by Jason Joyner | May 3, 2007 | Biblical worldview, Blog, books, fiction, music
On Monday I introduced the idea of the Christian Marketplace, dealing with art and entertainment, specifically the pop culture elements of fiction and music. What was my prompting?
During the last fantasy blog tour, I came across this review of The Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock. Here’s a snippet:
It was a little hard to follow, but had a decent plot and likeable characters. About halfway through, my opinion of this book steeply declined. The reason? A bedroom scene. Ms. Hancock aptly incorporates a highly descriptive scene where the main character sleeps (and does a few other things!) with the girl he likes. I’m usually not one to be revolted by mild sensuality; the only other book I’ve stopped reading because of the sex was a Robert Ludlum novel. This, however, was just too much. I would expect this from a secular novel, but it was disappointing in a book that billed itself as “Christian.”
First of all, the reviewer is wrong, or at best misleading. The scene was written in such a way that the reader knew what the character was dealing with, without crossing into unneeded voyeurism.
However, this example highlights a problem with the Christian marketplace – the reviewer felt a need to make a judgment on an artistic work based off of spiritual standards. Actually, that’s something we all do to a degree: do we accept the worldview and particulars presented to us in entertainment? Many Christians like the movie Braveheart due to the ideas of sacrifice and freedom, but some couldn’t (legitimately) get past the nudity or violence.
But Christian artists live under a pressure to create with expectations. I don’t mind that this reviewer felt the scene in Eidon was too much for her sensibilities. I don’t think it was even wrong to put a review saying, “Hey, y’all might want to watch out for [x] or [y].” I get disconcerted when she challenges an author’s walk with God and quotes Philippians 4:8 as a condemnation for those who might actually read (uh-oh) and enjoy (gasp!) this book.
Don’t get me wrong. We need to judge what we can handle or not handle. And we shouldn’t end up with reading Christian “porn” or erotica. But can you see the dilemma for the Christian artist? You may write a scene that you think is needed for the artistic integrity of the story, and that you’ve done it in a creative way that is within reason. All it takes is one offended individual to post something on Amazon, and you lose potential readers.
This problem doesn’t just exist for Christian fiction. Infuze has an interview with 18 year old singer/songwriter Bethany Dillon. I really haven’t listened to her, but have heard good reviews about her work. In the interview she has to defend herself from writing love songs!
I’m very much a girl and feel that the feminine soul is made to be completely distracted by a story like that. I mean, probably the masculine soul as well, but seeing as how I only have my experience… [Laughs] But I think that you’re so right. There are things – not as an accusation – but I think the American church especially seeks to control and pacify so many things that it shuts down anything that could be slightly messy or that could have a couple mistakes. We have an obsession with very controllable things.
Where do we go from here? I’ll take this up soon (either before or after a review of Chris Well’s new book).
by Jason Joyner | May 3, 2007 | Biblical worldview, Blog, books, fiction, music
On Monday I introduced the idea of the Christian Marketplace, dealing with art and entertainment, specifically the pop culture elements of fiction and music. What was my prompting?
During the last fantasy blog tour, I came across this review of The Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock. Here’s a snippet:
It was a little hard to follow, but had a decent plot and likeable characters. About halfway through, my opinion of this book steeply declined. The reason? A bedroom scene. Ms. Hancock aptly incorporates a highly descriptive scene where the main character sleeps (and does a few other things!) with the girl he likes. I’m usually not one to be revolted by mild sensuality; the only other book I’ve stopped reading because of the sex was a Robert Ludlum novel. This, however, was just too much. I would expect this from a secular novel, but it was disappointing in a book that billed itself as “Christian.”
First of all, the reviewer is wrong, or at best misleading. The scene was written in such a way that the reader knew what the character was dealing with, without crossing into unneeded voyeurism.
However, this example highlights a problem with the Christian marketplace – the reviewer felt a need to make a judgment on an artistic work based off of spiritual standards. Actually, that’s something we all do to a degree: do we accept the worldview and particulars presented to us in entertainment? Many Christians like the movie Braveheart due to the ideas of sacrifice and freedom, but some couldn’t (legitimately) get past the nudity or violence.
But Christian artists live under a pressure to create with expectations. I don’t mind that this reviewer felt the scene in Eidon was too much for her sensibilities. I don’t think it was even wrong to put a review saying, “Hey, y’all might want to watch out for [x] or [y].” I get disconcerted when she challenges an author’s walk with God and quotes Philippians 4:8 as a condemnation for those who might actually read (uh-oh) and enjoy (gasp!) this book.
Don’t get me wrong. We need to judge what we can handle or not handle. And we shouldn’t end up with reading Christian “porn” or erotica. But can you see the dilemma for the Christian artist? You may write a scene that you think is needed for the artistic integrity of the story, and that you’ve done it in a creative way that is within reason. All it takes is one offended individual to post something on Amazon, and you lose potential readers.
This problem doesn’t just exist for Christian fiction. Infuze has an interview with 18 year old singer/songwriter Bethany Dillon. I really haven’t listened to her, but have heard good reviews about her work. In the interview she has to defend herself from writing love songs!
I’m very much a girl and feel that the feminine soul is made to be completely distracted by a story like that. I mean, probably the masculine soul as well, but seeing as how I only have my experience… [Laughs] But I think that you’re so right. There are things – not as an accusation – but I think the American church especially seeks to control and pacify so many things that it shuts down anything that could be slightly messy or that could have a couple mistakes. We have an obsession with very controllable things.
