Contemporary Christian Art

These contemporary Christian pieces are done by artist Alan Belcher (whitecrossstudio.com,) who works mostly in mixed and minimalist mediums to create Jesus-related artwork that appeals to the world of modern art. His interpretations are somewhat characteristic of the consumer-friendly universe of today's Christian art; they are arguably less harsh than older pieces that communicated scenes instead of abstracts. Most of Belcher's pieces are inspired by a specific biblical passage or quote.

Find the person that God created for you!

As I was sitting in my dorm room not doing homework a few hours ago, a sudden curiosity struck me. And that curiosity was concerned primarily with Christian dating sites.

"ChristianMingle.com Where We Bring Christian Singles Together. At ChristianMingle.com we're more than just a site for Christian dating, we're a Christian personals community where you can find singles that share your values and love for God in Christ. We are always working to help you build a strong relationship with other Christian singles.

This is an ideal destination for Christian men and women to find friends, dates, and even soul mates, all within the faith. In just minutes, you can create a profile and be ready to mingle with other members in your area. Our vast membership base and user-friendly interface make ChristianMingle.com a source of Christian romance around the world. When creating your profile, consider what you want to get out of this online dating and chatting experience. Share your goals as well as interests, favorite Bible passages, and explore other profiles to see what you have in common with other Christian singles. Enjoy chatting or instant messaging about current events, movies, music, dating experiences, how you came to find Christ, and other topics you are comfortable talking about. Online community networking and dating is fun, safe, and customizable. You control who you interact with and how much you share about yourself. Trust God and your God-given instincts to guide you through this experience. Find out how easy it is to get to know other Christian singles in your area by joining ChristianMingle.com.

Enjoy our Christian chat rooms, instant messenger, message boards, Bible verse of the day, searchable Bible, and many other great features. We even have Christian dating tips! Free Christian dating service added features like these are a unique part of the ChristianMingle.com member package and user experience. Use them to connect with Christian singles in new ways and learn about yourself, your goals, and your walk with Christ at the same time. Sign up today to start enjoying the Christian community at ChristianMingle.com."

Most of the mission statements for Christian dating sites are very similar similar to this; it's basically the about me taken from Facebook with the words 'bible' and 'Christ' thrown in a lot. While the sites supposedly cater to Christians, no particular technologies exist to bring Christianity into the actual process of online dating outside of the conversation topics chosen by users. There's also no way to keep non-Christians from signing up.

I'm somewhat surprised that the Christian faith is so accepting of a site such as this. I would think that there would be more opposition with the idea that it was intervening with God's will. But what if the internet IS God's will? Then what?

Regardless, I'm not totally sure how unique these sites are. Wouldn't it be easy just to sign up for eHarmony, check yourself as a Christian, and mark it as really important in a partner?

"God Distances Self from Conservative Right"

I was perusing The Onion and found a gloriously acidic article about Christianity and American politics. The article created a satirical representation of God at a press conference; this God went on the record to disagree with most Christian Right politicians on cases such as sexuality, capital punishment, and economy. The major push of the article was actually a comment made by Richard Mourdock, who made claims that pregnancies resulting from rape cases were God's will. In fact, they were a gift.

"'Many people hear my name in connection with the Christian Right and start to assume we are aligned in some capacity, and I’m here to say, for the record, that we are not,' God continued. 'So let me just be clear: I don’t want women to get raped—not ever. I don’t think their resulting pregnancies are my divine will. And if a woman is raped, then she has the right to get an abortion, period. I do not agree with Mourdock. I do not agree with the Christian Right. End of story.'"

The article brings to light an interesting tug-of-war: at what point do Christian politicians overstep the line by endorsing the brand of Christianity upon social issues? Do they have the authority to do this? How can individuals speak politically for an entire religion? And do their representations really describe the Christian church, or do they only further the careers of greedy politicians?

Some Oatmeal Humor..

Here are a few funny comics about how webmaster and comic-creator "The Oatmeal" feels about religion. The first one is about God's Rapture Install-Wizard, and the second about atheism and dictators. Bon appetit!

Lilith in Feminist Lit Theory

As it turns out, Lilith from Genesis figures in as an important character in feminist literary theory. I read the following passage in my Literary Theory textbook and realized that it said exactly what I felt about the story of Lilith; namely, Lilith represents a patriarchy that condemns women to being perceived as demons for having even a little bit of independence from men. (I've high-lighted the important stuff. Just click the picture for larger viewing size.)

Cyanide and Happiness

I was browsing my favorite webcomic earlier and came across perhaps the greatest comic ever created with regards to God (I actually snorted and then proceeded to engage in the act of ugly, ugly laughter after reading this... I think it's something about God's squinty eyes that gets me.) Have fun with this one!

Another sexual abuse story in the church...

Something really upsetting happened this week. A 67-year old retired Catholic deacon was turned in by Verizon for uploading child pornography to the digital Verizon storage cloud. He has admitted to watching/collecting this sort of material since the 1970s. Luckily, he says he never helped create the pornography and none of the kids involved appear to have been from his community. A link to the story is here.

