The next two commentaries are merged because they have a commonality: as someone from the Midwest, I'm really not familiar with either of these parts of Christian Culture.
http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/2008/08/6-ichthus-tattoo-aka-jesus-fish.html
First is the Jesus Fish tattoo. I see these on the back of cars virtually everywhere, but never on tattoos. Where I've been living for the past decade or so, it's still pretty scandalous for a female CC-er/evangelist to get a tattoo. Getting a tattoo might mark you as trashy or, much worse, a liberal. You may start with that innocuous butterfly on your ankle, but soon it'll snowball to you listening to NPR, donating to Planned Parenthood, and *gasp* voting Democrat. I can't think of a single woman in my undergrad's Campus Crusade for Christ (er, I'm sorry, Cru) that has a tattoo. And, most of the women in my current school's Christian Legal Society don't seem to have any either (unless they're hidden in a place you wouldn't normally see).
The rules for men are a little looser. There were a few guys I knew from the worship group that did have tattoos, but these were usually the more "manly" version. Think less Jesus Fish and more large cross, inspiring Bible verse, or something in memorial to a deceased relative. One very devout guy I went to high school with got a massive cross on his forearm after he turned eighteen. The idea of metrosexuality has yet to take hold with Midwestern cultural Christians, so expect any body art to both display their faith and reaffirm their masculinity.
http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/2008/08/7-soul-patches.html
I'm also 100% sure I never saw a soul patch at Cru meetings either. When you're a guy, spending too much time on your appearance raises a red flag. While making sure you're presentable in public in one thing, a neatly maintained soul patch begs the question as to what team you're batting for, so to speak. In my experience, young CC men are typically clean-shaven or have perma-stubble, with maybe a few wearing a more traditional form of facial hair.
You may see a soul patch on the worship leader who is leading the meeting. These guys tend to be late-twenties, early-thirties and are likely trying to show that they're not too uncool or stodgy...by styling themselves in a way that many of these young men are avoiding with a ten foot pole.
One major caveat: there are a brand of CC-ers that can be best described as "Alternative" Christians. They're basically being counter-cultural for Jesus, and will likely talk about eschewing anything of the world for Jesus...by looking like your typical secular hipster/counter-cultural/whatever's in vogue this season. I once went to a teen revival that was kind of like this and got a punky cross necklace and beanie...that looked almost exactly like something at a Hot Topic. Probably cost about the same too. My now agnostic younger sister keeps the necklace in her dorm room as a way of keeping potential converters at bay by making them think she's one of them. I still wear the hat because it's actually kind of cool looking.
Back to my main point, these Alterna-Christians will likely be the ones with the tattoos, the piercings, the styled hair, etc., like a normal hipster, except for Jesus.
8/20/2011- I have now seen a CC soul patch in the wild! My very Christian Culture cousin (say that three times fast) is now rocking the soul patch as of earlier this week...which is a large improvement over the ugly porn-stache he was very unironically sporting for much of the summer.
Showing posts with label SCCL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SCCL. Show all posts
Saturday, August 6, 2011
SCCL #5
http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/2008/08/5-princess-bride.html
Drive around my hometown during the summer and any church that has summer movie nights will show The Princess Bride at some point. I am dead serious: I could probably watch it almost every week just by visiting area churches alone. Of course, if I did do that, I would either get the eye from parents wondering why a twenty-something is watching a children's movie, or I would get targeted for conversion by one of the pastors.
I'm not knocking Princess Bride: I freaking love that movie, and so do many of my non-evangelical/non-Christian Culture friends. Yet, for some reason, the church crowd gives it its stamp of approval. It might be because it's a love story or a fairy tale or that generally it's not too offensive. I honestly don't know.
Note that I said "generally not too offensive." If you do watch this movie in the presence of a CC/evangelical crowd, expect some parts to be fast forwarded through. Probably not the violence, as many American families tend to be less prudish concerning violence than to...anything else. The scene where Westley briefly comments on Buttercup's breasts and Indigo Montoya says "I want my father back, you son of a bitch!", though? Yeah, I can't see many of my CC neighbors allowing that scene to play without the mute button.
And if you haven't seen this movie yet, please go do so. It's actually very funny and quote-worthy and all around awesome.
Drive around my hometown during the summer and any church that has summer movie nights will show The Princess Bride at some point. I am dead serious: I could probably watch it almost every week just by visiting area churches alone. Of course, if I did do that, I would either get the eye from parents wondering why a twenty-something is watching a children's movie, or I would get targeted for conversion by one of the pastors.
I'm not knocking Princess Bride: I freaking love that movie, and so do many of my non-evangelical/non-Christian Culture friends. Yet, for some reason, the church crowd gives it its stamp of approval. It might be because it's a love story or a fairy tale or that generally it's not too offensive. I honestly don't know.