Where do we go from here? I’ll take this up soon (either before or after a review of Chris Well’s new book).
by Jason Joyner | Apr 30, 2007 | Biblical worldview, Blog, fiction, writing craft
Ever since the last fantasy book tour, I’ve been thinking about the paradox that is the “Christian Marketplace”. Never heard of it? Me neither – in that form. There’s no real term for what I’m going to discuss today. In Christian fiction we use the term “CBA” which stands for the Christian Booksellers Association. This is the group that is the gatekeeper for Christian publishing, as opposed to the American Booksellers Association (ABA), which is where secular publishing occurs (although the ABA is not exclusive against Christian authors, while the CBA is). The problem with my discussion today is that it goes beyond fiction, thus the term Christian Marketplace.
To me the Christian Marketplace is the sub-culture that has been created for (mainly) Evangelical Christians in entertainment – encompassing music and fiction primarily, but can include movies, TV, video games, and other mediums. I don’t know the history on how Christian fiction became segregated, but I have some understanding regarding contemporary Christian music (CCM).
CCM came about after the Jesus People movement in the late 60’s/early 70’s, when hippies were getting saved, and doing what came natural to them: playing rock and roll. At first artists were on record labels along with regular artists of the day. Unfortunately, these pioneers were in between a rock and a hard place (no pun intended). Their music was too religious for the mainstream labels, but too loud for the general church audience (and a lot different from the black gospel/southern gospel forms that had been around all along).
Specific music labels were created to be a showcase for these artists. Soon there was Christian radio to play this music, with Christian rock festivals, and Christian music magazines. Soon it became a self-sustaining phenomenon, and it the process turned the word Christian into an artificial genre description rather than what the intent of the term may be.
This has been going on for thirty some-odd years for CCM. Like I said, I don’t know when Christian fiction became a sub-category (after C.S. Lewis’ time, thankfully). But I do know it was mainly known for prarie romances and historical fiction until Frank Peretti came along in the late 80’s with his This Present Darkness and subsequent books. This has triggered a slowly burgeoning fiction landscape that has a pretty diverse selection of books at this point.
Whoa, didn’t know this would start with a history lesson. Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, the CSFF tour from 2 weeks ago. What really got me thinking was a review of Karen Hancock’s book The Light of Eidon on Amazon that was mentioned on Rebecca Grabill’s blog. Check out that review, and I’ll discuss what instigated all of this tomorrow.
by Jason Joyner | Apr 30, 2007 | Biblical worldview, Blog, fiction, writing craft
Ever since the last fantasy book tour, I’ve been thinking about the paradox that is the “Christian Marketplace”. Never heard of it? Me neither – in that form. There’s no real term for what I’m going to discuss today. In Christian fiction we use the term “CBA” which stands for the Christian Booksellers Association. This is the group that is the gatekeeper for Christian publishing, as opposed to the American Booksellers Association (ABA), which is where secular publishing occurs (although the ABA is not exclusive against Christian authors, while the CBA is). The problem with my discussion today is that it goes beyond fiction, thus the term Christian Marketplace.
To me the Christian Marketplace is the sub-culture that has been created for (mainly) Evangelical Christians in entertainment – encompassing music and fiction primarily, but can include movies, TV, video games, and other mediums. I don’t know the history on how Christian fiction became segregated, but I have some understanding regarding contemporary Christian music (CCM).
CCM came about after the Jesus People movement in the late 60’s/early 70’s, when hippies were getting saved, and doing what came natural to them: playing rock and roll. At first artists were on record labels along with regular artists of the day. Unfortunately, these pioneers were in between a rock and a hard place (no pun intended). Their music was too religious for the mainstream labels, but too loud for the general church audience (and a lot different from the black gospel/southern gospel forms that had been around all along).
Specific music labels were created to be a showcase for these artists. Soon there was Christian radio to play this music, with Christian rock festivals, and Christian music magazines. Soon it became a self-sustaining phenomenon, and it the process turned the word Christian into an artificial genre description rather than what the intent of the term may be.
This has been going on for thirty some-odd years for CCM. Like I said, I don’t know when Christian fiction became a sub-category (after C.S. Lewis’ time, thankfully). But I do know it was mainly known for prarie romances and historical fiction until Frank Peretti came along in the late 80’s with his This Present Darkness and subsequent books. This has triggered a slowly burgeoning fiction landscape that has a pretty diverse selection of books at this point.
Whoa, didn’t know this would start with a history lesson. Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, the CSFF tour from 2 weeks ago. What really got me thinking was a review of Karen Hancock’s book The Light of Eidon on Amazon that was mentioned on Rebecca Grabill’s blog. Check out that review, and I’ll discuss what instigated all of this tomorrow.
by Jason Joyner | Apr 23, 2007 | apologetics, Biblical worldview, Blog
This Monday is a little disjointed for me, so that’s what will be happening here! I would recommend reading this article from USA Today. The author discusses the glut of “God is dead, religious people are all idiots or worse” books out there right now, with a simple yet elegant rebuff. A snippet:
There is no irrefutable evidence for God’s existence or non-existence. But, if you look closely, his footprints can be discerned in the sands of time.
Check it out. By the way, I got the link from Thunderstruck, a site that compiles oodles of links relating to Christianity and pop culture weekly. Definitely worth its own perusal.
by Jason Joyner | Apr 23, 2007 | apologetics, Biblical worldview, Blog
This Monday is a little disjointed for me, so that’s what will be happening here! I would recommend reading this article from USA Today. The author discusses the glut of “God is dead, religious people are all idiots or worse” books out there right now, with a simple yet elegant rebuff. A snippet:
There is no irrefutable evidence for God’s existence or non-existence. But, if you look closely, his footprints can be discerned in the sands of time.
Check it out. By the way, I got the link from Thunderstruck, a site that compiles oodles of links relating to Christianity and pop culture weekly. Definitely worth its own perusal.
