Boy do I agree.
Saw Lars and the Real Girl last night and must say – it was in many ways the most Christian movie I have seen in awhile. But will not be marketed that way.

“Christian,” “Christianity,” and “Apostolic” are brand names as much as devotions. When you get down to it, this is the problem a lot of people blame on the “Christian Conservative” movement. We’re told how to vote and what goods, services and demagogueries to buy out of love for Jesus. It’s kind of tough on people who want to follow Jesus. For me, it’s meant trying to follow God outside of fellowship and away from communion. There’s nothing sadder to me than the fact that when the first thing I hear about anyone is that they’re Christian, my first instinct is to hide my wallet and knuckle down for the pitch.

Just read a book “when Religion is an Addiction”. sometimes I think addictive thinking keeps us from real thinking – thus we have thugs and fearmongers leading large groups of fearful angry people in Christianity, in Islam, in pretty much every major religion – except perhaps Buddhism. You are correct Doug. I first saw – “the Christian Yellow Pages” in a friends house and got the shivers just thinking about that particular marketing ploy.
there is a quote in the book from John Bradshaw as he describes the “high” someone gets from feeling righteous as similar to the high of cocaine. having experienced that high of feeling too darn righteous for my own good, I can see what he is talking about.
By the way – just read a Girardian talk by James Alison – talking about mirror neurons – fascinating stuff linking our need to imitate another’s desire with science. – little segue to mimetic stuff.

Thinker, I for one, would be very excited to learn that you write a blog on mimetic theory and Christianity. Consider this a reverse plug. It’s funny you mention Buddhism as an exception. On my way to visit my brother’s family tonight, I was listening to Speaking of Faith on NPR and the discussion was of Burmese (Myannmarian?) Buddhism and the role that it has played both in helping the Burmese cope with successive repressive governments but also the role that Buddhism has played in legitimizing and tolerating oppression. I thought of this post especially when the former Buddhist Nun being interviewed was talking about how Burmese television at times has shown three or four hours a day of military officers making donations at the monastery.

Good topic.
You must give Barb Nicolosi more credit…if she read drafts of the script and saw a rough cut, that is surely enough to make a decision regarding the piece, especially when you consider that this is her area of expertise.
But you got it right, to make a cause out of a for profit venture is a pretty tricky thing to pull off.
Perhaps you should view the film as well, since you would be better able to comment at that point.

Doug: There’s nothing sadder to me than the fact that when the first thing I hear about anyone is that they’re Christian, my first instinct is to hide my wallet and knuckle down for the pitch.
Me: Yeh, that’s my experience. I avoid businesses with Jesus symbols in their ads or logos, much as I’m wary of cars on the road with Jesus stickers. Maybe it’s prosperity theology that allows these folks to think their symbols protect them from the normal requirements of integrity in business, I don’t know. Maybe they’d rather be so holy as to be no earthly good, and substitute praying for competence. I don’t care about the why, but given a choice between a public Christian-identified business and a secular one, I’ll buy secular every time.

Doug, this afternoon -while cooking and folding laundry – us multitaskers are a strange bunch, but what with ADD and a lot of caffeine – we can do anything quickly. So while I was doing all that I read an article by the mimetic scholar and theologian -James Alison. I’ll find the link in a minute and put it up for you.
Wouldn’ a mimetic blog be interesting? Just explaining popular culture in a coherent fashion would be helpful. Alison’s speech is a bit hard to follow – it was definitely a two laundry load article, but touched on the why of mimesis as well as to why poor Larry Craig must act as he does. Deny his true self to the point that he becomes a joke. It was a kind section of the article.
http://www.jamesalison.co.uk/texts/eng50.html. It’s about a 20 minute read if you’ve had two cups of coffee. Otherwise about an hour. Would love to hear your ideas on it. Perhaps it would take two to do such a blog. Then again, maybe several.
I’ll start one if I can figure out a way not to look too stupid. Vain, I know, but I’m short and a bit dumpy and prefer to keep the illusion of bright short woman going.

