plant workers that beat and rape female subordinates while paying them 60 cents an hour, Id expect that from them.
Ill boycott nike for the rest of my life...
Doug, What are your thoughts on the Starbury shoe?
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