Red and Blue God, Black and Blue Church
Years ago -- during college and seminary -- I was an avid reader of the Wittenburg Door. It is and was then really the only Christian satire magazine. Edited by the late Mike Yaconnelli, it took on the religious community, especially the evangelical sub-culture, out of which it had emerged. I remember the cover story from 1980 that focused on the then new crystal Cathedral. Back then it cost 2 million to build -- not much by today's standards, but a large amount today. Anyway, the Door pointed out how many wonderful things you could do with $2 million rather than build a monument to success.
Anyway it's been a long time since I've read evangelicalism's version of MAD magazine. But then I came across Becky Garrison's new book published by Jossey-Bass -- Red and Blue God, Black and Blue Church. Garrison is a senior contributing editor for the Door and so it's not surprising that this is a book of satire dealing with the current state of the church. As such, the book lampoons both the religious right and the religious left for their attempts to "baptize" their pet projects in religious garb. The subtitle of the book tells it all: "Eyewitness Accounts of How American Churches are Hijacking Jesus, Bagging the Beatitudes, and Worshiping the Almighty Dollar." The ultimate point of this book is the politicization of the church -- something that both right and left have attempted -- with the result being a bloodied church that is increasingly polarized along political lines. Though at times the book seems over the top and even simplistic, it's a quick read and helpful in keeping us all a bit humble!
Years ago -- during college and seminary -- I was an avid reader of the Wittenburg Door. It is and was then really the only Christian satire magazine. Edited by the late Mike Yaconnelli, it took on the religious community, especially the evangelical sub-culture, out of which it had emerged. I remember the cover story from 1980 that focused on the then new crystal Cathedral. Back then it cost 2 million to build -- not much by today's standards, but a large amount today. Anyway, the Door pointed out how many wonderful things you could do with $2 million rather than build a monument to success.
Anyway it's been a long time since I've read evangelicalism's version of MAD magazine. But then I came across Becky Garrison's new book published by Jossey-Bass -- Red and Blue God, Black and Blue Church. Garrison is a senior contributing editor for the Door and so it's not surprising that this is a book of satire dealing with the current state of the church. As such, the book lampoons both the religious right and the religious left for their attempts to "baptize" their pet projects in religious garb. The subtitle of the book tells it all: "Eyewitness Accounts of How American Churches are Hijacking Jesus, Bagging the Beatitudes, and Worshiping the Almighty Dollar." The ultimate point of this book is the politicization of the church -- something that both right and left have attempted -- with the result being a bloodied church that is increasingly polarized along political lines. Though at times the book seems over the top and even simplistic, it's a quick read and helpful in keeping us all a bit humble!
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