On this odd trap:

This trend spreads beyond CCM into many areas of evangelical culture. The church is becoming increasingly consumer-friendly. Jacob Hill, director of “worship arts” at New Walk Church, describes the Sunday service music as “exciting, loud, powerful, and relevant,” and boasts that “a lot of people say they feel like they’ve just been at a rock concert.” Over the past ten years, I’ve visited churches that have Starbucks kiosks in the foyer and youth wings decked out with air hockey tables. I’ve witnessed a preacher stop his sermon to play a five-minute clip fromBilly Madison. I’ve walked into a sanctuary that was blasting the Black Eyed Peas’s “Let’s Get it Started” to get the congregation pumped for the morning’s message, which was on joy. I have heard a pastor say, from a pulpit, “Hey, I’m not here to preach at anyone.” And yet, in spite of these efforts, churches are retaining only 4 percent of the young people raised in their congregations.

She also name-checks a familiar culprit: Brio Magazine.

As my cousins enjoyed the magazine and said it would be age-appropriate (I was 11), my mom gave me a subscription to Brio Magazine. We were unaware that it was a Focus on the Family production; had we been, Mom would not have considered it and I , back in 2001, would have been unaware of the political and theological implications I object to now.

Brio had a pretty regular editorial calendar: the article about the CCM band du jour, the decent serialized fiction story, the fashion article that emphasized modesty, the article about boys/dating/ABSTINENCEYAY!, and the plug for their annual mission trip.

Editor Susie Shellenberg had an advice column that, even at 11, sounded strange to me: Break off relationships with non-Christian friends–especially boys!, protest the teaching of evolution at your public school, and do not pursue boys you have a crush on. EVER. This was the prime propaganda from Focus on the Family.

In the editors’ defense,there was a pretty cool article about house churches in China once.

In the Brio world, feminism never happened, but girl power did. You were supposed to know better than to have an adolescence–no mercy for those who slipped up.

Youthful mistake. I knew what I was reading was weird, but I wouldn’t have been into Seventeen. We stopped the subscription because I got bored with it and found it irrelevant.

I tossed the magazines years ago, but after Focus on the Family shuttered its teen media, Shellenberg started her own magazine called SUSIE!

Modest, right?

SUSIE! is Brio reincarnated; I’m pretty sure I read that heinous article on emotional purity before.

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See also, Apologetix. This is not a joke.

We didn’t set out to be the Christian Parody Band. We’re all life-long musicians of varying tastes who have written our fair share of original music. We all have that “artist” side of us, but we’ve seen God use our songs in so many lives. We’ve learned that apparently God wants us to do two things in particular with our music.

First we’ve noticed that ApologetiX CDs are more easily handed to non-churched friends to check out (as “sound-tracts”!), so we reach some folks that other Christian music doesn’t.

So now we know what we need to about the stories behind the shocking statistics about child abuse by priests, right?

As the study’s largest percentage of funding came from the Catholic church, the report reflects the conflict of interest.

The report features an invective against the 1960′s counterculture and sexual revolution; feminism, “singles culture”, premarital sex, divorce, working mothers, rising crime and drug use rates, and acceptance of homosexuality are all targeted by this detour from the empirical data. So much for the priesthood considering itself in–but not of–the world.

Notably, the study denies a relationship between homosexuality and abuse, thankfully not lending credence to a flawed, bigoted argument. The study also denies the influence of celibacy.

Glossing over the potential benefits of womenpriests, backing down on mandated celibacy, reconsideration of the stance on birth control, and other issues, the Catholic Church’s study reinforces the status quo.

Check out the Revealer’s coverage here–especially Amanda Marcotte’s article which highlights the patriarchal reasoning that calls feminism and openness about sex fueling forces of the abuse, rather than what they are–tools with which to fight for victims’ rights.

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Slog readers know that it is not merely a Catholic problem, but a ministry problem. See Dan Savage’s Youth Pastor Watch, a running column.

This NYT article asks “Is your religion your financial destiny?,” but a better question may be “How does religion affect your financial destiny?” or “How does religion affect attitudes towards finance?, ” if fatalism isn’t your thing.

More after the jump + why “Calvinist Islam” is a flawed term…

Are religious persons more likely to opt for low-income/high-service jobs (ie. social work or teaching)? Not necessarily, what about non-religious altruists? Religious persons do have the benefit of living out a spiritual value, such as the upside-down kingdom ethic.

To say that religion inculcates a work ethic is dismissive of those who have a moral–rather–than spiritual incentive for good behavior on the job. Does HR view a religious affiliation as extra assurance that an employee will not pocket products?

The selfish wealthy are eviscerated in many religious texts and parables; generosity is a virtue. And yet, some people subscribe to prosperity theology.

