Colonialization and Christianization

I read a disturbing quote today and it was this:

"Through the language of art, Christian artists can have a part in reclaiming our culture for Christ."

I believe that there is a fundamental flaw in that statement, well more than one, but it is not only theologically inaccurate, it points to the crux of why the culture at large has abandoned Christianity. Culture is not something to be claimed.

A brief history lesson (for those of who that slept through American History, or only read the version of history where Indians meant Squanto, Pocahontas and Little Big Horn)
1) The first Europeans who came to America claimed the Americas for King (or Queen) and country.
2) They established their own ways of doing things, decided that all they needed was instant riches, and mostly died.
3) The indigenous peoples met them with hostility and anger and the only reason the colonists were able to establish a stronghold was because they brought with them diseases that the natives had never encountered.
4) The seeming technological advantages were worthless. A gun in the 1600s was about as accurate as a Tim Wakefield knuckle ball when the wind is swirling.
5) The colonists would have died without continuous support from Europe and stealing practices from the natives. I'm not talking only about North American history, the entire colonization of America had the same basic story.

Intense parallels can be drawn to the reclamation of culture by Christianity.
1) We claim culture for God and country (interchangeable in some circles) or claim the country for God.
2) We established our own ways of doing things, decided that all we needed was conversion and power, and mostly failed.
3) The culture meets us with hostility and anger and we have no strongholds, only isolation.
4) The seemingly intellectual arguments with which we attack culture are worthless and do not stand up to scrutiny by children, let alone adults. The arguments that we make that do merit some success are the ones that only a sociopath would argue against.
5) Christian artists would die without continuous support of Christians and stealing practices from established artists. I'm thinking of you, Plus One. Not that the Backstreet Boys should have ever been emulated, by anyone, in any culture.

In order to influence culture, we need to be missionaries into culture. We need to enter into it, engage it in a critical manner, and create our own counterculture. Not counterculture in the sense of something in direct opposition to the current frame of mind, but counterculture in the way we see the world. Culture as a communal manifestation of the Kingdom of God.

In order to do this, we, as Christians, need to show the world that Christian culture is better than the current culture. Not better in the sense that we are right and they are wrong, but better in the sense that their version of culture is incomplete. That it is possible to have your artistic cake, eat it, and never be hungry. I cannot wait for a world in which every song is fulfilling, every artistic endeavor is successful, and every blog post goes Double Myrrh.

Que Honda Raconteur

I've sold out to pop culture. I rediscovered Guero by Beck because of Rock Band 2 and found The Raconteurs because of "It Might Get Loud." Interesting side note: Compared to Jack White and Jimmy Page, The Edge (from U2) sucks at guitar. In fact, I think Vire is better than The Edge at guitar.

I have also found that mixing myself with highly emotional people is a recipe for disaster. Apparently, my detached logical conclusions are the relational equivalent of potassium. Perfectly fine when left alone (or as part of banana) but when thrown into water, bad things happen. The only issue here is that my other half seems to attract emotional people as well as she attracts attention.

In other news, plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. I work, a lot. I keep getting to the point where I'm doing my job well and people who apparently know me better than I do, remove me from a position of expertise and put me into a position where I'm way over my head. Sink or swim indeed. Thankfully, I'm not the only person here who is in the deep end.

Also, The Emerald Loop is good, open late, and very hard to find late at night when food and beer are needed. For future reference, it's on Wabash, which is east of State.