Left Behind, Part II

Part I be here. But before I continue, let us contemplate the strange phenomenon that is Christian art.

Christians have done some truly shitty things, like the Crusades and the Inquisition and the Spanish Civil War, but let's not forget that they have also done some cool things too. Much of the great art, music, and literature, at least in the West, has been inspired by genuine love of Jesus. But that's not good enough for the fundies. When we talk about Christian art as a modern marketing category, we're not talking about "Going Home," or Handel's Messiah. We're talking about this sort of pablum. Thomas Kinkade, not Michelangelo's Pietà. Left Behind, not Dante's Inferno.

Which is something I truly don't understand. As far as I can tell, Christian art serves two purposes beyond the purely aesthetic: First, to confirm the faith felt by believers, and second, as propaganda to convert non-believers. Skill and art are key in both cases; if you contemplate a superlative being, said being must inspire greatness in its followers. The primary goal of Christian art would be, presumably, to allow both believers and non-believers to better understand questions of faith.

Left Behind fails miserably in this regard, and owing to its popularity, speaks to a certain degradation of theological discourse. The authors do not even expect their readers (Christian or non-Christian) to be able to grasp a clever allegory like the ones in the Chronicles of Narnia or A Prayer for Owen Meany. (And I'm not even sure that you'd find those books in a Christian bookstore.) Left Behind's audience must be taunted and threatened into believing, out of fear, that if they don't say the magic words right now, Jesus could come back and they'll be left holding the bag.

Anyway, when we'd left off, Buck and Steele were in an airplane with half of its passengers missing, and Chloe was wondering if she'd get a refund on her tuition.

( Let's continue! )

Next time: Things explode, the Antichrist rises, and we find out more than we needed to know about twisted fundamentalist sexuality.

Left Behind, Part II

Part I be here. But before I continue, let us contemplate the strange phenomenon that is Christian art.

Christians have done some truly shitty things, like the Crusades and the Inquisition and the Spanish Civil War, but let's not forget that they have also done some cool things too. Much of the great art, music, and literature, at least in the West, has been inspired by genuine love of Jesus. But that's not good enough for the fundies. When we talk about Christian art as a modern marketing category, we're not talking about "Going Home," or Handel's Messiah. We're talking about this sort of pablum. Thomas Kinkade, not Michelangelo's Pietà. Left Behind, not Dante's Inferno.

Which is something I truly don't understand. As far as I can tell, Christian art serves two purposes beyond the purely aesthetic: First, to confirm the faith felt by believers, and second, as propaganda to convert non-believers. Skill and art are key in both cases; if you contemplate a superlative being, said being must inspire greatness in its followers. The primary goal of Christian art would be, presumably, to allow both believers and non-believers to better understand questions of faith.

Left Behind fails miserably in this regard, and owing to its popularity, speaks to a certain degradation of theological discourse. The authors do not even expect their readers (Christian or non-Christian) to be able to grasp a clever allegory like the ones in the Chronicles of Narnia or A Prayer for Owen Meany. (And I'm not even sure that you'd find those books in a Christian bookstore.) Left Behind's audience must be taunted and threatened into believing, out of fear, that if they don't say the magic words right now, Jesus could come back and they'll be left holding the bag.

Anyway, when we'd left off, Buck and Steele were in an airplane with half of its passengers missing, and Chloe was wondering if she'd get a refund on her tuition.

( Let's continue! )

Next time: Things explode, the Antichrist rises, and we find out more than we needed to know about twisted fundamentalist sexuality.