Details, credits, errata: This week’s guest is the wonderful Alan Scherstuhl, whose incredible Studies in Crap column is one of the great works of 21st century journalism and can be read here. Alan suggested we watch Carl Reiner’s 1977 box office smash
Question - Does Xtianity go through a CYCLE where The Popular Thing is bad... then eventually becomes good?
Or do Xtian writers/preachers/leaders try to use Modern Things People Are Interested In to make their 2000 year old religion seem "current?" If the Thing Everybody Likes is terribly evil, that the practitioners of the Old Religion can feel current, because they are in on the secret. OR the Thing Everybody Likes is OBVIOUSLY a symbol of Xtianity, therefore practitioners of the Old Religion can feel current because their old tenets are being reflected in the New Thing.
I'm was in a *tiny* private Christian middle school when Return Of The Jedi came out. The pastor/principal overheard us talking about Star Wars told us, with GREAT authority, that there were many elements of Star Wars that were -satanic.- I knew he was wrong, because, in fact, my father had book called The Force Of Star Wars which explained in great detail how Star Wars was all about Christian tenets and Christian values.
Both were cases of a dusty religion trying to make itself relevant.
Question - Does Xtianity go through a CYCLE where The Popular Thing is bad... then eventually becomes good?
Or do Xtian writers/preachers/leaders try to use Modern Things People Are Interested In to make their 2000 year old religion seem "current?" If the Thing Everybody Likes is terribly evil, that the practitioners of the Old Religion can feel current, because they are in on the secret. OR the Thing Everybody Likes is OBVIOUSLY a symbol of Xtianity, therefore practitioners of the Old Religion can feel current because their old tenets are being reflected in the New Thing.
I'm was in a *tiny* private Christian middle school when Return Of The Jedi came out. The pastor/principal overheard us talking about Star Wars told us, with GREAT authority, that there were many elements of Star Wars that were -satanic.- I knew he was wrong, because, in fact, my father had book called The Force Of Star Wars which explained in great detail how Star Wars was all about Christian tenets and Christian values.
Both were cases of a dusty religion trying to make itself relevant.