There is always a gap between doctrine and practice, although it may not be reflected in the crisp, nearly linear Pew data above.

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I understand the origins and recognize the writings that inform the concept of the ‘Protestant work ethic,’ but as this article gushes over Muslims businessmen and workers who are described as having Protestant work ethic, I wonder if rather than defining them through a Western lens, we might call it a Muhammadan work ethic?

The region’s mix of Muslim values, hard work and raging capitalism has even prompted sociologists to coin a new term to describe the phenomenon: “Calvinist Islam.”

Sociologists should know better–and know this:

Even so, business is thriving, a fact that local business leaders attribute to an entrepreneurial spirit that, they say, is also part of Islam. Herdem said that the secret behind the city’s business prowess could be traced to the Prophet Muhammad, himself a trader, who preached merchant honor and commanded that 90 percent of a Muslim’s life be devoted to work in order to put food on the table. Opening a factory in Islam is a sort of prayer, Herdem added.

Harold Camping was disappointed; there were no earthquakes today–he had been hoping for a momentous one, signaling the Rapture.

Camping’s prediction that “the Rapture” would happen on May 21st made Christian prophecy crowd out the zombie apocalypse in popular paranoia zeitgeist, becoming a meme, an advertising gimmick.

Camping, a Christian broadcaster known for Open Forum, kicked off a $100 million global advertising campaign financed by the sale of his media properties–after all, he would hardly be profiting from them post-rapture, but don’t worry about his financial state, he has been raking in the donations. Don’t worry about his ego either–after a failed prediction in 1994, he still had the confidence to publicly predict this one.

Eschatology looms large in the minds of believers, non-believers, and every guy who has ever been told “only if you were the last man on Earth”–but why?

Lorenzo DiTommaso, a professor at Concordia University in Montreal, is writing a book called “The Architecture of Apocalypticism,” has this to say about eschatological frenzies:

“Problems have become so big, with no solutions in sight, that we no longer see ourselves able as human beings to solve these problems,” DiTommaso said. “From a biblical point of view, God is going to solve them. From other points of view, there has to be some sort of catastrophe.”

The apocalyptic worldview springs from a desire to reconcile two conflicting beliefs.

“The first is that there is something dreadfully wrong with the world of human existence today,” he said. “On the other hand, there is a sense that there is a higher good or some purpose for existence, a hope for a better future.”

Viewing the world as a flawed place headed toward some sort of cosmic correction reconciles these two beliefs, DiTommaso said.

And because believers are certain that their sacred text can never be wrong, failed doomsday predictions only convince them that their own interpretations were flawed, opening the door to new predictions. Historically, those who have predicted doomsday, including the early Christians, have been persecuted and oppressed, so the prospect of a final judgment is comforting, DiTomasso said.

“Despite fire, death and destruction, the god of apocalypticism is a god of order, not chaos,” DiTomasso said. “That’s the reassurance.”

Dystopian and apocalyptic entertainment is popular in times of generalized anxiety, and often parallels an upswing of interest in survivalism. Witness the aforementioned zombie zeitgeist in pop culture*–as well as the also-ascendant vampire trope, and the perpetual super-hero story.**

The supernatural, primitive monster, and the helpless, preyed-upon, drained victim are rendered in stark contrast and strange parallels to our recession-ridden society, troubled by too much tech, looping us back to DiTommaso big-problem theme.

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* Even my grandmother noticed it: she called to ask if I had a copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and if so, could she borrow it? I didn’t, so I got her a copy…which she gave to me after a two days of reading. Here’s her review: “Too scary, and I had to put it face down on my nightstand…the cover is so gross.”

**Speaking of which, did you know this existed? Hello insomnia.

Religious Tolerance offers a timeline of failed end times predictions.

For some people, the Rapture was a sincerely held anticipation, not an excuse to hold an “Rapture party.” This LA Times story gets their reactions and includes quote from Camping’s daughter and PR aide. The end quote, however, shows another instance of an end-times mistake…, Jim Jones used Flavor-Aid, not Kool-Aid

Tim LaHaye thinks Harold Camping is trivializing Christian prophecy. Oh really?

This does not appear in the quiz.

Check out Nick Kristof’s column, in which he limns the ways in which Scripture has been co-opted by politicians and challenge some common assumptions by featuring a quiz on sex and religion…and then administer it to your local Tea Party/Religious Right politician over the phone.

Big stories and I missed the window of opportunity to blog about them. With finals week and moving from NY to VA over with, I’ll be getting back to business. I’m job-hunting, interning, and enjoying my summer, but plan on keeping sharp as well.