Note that I said "generally not too offensive." If you do watch this movie in the presence of a CC/evangelical crowd, expect some parts to be fast forwarded through. Probably not the violence, as many American families tend to be less prudish concerning violence than to...anything else. The scene where Westley briefly comments on Buttercup's breasts and Indigo Montoya says "I want my father back, you son of a bitch!", though? Yeah, I can't see many of my CC neighbors allowing that scene to play without the mute button.
And if you haven't seen this movie yet, please go do so. It's actually very funny and quote-worthy and all around awesome.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
SCCL #4
http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/2008/08/4-homeschooling.html
I've never been homeschooled...at least in the traditional sense. I went to public schools, but outside of school my parents designed supplementary projects for my younger sister and I to do so we weren't stuck in front of the tv all the time.
I graduated from high school in 2006 and homeschooling wasn't really that common in my hometown despite it being a bastion of Christian Culture-ites. Rather than homeschool their kids, CC parents sent their kids to public school and tried to influence the schools to what they wanted. As a result, I didn't learn about evolution until college and had to learn about sex via medical sites and from experienced friends, for example.
There were a few families that homeschooled, but rarely for religious reasons. If a kid was at least partly homeschooled, it was often because he or she had a learning problem that the school wasn't addressing or the kid was intentionally slacking off and Mom and Dad homeschooled them for a semester to make them focus.
Given that, at least when I was in school, at least a few families seemed to use the public schools as essentially a baby-sitting service and the CC-ites had great sway on what is taught, I highly doubt homeschooling will really catch on around here.
I've never been homeschooled...at least in the traditional sense. I went to public schools, but outside of school my parents designed supplementary projects for my younger sister and I to do so we weren't stuck in front of the tv all the time.
I graduated from high school in 2006 and homeschooling wasn't really that common in my hometown despite it being a bastion of Christian Culture-ites. Rather than homeschool their kids, CC parents sent their kids to public school and tried to influence the schools to what they wanted. As a result, I didn't learn about evolution until college and had to learn about sex via medical sites and from experienced friends, for example.
There were a few families that homeschooled, but rarely for religious reasons. If a kid was at least partly homeschooled, it was often because he or she had a learning problem that the school wasn't addressing or the kid was intentionally slacking off and Mom and Dad homeschooled them for a semester to make them focus.
Given that, at least when I was in school, at least a few families seemed to use the public schools as essentially a baby-sitting service and the CC-ites had great sway on what is taught, I highly doubt homeschooling will really catch on around here.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
SCCL #3
http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/2008/08/3-coldplay.html
Ah, Coldplay. Despite their winning a crazy amount of awards, they're the band it's fun to hate on. According to Facebook, 48 of my Facebook friends are fans of Coldplay, and a decent number of them can be considered Christian Culture types.
Now, I know a lot of people do like Coldplay. I'll even admit to listening to them every once in a while. But why do so many evangelicals/CC-ers like them?
Quite frankly, they're safe. Chris Martin himself once called them "limestone rock": they're rock but they're not offensive. There's nothing there that would normally piss off a CC-er unless they have some opposition to rock music. The only controversy I can recall about them are allegations of plagiarism from Joe Satriani, who I doubt most Christian Culture types have even heard of (which is a shame for them). My cousins who are textbook examples of Christian Culture guys LOVE Coldplay, for instance, and it's something I could play on family get-togethers with the CC side of the family and my immediate family's more liberal wing.
Plus, the music is pretty catchy and, unless you're a serious hater, not horrible. Which is way more than I can say about Christian contemporary music. If you're not aware of Christian contemporary music, take a pop song that didn't quite make a major singer's album, scrub it clean of sexual references, liberally insert references to Jesus, God, and various religious imagery, and have it performed by a singer who is decent but not quite the caliber of many mainstream performers. Comparatively, Coldplay is fracking genius.
I have a strong feeling that if my class ever does have a 5 year reunion, there's going to be some Coldplay playing.
Ah, Coldplay. Despite their winning a crazy amount of awards, they're the band it's fun to hate on. According to Facebook, 48 of my Facebook friends are fans of Coldplay, and a decent number of them can be considered Christian Culture types.
Now, I know a lot of people do like Coldplay. I'll even admit to listening to them every once in a while. But why do so many evangelicals/CC-ers like them?
Quite frankly, they're safe. Chris Martin himself once called them "limestone rock": they're rock but they're not offensive. There's nothing there that would normally piss off a CC-er unless they have some opposition to rock music. The only controversy I can recall about them are allegations of plagiarism from Joe Satriani, who I doubt most Christian Culture types have even heard of (which is a shame for them). My cousins who are textbook examples of Christian Culture guys LOVE Coldplay, for instance, and it's something I could play on family get-togethers with the CC side of the family and my immediate family's more liberal wing.
