Friday, September 26, 2008

Religion Friday

After two weeks of the same conversation, I decided it was probably time for a new topic on Religion Friday... however, I haven't really been able to think of one. There was the little debacle this week about how Lifeway Christian Bookstores pulled a magazine from their shelves because it featured a cover story about women pastors, but I kind of figured we were a little past that here on this blog and can all agree that its pretty ridiculous for various reasons. Even if you agree with the store (and their sponsoring denomination's) stance, you can still agree that pulling a magazine with a contrary story from your shelves is a dumb idea.

Instead of trying to make something else up on the spot right now, I'll tell you that this weekend I'm going with a friend to go see the Christian flick Fireproof. The very fact that I have to qualify it as a Christian movie is a sad thing. I understand that it is a way for Christians to set themselves apart from the world as a whole, but why do all (at least that I've seen) things that claim to be exclusively Christian come out as subpar. That's why a bunch of bands have dropped the "Christian" label, it holds them back from reaching a wider audience, and it also holds them back artistically in some ways by forcing them to ensure that all of their lyrics are something that Christianity as a whole can embrace, but yet ignores the very people that you want to reach out towards.

Maybe tomorrow will prove me wrong. I mean, Fireproof stars Kirk Cameron... wait, bad example. Well, I just hope that even if this movie doesn't break from the mold of Christian entertainment that it is at least a step forward. I guess they just need to learn that your movie/book/music doesn't have to have the sinner's prayer somewhere within for it to reach people and get them interested in faith.

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