The American Prospect credited Tim Pawlenty with encouraging the expansion of Shariah-compliant finance in the name of increasing minority home ownership in Minnesota.

In 2004, Pawlenty encouraged the Minnesota Housing Financing Agency to partner with special-interest groups and businesses to up the state’s minority homeownership rate of 42%; this initiative became known as the  Emerging Markets Homeowners Initiative, through which the MHFA partnered with the African Development Center to develop Shariah-compliant loan and mortgage products. This aligns neatly with Pawlenty’s populist ideals.

Shariah-compliant finance is not a manifestation of jihad, as many states considering anti-Shariah legislation fear. It’s capitalism–Citigroup, Visa, and AIG have all explored it.

Pawlenty’s detractors are, predictably, linking Shariah-compliant finance to the Muslim Brotherhood and a desire to take over the United States and institute Shariah law.

Looking at the housing market, discouraging the purchase of property is ill-advised.

This is patently Islamophobic alarmism; the Detroit metropolitan boasts a high concentration of the Arab-American population and Shariah law is not a legislative concern there. The crux of Shariah-compliant finance is quite obviously usury, not “converting infidels.”

The Qu’ran contains more than a few invectives against usury, as does the Bible, making Shariah-compliant finance quite similar to what Bible-based finance would look like.

Although the modern interpretation of usury tends to be something along the lines of “unreasonable interest”, Shariah-compliant finance is not an unusual request–and a more narrow interpretation of usury should also be respected. Eliminating this option is an unnecessary burden on free exercise.

Looks like Pawlenty has a case of plank-eye.

In light of the article, however, Pawlenty is engaging in political pandering and backing down. His spokesperson, Alex Conant, says Pawlenty was not involved and even canceled the program.

What’s so funny about peace, love, understanding…that some of your constituents believe it is against their religion to pay interest?

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The American Prospect leads with this, to show why Shariah-compliant finance is important:

Abid Lakhani wanted to buy a home.

…

“The house I was living in, I was living in it for 22 years because I don’t believe in getting interest-bearing loans,” the 44-year-old insurance salesman and father of four explains. But after years of renting, he was finally able to acquire a home for himself and his family this month through University Islamic Financial, Corp., which structures house payments so as to avoid charging interest. “For a Muslim living in this day and age, it’s difficult to practice and stay within the rules of the faith,” Lakhani says. “These kinds of options weren’t available before.”

From the aforementioned CBS article:

Conant, his spokesman, told Ben Smith that the former governor does not believe Sharia or any other religious law should hold sway in America.”The United States should be governed by the U.S. Constitution, not religious laws,” he said.*

So no more governing by religious laws? The Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses have influenced legislation and court precedent.  Also, what about Catholic and Evangelical religious  influence on abortion and gay marriage legislation?

This blog goes farther than casting money-changers out of the temple and uses the phrase “major hellfire” in regards to the practice of usury.

Does a Year of Jubilee sound good to anyone else? I’m in; just let me know when–wouldn’t want to rip up my student loan invoices too early.

Rev. Lawler, who adopted Islamic prayer rituals, Qu’ranic study, and dietary restrictions did so for spiritual education  and edification.

“I could have sat down and read scholarly literature on Islam, but that’s still stepping back from it rather than encountering it…You can think about doing something, but once you do it, you really reflect on it,” Rev. Lawler said to The Saint Louis Post Dispatch.

He cited the concept of “passing over”, which is commonly attributed to Mahatma Gandhi. Passing over is experiencing and empathizing with another religion to gain fresh insights into your current religious practice.

Passing over is a concept that recognizes the life-affirming facet to belief and does not privilege religious revelation as beyond the reach of the genuine intellectual and spiritual, although unbelieving inquiry. You do not have to subscribe to read the lifestyles and advice sections of the magazine.

The Post Dispatch also quotes Mohammed Ibrahim, the chairman of the board of directors of the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis, as saying: “I think it’s a good idea to understand better what Islam is,” he said. “We do welcome it. People can come and watch us pray at the mosques and participate in prayer if they want to.”

In both Islam and Christianity, conversion is encouraged, but can be stepped away from, in favor of learning about another belief system. It’s a pretty evident and easy distinction. The St. Louis Post Dispatch article clearly states that Rev. Lawler was conscientious about this, stating he did not say the shahada, one of the 5 pillars of Islam and  the statement of faith: There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.

Despite this, Bishop George Wayne Smith of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri  stated that “[Rev. Lawler] can’t be both a Christian and a Muslim…If he chooses to practice as Muslim, then he would, by default, give up his Christian identity and priesthood in the church.”

After two days, threatened with punitive actions, Rev. Lawler retreated from this idea, at least publicly.

So what is Rev. Lawler doing for Lent now?

