Jesus Made in America. Did you know there’s a Jesus action figure? And that American Christians are snapping it up, apparently oblivious to what this says about the depth of their faith? Intervarsity Press is publishing a book about the trivialization of Jesus, through commercial culture.
Beliefnet: Are Mormons Christian?. Dr. Albert Mohler and Orson Scott Card are debating whether or not Mormons are Christians. So far, both agree that they think the other side is completely wrong. That’s actually refreshing to see. Both are arguing that they’re side is the only true form of Christianity. It’s truly encouraging to see two people agreeing that someone has to be wrong, rather than trying to pretend that everyone can be right.
Web Space Where Religion and Social Networking Meet - New York Times. Did you know that there’s a Christian version of MySpace? Or that there’s Muslim and Jewish versions? More evidence that many Christians seek to withdraw from culture (while imitating it!), rather than engaging it.
Texas Supreme Court Backs Pastor Over His Publicizing of Affair - New York Times. The Texas Supreme Court has upheld the concept of church discipline. This is a good precedent. Churches need to be free to discipline their members. If they can’t, the entire concept of church membership and church discipline becomes meaningless.
3 Comments
I’ll bite, because I’m not totally sure I have a clear line of reasoning about this: what are the objections to a Jesus action figure?
I think it trivializes who Jesus is. “Jesus — now with glow-in-the-dark miracle hands!” “Carry Jesus with you always”.
You may disagree, but I think that it puts Jesus on the same level as Hulk Hogan or Spiderman. Not serious or somebody you engage with on a personal level.
I don’t think I can make a case that a Jesus action figure is morally wrong. I do think it’s unwise.
On the other hand, I might be flattered if you carried around a “Blogger Joe” action figure. And a lot of kids have action figures ’cause they want to be like the person that they carry around. And who better to be a hero than Jesus?
So color me indecisive, but leaning towards opposed. As a gut reaction.
Nu, so: confession time. My brother gave me an earlier rendition of said action figure, as a going-away present to take with me to college (I believe his exact words were, “Everyone needs a little Jesus in their lives”). And I’ve occasionally meditated on it myself.
I see the possible (in the hands of some, absolutely certain) irreverence, but for me, at least when I first received it, the commercialization was part of the point. That is to say, it’s a send-up of the crass commercialization of which you’ve written - an action figure of Jesus (in his most popular and certainly completely incorrect visual image)!
So my first interpretation was: Ha. Funny.
Second interpretation was: Hmmm. Irreverent.
Third question to hit me was the same as yours: just what is proper material for toys? I had some Bible-based figures when I was a kid (the David-and-Goliath Two-Pack, etc.).
Ultimately, I think I’m with you: I see the fun and light-hearted humor in it, but too many of the laughs I heard when people saw it in my door room were of the ogre-ish, denigrative type - the laugh of someone happy to see something great brought low. Many of them apparently DID feel the figure was making fun of Jesus, and that’s enough reason to trash it for me.
Let the kids play with other Bible heroes.