Two thots:
1) I’ve had several Christian bookstore owners tell me that if it wasn’t for the sale of “Christian kitsch,” (otherwise known as gift merchandise = jewellry, plaques, “Christian” bad-breath mints, etc) they couldn’t afford to stay open.
2) Driving home from church today I came across an accident where one vehicle had obviously been T-boned by another. The front of the T-boned vehicle bore a license plate reading “God is my Co-Pilot.” Probably obtained at a local Christian bookstore! Doh!

Thinker,
1, if you had your own blog, we could discuss that article at length without feeling like we’d hijacked David’s, provided…
2. The link worked.
3. If you haven’t tried them, private blogs are very different from those written by the great and good like this or the good and foul like several others. Through selection bias, you end up with only participants who think you’re bright, most of whom probably think you’re tall and slender, too. (Which has its own downside but more on that later.)
Tell you what, email me at dpascover at mac dot com when you get it started and I can promise admiration and the occasional “wowie.” Plus, I make pretty much anyone look bright.

Shouldn’t “Christians” be concerned with the real world? Ours is reality based on a belief system of worth.
Bella being marketed to “Christians” is an example of the Hollywood belief system in play.
As an example, Atheists and other gardner-variety anti-Christians (whatever cute little label they self-apply these days), are also whipped into a “cause to support” of their versions of how we should live. Usually “in the name of” of keeping free speech from being imprisoned by “Christians.”
The upcoming and unbridled Christian-hating movies based on the trilogies of Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” (an entire work to denounce Christians) has no doubt a production company hoping that atheists and other-than-Christians, will flock to the movie to protect “their” freedoms from being trampled. “The Golden Compass,” will get the same sales pitch as anything Hollywood has to offer.
In a way it’s funny how Hollywood’s elites and creatives, use everybody. From my years living and working in Hollywood (literally living across the street from CBS studois) I can look back on my experience and see that the only “themes” that run through that world is Money. There’s only two messages in Hollywood. Sex with young hard bodies and enough cash to keeping doing so physically for decades. Luckily I escaped (literally) the influence of that world. Unlike what happenes to those that “take in” Hollywood morality. And, the movies, are usually a showcase of Hollywood’s belief system.
It won’t be long after Bella (the movie) comes out before it stands or falls on its own merits.
Just like the people that make the movies and those that watch them. Movies and reality seldom share the same stage.

Reeplace the word “Christian” with Black, Jewish, Muslim, Gay, Lesbian, or minority. Watch bigotry and prejudice come to light:
“Doug: There’s nothing sadder to me than the fact that when the first thing I hear about anyone is that they’re Christian, my first instinct is to hide my wallet and knuckle down for the pitch.”
“Me: Yeh, that’s my experience. I avoid businesses with Jesus symbols in their ads or logos, much as I’m wary of cars on the road with Jesus stickers. Maybe it’s prosperity theology that allows these folks to think their symbols protect them from the normal requirements of integrity in business, I don’t know. Maybe they’d rather be so holy as to be no earthly good, and substitute praying for competence. I don’t care about the why, but given a choice between a public Christian-identified business and a secular one, I’ll buy secular every time.”
Posted by: pbfared
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As Sting sings it:
Truth hits everybody.

Hey canucklehead, I can top that I think. When I was a young christian, I was driving along behind a convertible that had a bumper sticker, “Honk If You Love Jesus” and I thought ‘cool’. So I honked.
Since it was a convertible, I could very easily see the driver flip me the ‘bird’. LOL

Donny, replace “Christian” with “Black,” “Jewish,” “Muslim,” “Gay,” etc. and I don’t think this reads any differently. In the end, faith is the evidence of things unseen and the substance of things wished for and identity is bait for land animals and decoys for the flightless.

Freya, I trust you promptly ran him off the road and then asked him the Evangelism Explosion questions!