The Church and The Media
Among the most unforeseen trends of the 21st century is the return of religion. Of course, 9/11 had a lot to do with that. If 9/11 resulted in journalists needing to "kick the secularist habit," it has also resulted in a new set of scapegoats for the world's problems. In literature and film, the Russian villains of Rocky-era films have suddenly been replaced by a variety of Arab and Muslim terrorists, and the fear of religious others is replacing the fear of racial others.
There are, for example, many examples of newfound concern about the role of evangelical Christians in public life. Most people are familiar with the arguments of the so-called New Atheists, or perhaps the portrayal of evangelicalism in the film Jesus Camp. As John Wilson put it in his recent New York Times article God Fearing, "The evangelical buffoons who populate so many novels these days seem hardly capable of organizing a local witch-burning, yet their nonfictional counterparts are said to be on the verge of turning these United States into a theocracy."
At the same time, conservative Christians complain that it is they who are marginalized and discriminated against (and therefore need your money). How can this be? Can Christians simultaneously be oppressed and oppressing? As Wilson rightly points out, there are vested interests behind all such claims, and the reality is quite a bit messier.
Most criticisms of evangelicalism, for example, founder in their gross overestimation of the movement's unity, and also in their underestimation of the fluidity of religious identity. Evangelicalism, in contrast to popular misconception, is radically decentralized and riven by disagreement.
In this evening lecture, Books and Culture editor Wilson will address the topic of the Church and the Media, speaking primarily about the evangelical stream of the church. He will elaborate on two recent works in particular--Hanna Rosin's book on Patrick Henry College entitled God's Harvard and Michael Chabon's novel The Yiddish Policemen's Union. (See Wilson's reviews of the God's Harvard and The Yiddish Policemen's Union.)
This lecture is free and open to the public. Please join us.
See also Wilson's recent Wall Street Journal article Hippie Shakeup.