The Christian Worship Industrial Complex.
Posted on 20 Mar 2012
They say most people don’t pay attention to the lyric, well here are thousands who do; on glorious display, carving up scripture, celebrating their disdain for the planet they’ve been given (see Jesus). To the songwriter’s discredit, he admits he is not a theologian. This humble self-awareness didn’t inform his choice to base a song on the crap belief that tsunamis are blessings that remind us that “this place is not our home”. This is bad theology. This is not helpful. This stadium is not where you belong. All theologies are a work-in-process; I too have penned songs espousing unhelpful ideas and opinions. Fortunately, I was not esteemed as mouthpiece for thousands of un-curious, frightened youth at the time. Maybe Christian Rockers should go through some formal theological training before they sign deals with Sparrow-Dove Records. Just enough so they know how dangerous the field is. How unlucky that Christian youth entertainers have near-zero standards for admission (good hair, ragged jeans, fists, Bible study experience) and are propped up higher than those in the clergy. I didn’t realize this industry still had any relevance—I thought the Bush Administration killed this off like everything else Poli-Culture-Evangelical (one of their greatest achievements really). Aside: he seems to think that “governments being overthrown” (the Arab Spring) are confusing godless disasters on par with earthquakes. Or perhaps he is just bad with rhetoric.
ryanjdavis
22 Mar 2012 (11:20)
Well said, Zadok. Apparently evangelical Gnosticism is alive and well—and probably most visible in the “Christian worship industrial complex.”
Timothy Tetrault
11 Apr 2012 (13:47)
cf. with Thomas Bergler’s recent book “The Juvenilization of American Christianity.” I haven’t read this but can only imagine the overlap to what you’re getting at.
Zadok
11 Apr 2012 (13:52)
It appears that the cover for his book is taken from a Building 429 concert.<div