Thank you for another great piece that devestatingly exposes how all the rehashed Faith + Silicon Valley Revival stories are just a completely self-serving, mammon-inspired, bullshit grift meant to keep us worshiping power.
The sad part is that this is the type of thing that a vast majority of American Evangelical institutional leaders (even mid-level managers) of denominations, churches, campus ministries, publishing houses, etc. cannot be bothered to read & reckon with because it completely undercuts their mission statements, ministry methods, and the ways they secure funding. Christ, have mercy!
One of the galling things about this sort of trend piece is the assumption that, up till these exciting new developments that occurred last week, Christians were universally political conservatives as well as credulous dullards. It's then further galling that this newly discovered Liberal Christianity that gets written up is always theologically "liberal" in the extreme: that is, doesn't believe in or care about the reality of God and the divinity of Christ (and isn't, then, really Christianity at all. God of course knows their hearts, etc. etc., but words need to mean things.)
Sincere political leftists who happen to believe Jesus is God have no place at this discussion table; we don't exist. I guess it's a niche POV.
I grew up playing a video game called “Tony Hawk’s Pro-Skater III.” To grind a rail, you had to balance a jiggling slider. There was a cheat code you could enter for “infinite grind” where somehow, your little early 00’s skater could grind literally any object forever (a rail, an airport baggage claim, a flag pole, a Canadian, etc).
Phil Christman is the skater. Writing clever think pieces is grinding. Caving to twitter-“leftist” sanctimony is falling off on the left. Indulging in solipsistic religious navel gazing is falling off on the right.
And somehow, The Skater From the Midwestern Future has found the infinite grind cheat.
Poor religion journalism is so frustrating, but it's even worse when the call comes from inside the house. My podcast app keeps suggesting the "surprising rebirth of belief in god" and every time it arouses my most pedantic, teeth-gritted editorial demand to define just what "surprising," "rebirth," "belief," and most critically, "god," actually mean in this truly remarkable ordering of words.
When a headline can be made to look stupid by global statistics over time I just get a little grouchy.
Anyhoo, thank you for the excellent piece — cathartic!
Thank you for another great piece that devestatingly exposes how all the rehashed Faith + Silicon Valley Revival stories are just a completely self-serving, mammon-inspired, bullshit grift meant to keep us worshiping power.
The sad part is that this is the type of thing that a vast majority of American Evangelical institutional leaders (even mid-level managers) of denominations, churches, campus ministries, publishing houses, etc. cannot be bothered to read & reckon with because it completely undercuts their mission statements, ministry methods, and the ways they secure funding. Christ, have mercy!
Spot on and, incidentally, hilarious.
One of the galling things about this sort of trend piece is the assumption that, up till these exciting new developments that occurred last week, Christians were universally political conservatives as well as credulous dullards. It's then further galling that this newly discovered Liberal Christianity that gets written up is always theologically "liberal" in the extreme: that is, doesn't believe in or care about the reality of God and the divinity of Christ (and isn't, then, really Christianity at all. God of course knows their hearts, etc. etc., but words need to mean things.)
Sincere political leftists who happen to believe Jesus is God have no place at this discussion table; we don't exist. I guess it's a niche POV.
I grew up playing a video game called “Tony Hawk’s Pro-Skater III.” To grind a rail, you had to balance a jiggling slider. There was a cheat code you could enter for “infinite grind” where somehow, your little early 00’s skater could grind literally any object forever (a rail, an airport baggage claim, a flag pole, a Canadian, etc).
Phil Christman is the skater. Writing clever think pieces is grinding. Caving to twitter-“leftist” sanctimony is falling off on the left. Indulging in solipsistic religious navel gazing is falling off on the right.
And somehow, The Skater From the Midwestern Future has found the infinite grind cheat.
This is why I am a lifelong fan.
While I don't think Peter Thiel is The Antichrist, I do believe he is at least trying.
Poor religion journalism is so frustrating, but it's even worse when the call comes from inside the house. My podcast app keeps suggesting the "surprising rebirth of belief in god" and every time it arouses my most pedantic, teeth-gritted editorial demand to define just what "surprising," "rebirth," "belief," and most critically, "god," actually mean in this truly remarkable ordering of words.
When a headline can be made to look stupid by global statistics over time I just get a little grouchy.
Anyhoo, thank you for the excellent piece — cathartic!