Christ and Pop Culture
This week, we’re taking a hard look at issues related to class, the less fortunate, and social justice, most notably with two features exclusively available in the iPad and iPhone app (yes we are uncomfortably aware of the inconsistency) If you are financially able, make sure you download and subscribe now! (there’s a free trial if you’re uncertain. You’ll love it though, so it’s kinda redundant.)
This issue, Alan Noble ponders what the church’s response to the everpresent class crisis ought to be:
We are quick to speak out against ineffective, overreaching, dehumanizing government social programs, but slow to do the God-commanded work of meeting those needs ourselves. I understand that in many areas the State has worked to force the Church out of social work (one can think of Catholic adoption agencies that have been shut down for refusing to allow homosexuals to adopt kids), but that hardly accounts for the disproportionate passion that Christians in the United States have for objecting to the State helping the poor as opposed to following Christ’s commands to do so. Well, here’s an opportunity for the Church to make a dramatic positive impact in local communities, thereby decreasing the need for State intervention, increasing our witness to the World, meeting real and serious needs, and (most important) obeying our obligations to Christ and our neighbor.
If local churches worked together to offer early childhood intervention programs, they would be more cost effective, but they would also be caring for the needy in more meaningful, intimate, and personal ways. And through this, they will be able to better proclaim the Gospel.
Also in this issue, Julia Herrington explains “How I Changed My Mind About Abortion”:
My thoughts and feelings on abortion have almost always been rather laissez–faire. I felt apathetic because the topic is so abrasive. Secretly, I’ve always felt that abortion wasn’t ideal and maybe not even right. But it’s complicated to believe that when you’re a feminist, and it’s certainly not something you profess publicly. Who am I to presume to know what is right for another woman? Am I, as a feminist, willing to assert that abortion isn’t right? Would I not be robbing women of authority over their own personhood, something women have fought arduously for, for far too long? A year ago, I would have rather been caught barefoot in the kitchen, in an apron with red lipstick on my mouth, baking for all the boys, a caricature of the “problem without a name” rather than to be found in close proximity to the pro-life camp.
Working at a Pregnancy Resource Center changed all of this.
In addition to these exclusive features, this issue includes a piece grappling with the radical faith movement, a full-throated critique of the Great Gatsby film adaptation, an analysis of small-town praise in country music, a consideration of the church’s specific role in the welfare system, and the regular “Common Graces” feature which offers up five recommendations for your popular culture enjoyment–all in a pleasant-to-read package.
In case you missed the original post explaining the idea behind the magazine, you can read all about it here.
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