Now, I'm not sure if there's a correlation to religious men and sexual abuse or if it's just the fact that offenses are publicized more if the perpetrators have religious power. What I am really curious about, though, is how these people stand before a congregation while preaching the morality and purity of their faith while all the while knowing that they violate the basic standards of human decency. It just seems like such an all-encompassing contradiction, and I don't know how someone would ever reconcile themselves to both sides.

I guess every group has a bad egg or two somewhere.

GODTUBE.COM!

So where are all of the Christians of the interwebs going? If they aren't doing so hot on facebook, blogging sites, or threads such as Reddit and 4chan, what domains can they freely walk?

Well, for starters, there's godtube.com.

This is a really interesting website. It's essentially youtube, but approved by the faith. Here's their 'about us' :

"Godtube.com is a video sharing platform offering online Christian videos with faith-based, family friendly content. Popular video sections on Godtube include; Christian bands and singers in Christian music videos, Christian comedians and comedy skits, spoofs and parodies in funny videos, cute videos featuring kids and animals, sports videos, Christian news videos and inspirational videos. Be inspired in your walk with Jesus Christ and grow in your knowledge of the Bible with videos highlighting inspirational messages and verses."

I'm betting that you'll be hard-pressed to find a video with cursing, let alone the sort of content you can find on youtube if you dig around enough. I browsed the 'cute videos' section and found some pretty standard viral videos, including that baby who wakes up and immediately starts dancing when "Gangnam Style" comes on the radio. Less standard picks include little kids singing hymns and talking about their love for Jesus.

I also read about Conservapedia (like a Wiki page for conservative Christians) but I got a really scary pop-up from my WOT telling me to beware. I'm guessing a group of trolls probably rate-bombed the site, but you can never be too careful. Maybe some other day I'll feel brave enough to peruse...

Will the Internet kill Christianity?

I read an article earlier this week and didn't think about sharing it till just now. It's essentially a discussion of why the amount of Americans claiming Christianity as a faith has rapidly declined in the last three decades while the amount of atheists climbs higher every year. The arguable answer?

The internet.

"Christianity does poorly when it doesn't control the entire message and allows people a free exchange of thought? What a freaking shock.”

“My prediction: look for theists to start withdrawing into Internet-free communes.”

Can the explosive growth of irreligion—that amorphous term comprising deism, agnosticism and atheism as well as relative neologisms like antitheism and ignosticism—really be linked to the Internet? Some atheists on the web seem to think so. A question in the forums for The Friendly Atheist, a popular blog among non-theists, asked whether ex-theists would have shed their religion if the Internet didn’t exist. Many felt they wouldn’t. A post on Unreasonable Faith (ostensibly a counter to Christian philosopher and apologist William Lane Craig’s book and online community dubbed Reasonable Faith) surmised that the Internet was crucial to the success of the “New Atheists.”

.....

The fact is, a relationship between irreligion and the Internet was bound to happen. Religion has long enjoyed a culturally accepted free space in which to share rhetoric—the Church. Atheism has suffered the exact opposite. America’s wariness of (or its outright antagonism toward, in its greatest excesses) irreligion has forced atheism to the fringes of its society. What the Internet has provided is a free space for atheists in this nation to connect with those across the globe whose cultural milieus are more inviting of all brands of irreligion; indeed, some in which secularism is a majority viewpoint.  

It is no wonder, therefore, that atheism is gaining steam in the U.S. Compared with the Internet, not to mention the secular nations of those with whom that space is shared, America is downright stifling. The political sway of the religious right seems somehow more maddening. The “we don’t belong!” rhetoric of American atheists becomes stronger, and it’s a message that today’s Christians buy into.

That’s because the free space in which they share rhetoric was never the Church to begin with. The Church belonged to their parents—the Internet belongs to them. The Internet may be helping to facilitate deconversion among evangelical youth, but it is not because of an “abundance of information” that challenges their faith. Rather, it is because the place where they spend much of their lives is where non-theists often control the discourse. It’s safe to say the majority of voices they encounter in web forums, news blogs and Facebook timelines will not echo those heard in their church foyer."

So really, the idea is that the internet is not beating out Christianity because it spreads information, but rather because of the tone. In the last generations' days, the church was a primary focal point for life. The only people they knew were people from similar backgrounds, from the same area with similar upbringings. But now, because the internet belongs primarily to the young, the tone is set by the 'outsiders' of religion. More and more people are picking up atheist ideas and connecting with people they never would have known otherwise.

Of course Christianity will probably continue to thrive within religious communities and families. The real drain on faith comes from areas with haphazard or lukewarm religious influence, in which kids are left to their own devices and allowed to find their own beliefs. There are plenty to pick from out here on the WWW.

Know Your Memes: Contradictory God

While we're talking about religion and the internet, I might as well bring in ANOTHER meme. This one is kind of funny, actually. It pretty much focuses on points at which God's actions or words seem to contradict themselves.