I like you guys at Stand to Reason, I really do. But listening to this vague discussion about being more cool is driving me nuts!
You can't appeal to culture by discussing what it's going to take to become cool. You have to turn to the artists who are already engaging the topic of abortion from a pro-life perspective and affirm their efforts.
Just hear this song from Mat Kearney, a top 40 artist. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQSGyuFTXOM
The relevant answer is should the pro-life movement be cool?
Examples:
Should the stop-Hitler movement be cool?
Should the stop-genocide-in-X be cool?
Should the stop-killing-babies movement be cool?
Ok, the third question hit home for me. You can strive to make apologetics, doctrine, theology, etc. be "cool" to your audience. But stop-killing-babies should always be a solemn, grave and heart-burdening, gut-wrenching, conscience-provoking, soul-stirring movement, never cool.
Brett makes that exact point at some point in the discussion in the recognizing the fact that impact among youth will inescapably bring more popular cultural impact. But if you do not appeal to that youth in the face of all of the competing pressures and forces working to capture their attention then you have no hope of getting that natural impact they bring.
He also talks about the need for churches to encourage arts within their congregations to encourage the future generation of Christian artists.
kpolo,
Your point about Hitler is actually a good one in that the United States government and Hollywood both spent a great deal of time and effort producing propaganda that made the war, in essence, seem cool. So it was a concern in effectively standing against Hitler. In addition, movies and documentary films and celebrity associations are constantly used to draw attention to genocide. Darfur was a huge celebrity cause.
KWM,
Being right is cool, and I make that point later in the podcast. It is that strength that you have to leverage culturally as well as intellectually if you want to move the culture. Abraham Lincoln was right about the status of slaves as human beings, but it was Uncle Tom's Cabin and Harriet Beecher Stowe that worked to rile up the masses by translating the intellectual argument into culturally relevant message that touched hearts.
I don’ know where I’ve been – I thought the pro-life movement was cool. I’m listening to the podcast now.
Posted by: KWM | December 16, 2009 at 06:55 AM
I like you guys at Stand to Reason, I really do. But listening to this vague discussion about being more cool is driving me nuts!
You can't appeal to culture by discussing what it's going to take to become cool. You have to turn to the artists who are already engaging the topic of abortion from a pro-life perspective and affirm their efforts.
Just hear this song from Mat Kearney, a top 40 artist. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQSGyuFTXOM
Posted by: Eric MacLeod | December 17, 2009 at 01:15 AM
The relevant answer is should the pro-life movement be cool?
Examples:
Should the stop-Hitler movement be cool?
Should the stop-genocide-in-X be cool?
Should the stop-killing-babies movement be cool?
Ok, the third question hit home for me. You can strive to make apologetics, doctrine, theology, etc. be "cool" to your audience. But stop-killing-babies should always be a solemn, grave and heart-burdening, gut-wrenching, conscience-provoking, soul-stirring movement, never cool.
Posted by: kpolo | December 17, 2009 at 06:21 AM
Being right is cool.
Posted by: KWM | December 17, 2009 at 10:54 AM
Eric,
Brett makes that exact point at some point in the discussion in the recognizing the fact that impact among youth will inescapably bring more popular cultural impact. But if you do not appeal to that youth in the face of all of the competing pressures and forces working to capture their attention then you have no hope of getting that natural impact they bring.
He also talks about the need for churches to encourage arts within their congregations to encourage the future generation of Christian artists.
kpolo,
Your point about Hitler is actually a good one in that the United States government and Hollywood both spent a great deal of time and effort producing propaganda that made the war, in essence, seem cool. So it was a concern in effectively standing against Hitler. In addition, movies and documentary films and celebrity associations are constantly used to draw attention to genocide. Darfur was a huge celebrity cause.
KWM,
Being right is cool, and I make that point later in the podcast. It is that strength that you have to leverage culturally as well as intellectually if you want to move the culture. Abraham Lincoln was right about the status of slaves as human beings, but it was Uncle Tom's Cabin and Harriet Beecher Stowe that worked to rile up the masses by translating the intellectual argument into culturally relevant message that touched hearts.
God bless,
Jay Watts
Posted by: Jay Watts | December 18, 2009 at 10:40 AM
As I learned in high school, it's not cool to be concerned about being cool. Keep it real and "coolness" will take care of itself.
Posted by: M Shoun | February 09, 2010 at 05:59 AM
This book seems pertinent to the discussion: Blessed Are the Uncool http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=3603
Posted by: Bret Yopung | February 09, 2010 at 11:58 AM