Plus, the music is pretty catchy and, unless you're a serious hater, not horrible. Which is way more than I can say about Christian contemporary music. If you're not aware of Christian contemporary music, take a pop song that didn't quite make a major singer's album, scrub it clean of sexual references, liberally insert references to Jesus, God, and various religious imagery, and have it performed by a singer who is decent but not quite the caliber of many mainstream performers. Comparatively, Coldplay is fracking genius.
I have a strong feeling that if my class ever does have a 5 year reunion, there's going to be some Coldplay playing.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
SSCL #1 & #2
http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/2008/08/1-day-timers.html
The topic for this post is...Day-Timers. And how prevalent they are among Evangelicals.
...Frack. I actually don't know much about this. I mean, I know people who own Day-Timers, but I've never been able to see how they relate to evangelical culture.
Let's try another post.
http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/2008/08/2-sending-emails-that-are-supposedly.html
Okay, here we go. Granted, since my family is not really into Christian Culture (my mom is Roman Catholic and my dad is quasi-Baptist), they don't get these that frequently. And while a number of my high school classmates have been busy producing kids, most of my undergrad and law school classmates, who I keep in better contact with, have not. But, every so often, Mom and Dad will get a holiday card from a Christian Culture relative with a cutesy message supposedly written by their young kid. Or one of my high school classmates with a young child will post something written by them on their Facebook.
I know it's supposed to be cute, but really it's kind of ridiculous. Three year old Johnny doesn't have the sophisticated vocabulary to say how much he enjoys learning about the Lord now that he's in Sunday School. He probably doesn't even understand why he's even there. It's quite dumb, yet people immersed in evangelical culture think it's the most adorable thing ever.
If I have kids later on down the road and send out stuff like this, please shoot me.
The topic for this post is...Day-Timers. And how prevalent they are among Evangelicals.
...Frack. I actually don't know much about this. I mean, I know people who own Day-Timers, but I've never been able to see how they relate to evangelical culture.
Let's try another post.
http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/2008/08/2-sending-emails-that-are-supposedly.html
Okay, here we go. Granted, since my family is not really into Christian Culture (my mom is Roman Catholic and my dad is quasi-Baptist), they don't get these that frequently. And while a number of my high school classmates have been busy producing kids, most of my undergrad and law school classmates, who I keep in better contact with, have not. But, every so often, Mom and Dad will get a holiday card from a Christian Culture relative with a cutesy message supposedly written by their young kid. Or one of my high school classmates with a young child will post something written by them on their Facebook.
I know it's supposed to be cute, but really it's kind of ridiculous. Three year old Johnny doesn't have the sophisticated vocabulary to say how much he enjoys learning about the Lord now that he's in Sunday School. He probably doesn't even understand why he's even there. It's quite dumb, yet people immersed in evangelical culture think it's the most adorable thing ever.
If I have kids later on down the road and send out stuff like this, please shoot me.
Stuff Christian Culture Likes
I love Stuff Christian Culture Likes. I really do. I live in the state of Ohio (as to where I'm not saying) and it seems like the stuff talked about on that blog is taken exactly from my life here. It's crazy.
If you're not familiar with SCCL, it's a blog maintained by Stephanie Drury that discusses aspects of American Christian Evangelical culture (termed "Christian Culture") in the style of Stuff White People Like. To quote the blog, "Christian culture is funny because it doesn't have much (if anything) to do with Christ himself." I would even go out to say that much of Christian Culture is antithetical to the teachings of Jesus Christ, but that's a whole 'nother story.
Anywho, since I love the blog a lot AND need to start posting more on here, I've decided to provide my commentary for some of the posts on SCCL. I may not be a Christian Culture person (though I am Christian), but I've seen a lot of this stuff in my daily life since I was twelve.
BTW, here's the site link if anyone's interested: http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/
If you're not familiar with SCCL, it's a blog maintained by Stephanie Drury that discusses aspects of American Christian Evangelical culture (termed "Christian Culture") in the style of Stuff White People Like. To quote the blog, "Christian culture is funny because it doesn't have much (if anything) to do with Christ himself." I would even go out to say that much of Christian Culture is antithetical to the teachings of Jesus Christ, but that's a whole 'nother story.
Anywho, since I love the blog a lot AND need to start posting more on here, I've decided to provide my commentary for some of the posts on SCCL. I may not be a Christian Culture person (though I am Christian), but I've seen a lot of this stuff in my daily life since I was twelve.
BTW, here's the site link if anyone's interested: http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/
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