Here's a link to an article I found interesting and then spent a lot of time thinking about:
http://www.speculativefaith.com/stop-hating-christian-popular-culture/
Here's how I responded to the Facebook post:
I
got up from the prior comment, washed some dishes, and thought a book
chapter's worth of thoughts, but will reduce it to only a few of the
points: Kincaid. I've read a variety of critiques about his work, and I
agree with all the criticisms that people have come up with. And
yet....I go into relative's homes and there is a Kincaid painting
lovingly featured on a wall. And I think it's lovely. I like to look at
pretty. It's why I grow flowers and trees. Is my love of gardening only
worthwhile when I use it to introduce new food crops into Rwanda?
(which, btw, is a lot of fun)
It is such a balancing act
between the desire to be the intelligent one with great taste that
understands more than the bleating masses, the desire to encourage
people who are trying their best even when their best isn't very good by
a blinkered view, the desire to be better than one's own best, the
desire to be humble, the desire to be great, the desire to be recognized
as great, the desire to be discerning, the desire to be accepting.
It's
interesting, Stephen, how you like the Left Behind Series. You are not
my only friend who does. I can't understand the attraction. I read a few
paragraphs in one of the books and tossed it away in revulsion. And
here you are, I freely admit it, an intellect that towers over mine. You
have an ability to mine the good that sometimes bypasses me. Which
brings me to a final point:
It seems like some people
work hard to find the tiniest sliver of redemptive quality in a secular
work they like, and refuse to look at the larger redemptive quality in a
Christian work because it offends their refined sensibility. Maybe some
people is me.
