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{"id":2581,"date":"2012-06-25T10:36:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-25T14:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tmatt.net\/?p=2581"},"modified":"2012-06-25T10:36:00","modified_gmt":"2012-06-25T14:36:00","slug":"seeking-the-hipster-antithesis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2012\/06\/seeking-the-hipster-antithesis\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeking the hipster antithesis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Christopher Kerzich is preparing to permanently embrace a truly retro, timeless look.<\/p>\n

The basics \u2014 black jacket, black pants and black shirt \u2014 will be stark and radical, providing a kind of \u201cthis is who I am\u201d vibe. Black fedoras, scarves and long overcoats are optional. For accessories, he\u2019ll have a silver cross and a white collar.<\/p>\n

In other words, Kerzich is a seminarian at the North American College in Rome, preparing for his 2014 ordination as Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Chicago.<\/p>\n

Although this wardrobe will stand out in almost any crowd, the last thing Kerzich expects to be is \u201chip.\u201d If anything, he hopes people his age and younger will see him as the antithesis of hip, which he believes will help him relate to the masses of fashionable young people known as \u201chipsters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are going to try to reach out to hipsters, the main thing you have to be is authentic. You have to be real. You have to be rooted in your faith,\u201d said the 28-year-old seminarian, during a recent home visit. \u201cThe one thing you cannot try to be is hip. You can\u2019t try to be something you\u2019re not. That would be a fatal mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defining the term \u201chipster\u201d is a task that has baffled researchers \u2014 from advertising executives to the college administrators. Kerzich finds it interesting that whenever he types a word like \u201chipsterdom\u201d into his computer, the software underlines the term with the red, squiggly line that suggests this is not a real word.<\/p>\n

The problem is that the hipsters do exist and their culture is real and it\u2019s growing. If religious leaders want to understand what is happening, he said, they must realize that there is more to the hipster ethos than Rat Pack hats, \u201950s dresses, plaid blazers, skinny ties, skinny jeans, rumpled hair, flashy accessories and occasional flashes of androgyny.<\/p>\n

In his book, \u201cHipster Christianity,\u201d<\/a> the evangelical writer Brett McCracken noted: \u201cThe only real requisite to being a hipster is a commitment to total freedom from labels, norms and imposed constraints of any kind. And this attitude must be very public, which is why hipsters are fairly easy to spot. \u2026 The hardest part of the whole endeavor is also the most crucial: they must look like they don\u2019t care how they look.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is more to this stance than mere appearances, he stressed. While there is no hipster creed, there are common attitudes.<\/p>\n

\u201cChief among them is the instinct to be better than anyone else,\u201d noted McCracken. \u201cHipsters view any sort of prescribed system or hierarchy as absurd. \u2026 They project themselves as being totally independent of any controlling influence, and masters over their own life and meaning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The result is a brand of fierce individualism \u201cverging on or leading to apathy,\u201d said Kerzich. At the same time, however, many hipsters see themselves as true originals, seekers and deep thinkers who want to escape the shallow, mundane, ordinary world of mass culture. For some, the radical demands of an ancient faith may actually seem countercultural \u2014 not boring.<\/p>\n

Thus, in an online essay on evangelizing hipsters<\/a>, he urged pastors and youth workers to start frequenting places that hipsters tend to congregate, such as coffee shops, pubs and bookstores. Yes, a minister wearing a clerical collar is sure to be greeted with skepticism in such a setting. However, before long some of the locals will start asking tough, honest questions \u2014 if the minister is truly accessible.<\/p>\n

Also, more religious leaders are going to have to dive into social media, said Kerzich. It is no longer optional for faith groups to have a presence on YouTube or for bishops and other leaders to dialogue with critics, seekers and the faithful through Twitter and Facebook. <\/p>\n

Once again, being \u201chip\u201d is not the goal. The goal is to be available.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one likes someone who tries to belong to a group unnaturally,\u201d wrote Kerzich. Those attempting to reach \u201chipsters do not need to act like a member of their subculture. This movement focuses on being \u2018original\u2019 and \u2018different.\u2019 Thus, one should communicate how the message of Christianity is different than the messages emanating from society. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor priests and seminarians remember your ministry is different, so confidently accept this reality. \u2026 One key to evangelizing this group is to become accepted by them without trying to become one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"