Archived Posts For Culture
God Songs
Posted on March 25, 2008 by Geoff Matheson
Filed Under Culture, Emerging Questions | 3 Comments
Fantastic article from Waleed Aly in “The Age” this week. Thought this quote deserved a mention, perhaps as an allegory for the institutional church:
“But religion struggled to be cool, much less inspiring in the popular space. Religious music persisted, but in subcultures. The American Christian country music industry is enormous, but not mainstream. Evangelical churches in particular have produced torrents of Christian music which, ironically, adopts almost every style of popular music. But it is simply incapable of capturing a popular audience because it is so unapologetically alienating to the unconverted. We are trained to think of religion and popular music as opposing universes. If popular music has a faith, it’s the satanism of heavy metal, we suppose.”
So I was struck by that, but there’s more in the article worth pulling out. The article goes on to talk about Nick Cave, Sinead O’Connor and U2 as artists that are striking at a chord that resonates with an “increasingly irreligious” generation.
“Are Cave and O’Connor today’s spiritual teachers, educating a secular generation? O’Connor would recoil at the suggestion. “I’m not calling for anything,” she says. “I just want to make music that I enjoy making.” But it is hard to believe the same could be said of U2, whose religious influences are only slightly less well known than their social activism. The liner notes on their 2000 album All That You Can’t Leave Behind openly call on fans to “remember (Burmese political prisoner) Aung San Suu Kyi” and “take action”. One track, Walk On, is dedicated to her. “
Make sure you have a read of the whole article: “Songs of Redemption - theage.com.au”
Is it the “take it or leave it” nature of this spirituality that appeals to the “now” generation, or is there something in the words and music being put out there by artists like Nick Cave (whose recent album “Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!” is a ripper) that the church is missing out on? Your learned and wise thoughts are sought, but any comment will do 
josh brown on consumption
Posted on February 25, 2008 by Geoff Matheson
Filed Under Crazy Idealism, Culture | Leave a Comment
You should definitely get yourself over to IAmJoshBrown.com and check out his most recent post on consumption:
I don’t watch television. The only show I watch is LOST. So maybe 2 hours a week. Tops. I tell myself I’m an intellectual and that I’m a better person for reading books rather than watching American Idol or Dancing With The Stars or insert any other reality show here. I am a saint. I tell myself this myth to make me feel better about my self. It’s a shame that we bought a $600 flat screen HD television to watch LOST and play the Wii. And I spent more time on my computer than 10 average people combined. I am a hypocrite. I am my own worst enemy.
I don’t think this post needs you to comment. But have a read of the whole post, and it’s worth taking a really good look in the mirror on this stuff.
christianity in australia - trying to grow up
Posted on January 26, 2008 by Geoff Matheson
Filed Under Church, Culture | 3 Comments
It is a difficult thing to talk about Christianity in Australia. So much of the Christian tradition, structure and even culture in this country has been imported: historically from Britain and Europe and more recently like the rest of the western world from the US of A. It’s a difficult thing to do, therefore, to put your finger about what Christianity in Oz actually looks like.
The problem can’t be a lack of intelligent voices speaking into the local context. Guys like Hirsch and Frost are at the centre of the emerging/missional conversation, at the other end of the spectrum we have guys like Jensen and (dare I say it) George Pell who are at very least opinion leaders even if you happen to disagree with them. Likewise the contribution of Hillsong and Brian Houston. So the people are there, we’ve matured as a nation to the point of being able to participate meaningfully in the wider Christian dialogue, and yet there’s still this feeling that anything or anyone that has come from America must surely be better and brighter than anything home-grown.
But the world is changing. While most Christian conferences would hesitate to proceed without an international guest to bring in the crowds, there is a recognition amongst some that it’s often the local voices that can best speak to what it should mean to be a Christian in the local context.
Because this is a unique place to be a Christian. The challenges of “being religious” (a term which I don’t like but it seems like we’re stuck with from the rest of society) in a nation whose reaction to any significant belief system can often just be pure apathy, need to be discussed. When the message of the Kingdom can’t be heard because calling your messengers “church” or “Christians” brings too much baggage, the methods of advancing God’s Kingdom must therefore be a whole bunch more creative.
There’s hope. As long as people are asking these questions, and as long as there are people trying things, this country has a chance to see God’s kingdom advancing. This post is part of the Christianity In Australia synchroblog which a number of Australian Christians are participating in to celebrate Australia Day. For more on Christianity in Australia see:
do you like stuff?
Posted on December 10, 2007 by Geoff Matheson
Filed Under Crazy Idealism, Culture | 3 Comments
The video that the below clip is from is perhaps the best description I’ve heard of for why there’s something deeply wrong with the consumption-centric system that our economy is based on. It puts out the big picture for what Brian McLaren describes in his new book “Everything Must Change” as “the suicide machine”. So please - set aside 20 minutes to watch the whole video here, and understand what’s wrong with the system that our world economy is centered around. The Story Of Stuff
modern crusades and the story
Posted on November 20, 2007 by Rebecca Matheson
Filed Under Culture, Emerging Questions | 3 Comments
I’m not a great fan of the whole ‘pass the email petition along’ but I was especially disturbed when I received one about the author Phillip Pullman (of the controversial series: His Dark Materials) and the soon to be released movie of The Golden Compass. Pullman is controversial in his anti-C.S Lews, anti-Christian/Religious themes. What disgusted me, was not that these books were now ‘a bit more public’, but that emails like this are sent with ‘all the information needed’ for an individual to create a certain opinion.
People’s naivety is conducted into some kind of modern crusade. It becomes a propaganda of distrust of perhaps even hate, which doesn’t seem very Christ-like to me! I understand the concern, but I think there are limits as to how far we can jump moral our hobby horse and ride it.
We claw at the few often minor imperfections in light of our often ridiculous ‘Christian’ moral positions and forget to search fiction such as this (or Harry Potter) for it’s redemptive themes, it’s story and the why of the story. Why are things like this written? Why don’t we bravely engage the debate rather than sulk from the sidelines? Why don’t we tell the story we know.
Following on from this, but less related directly to crusades, I was reading an interview between Phillip Pullman and the Archbishop Rowan Williams. Williams says the following,
“You can’t communicate Christianity simply as a set of ideas. At some point you’re going to have to sit down and tell a story. And tell a story which, because it’s a story, is bound to have some loose ends, some awkwardnesses. As it is we have four versions of the story of Jesus in the New Testament, because of that sense that a story can always be retold. And that introduces a bit of this irony in the narrative, which is very important in reinforcing the sense that this is something mysterious. I think there is something in that fundamental characteristic of Christianity which helps to enable a particular kind of storytelling.”
His words ring brilliantly true after a discussion I had with a guy this week about why I believe in this Christianity stuff. Anything of worth that I said (and I said more that was not valuable than was) came from a personal narrative within God’s broader narrative and not the relaying of facts.
I would like to see an approach of beginning to understand Christianity coming from more of a narrative than set of ideas.