It would be a shame if he transitioned from this profound embrace of religious rituals in order to “pass over” and raising awareness about the theological parallels and differences between two historically intertwined religions–one of which has been beset with profiling, suspicion, discrimination, and scrutiny–to do the popular American Christian Lenten practice of using it as a self-help construct to kick a bad habit.

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‘Allah’ is Arabic for God. It is not a proper name, a la Jehovah. As pointed out in an earlier post, many Arabic-speaking Christians use the epithet Allah in prayer.

Islam considers Christians and Jews to be ‘People of the Book’ ( أهل الذمة ahl al-dhimmah), recipients of earlier revelations from Allah. ‘People of the Book‘ is generally positive designation (aside from jizyah tax), but carries the implication that they do not accept Muhammad as Seal of the Prophets, or his final revelation.

Comparative Religious Ethics: A Narrative Approach is an awesome book that goes deeper into the theme of passing over.

I remember reading about Islam when I was 8 and thinking, “Whoa! They pray 5 times a day?!? I only pray once, before bed, and if something bad, tragic, or scary happens. Muslims are SO much better at religion than I am.”

*cross-posted from my other blog, adappealing.tumblr.com

You’ve seen this, haven’t you?

That’s Abortion, the website for Life Always, says it uses “advertising, research and confrontational truth to gain awareness, inform and educate individuals to choose life, always!”

Confrontational, indeed. The public discourse surrounding this ad has been as well.

Some activists group, including Life Always, do allege that abortion is a genocidal practice perpetuated against African-Americans. This ad reflects that sensibility.

At Sociological Images, Lisa Wade, Ph.D points out that abortion is often framed as feminist, gendered issue, rather than one influenced by class and race.

Pointing out that the head of Life Always is “black, so it isn’t racist” is a reductio ad absurdum akin to “Some of my best friends are Jewish” as an excuse to legitimize anti-Semitic remarks a la Gentlemen’s Agreement.

Pointing out that the leadership of Life Always are clergymen is telling. How appropriate is it for clergy to make racially inflammatory statements intended to sow discord? This is far from Dr. King’s civil rights activism, which united concerned Americans for the cause.

It is disingenuous for religious leaders to present this complex issue as a purely sociological one in their advertising. The website does explain the religious connection and the bait-and-switch is not on the level of “crisis pregnancy centers,” but does merit concern.

The Life Always website does not make many concessions to socioeconomic factors, saying the Planned Parenthood centers are usually in minority neighborhoods and framing this as antagonistic. Is it also a function of zoning, real estate, and serving communities with less access to other medical services?

How influenced are these Guttmacher Institute statistics by socioeconomic factors, including access to contraceptives, family planning counseling, insurance, and ability to to care for and support a child?

A complex issue needs more context than a headline.

The app is supposed to bring people back to the faith–and even boasts an imprimatur– but this mission misses out on some key themes that keep religion relevant in the modern era.

If communities and traditions–especially religious ones–are meant to be a safe harbor from social isolation and fragmentation of meaningful conversation, then communications technology like this trivializes that experience in favor of convenience, impersonality, and gimmicks.

I can’t argue the benefit of accessibility (to some, see below), but at what cost? The process gets de-sanctified if you can do it while you are waiting for your laundry, sitting on the toilet, or riding the bus. One can, of course, pray in these scenarios, but confession has always been a distinct, developed, inherently ritualized form of prayer.

Setting aside time in one’s day, entering a quiet room, and baring your soul…is it as meaningful on a iPhone? Confession has always rested on the rite of unburdening one’s soul to a priest–untethering the process from the rite denies that what is on one’s mind is unworthy of the priest’s time–and their own.

This Catholic News Service article reads like an Onion piece.

An inspirational quote pops up after you enter in your confession?

How Buddy Christ-tastic.

It also generates an examination of conscience.

But will it be sensitive, will it listen, will a voice readout of the text issue from the speakers with a slight tone of compassion?

App functionality includes a compendium of prayers (that actually sounds practical) and the ability to list your sins so you don’t forget any when ‘confessing’! However, one must still go to a priest for absolution.

Instead of merely being a sociological debasement of the 21st century relevance of religion, it may also be a direct marketing tool: one has to enter one’s age, sex, vocation, date of last confession, et al. This information is stored by the app.

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There’s more.

Josh Harris (of I Kissed Dating Goodbye fame) about tweeting in church.

Glenn Schuck, religious studies professor at Williams College, identifies new media in church as more likely to be a Protestant process, as it relies less on authority and intercession.

Let’s be real: this is elitist. Not everyone can afford a smart phone, Apple product or otherwise. I don’t have a smart phone. Good thing I wasn’t going to use this anyway.