Posted on 12/24/2013 6:39:17 AM PST by RatherBiased.com
For decades, there has been a lot of discussion about a “cultural war,” primarily between people of traditional faith and those who see religion as something of little value. Whether war is quite the right metaphor to describe the phenomenon, there certainly is a lot of pressure on people who adhere to traditionalist opinions, as Phil Robertson of A&E’s Duck Dynasty can certainly attest.
Yet while opponents of traditional beliefs and a politically unbalanced media have certainly proved harmful to faith in the public square, those two groups cannot be entirely blamed for the less prominent place that Christians now have in American culture. According to poet and art critic Dana Gioia, Christians also have themselves to blame as well for basically withdrawing from the cultural scene.
Gioia, who is also the former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, touched on this argument in an article he published earlier this month for the excellent religious conservative journal First Things in which he urged Catholic writers to reclaim their literary heritage and “reoccupy their own tradition.” [snip]
“Christians have been naïve to think that they can prosper in a society and not be engaged in cultural creation,” Gioia says. “Christians are naïve to think that they can be engaged positively in society and ignore culture. If you turn your back on the arts, essentially you are leaving all of those stories, those images, those forms of communication in the hands of others. And that’s what we’re seeing. People of faith have unambiguously lost the culture wars. They complain about it but they aren’t doing anything about it.”
(Excerpt) Read more at newsbusters.org ...
He’s absolutely right. “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” includes the culture wars and creating reflections of God’s truth, and then defending them when they are attacked.
Not only have the fascists basically banned the word “Christmas” from advertising et al, but our carols have disappeared from the culture as well. So out came Bing Crosby, Gene Autry, and Nat King Cole last night. Curse their generic “holiday.” Merry Christmas everyone.
CC
But then you would be in Detroit, and you would again be depressed.
Ever see Facing the Giants. Or how about Courageous. It has one of the most powerful opening scenes I’ve ever seen in any movie.
But those folks have bypassed Hollywood. It’s what you have to do.
Here's an ironic situation. NPR has been broadcasting these and others since the first of Dec. IIRC.
Right this moment they are broadcasting live from King's College via BBC. Lovely choir. One of the choir boys is now reading from Genesis.
Detroit is a heavily black town, and blacks (except for wacko Keith Ellison) are mostly Christian. Maybe that has something to do with it.
bkmk
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