One Punk Under God

So it seems that Jay Bakker, son of the swindlers, wants to be representative of a "revolutionary voice" in Christianity.

Revolution, used here, seems so culturally contextual (how could it not). I mean, Bakker has a church in Atlanta, the Southern Baptist Mecca, and he thinks that accommodating the church to liberal norms is revolutionary. Well it might be for Atlanta, but I'm not too sure it will play in TO. To me it seems like NYC hegemony interpolating the young southern baptist with a new version of uncle sam: "Only you can prevent conservatism" (Ok so there is a bit of smoky the bear in there too).




Here's a section from the wiki sketch on Jay:

"Because his philosophy of inclusiveness extends to gays and gay marriage, Bakker falls outside of the beliefs of many in the conservative Christian community. When Larry King asked him if he was "part of the liberal sect of Christianity?", he said that he was. [4] He also decries the influence of politics in religion, saying that it prevents civil discussion of topics such as homosexuality and abortion. [5]"

Now I don't want to demonize Jay. In deed, I think that conservative churches do need to be more "open" to homosexuals, and I have never been a proponent of banning abortion. However, I also think that the 21st century's ideology of "inclusiveness" might not be the same type that Christ preached (for instance how do 21st century proponents of "free love" feel about Christ's dialogue with the woman at the well). I think any doctrine of catholicity (unity..."inclusiveness") needs be supported by a notion of authority. If the church can't stand for anything on moral grounds then what is the use of it standing? Also, Christ encouraged his followers to be as shrewed as snakes and as innocent as doves...which means that Christians need to have a nice healthy dose of skepticism with their innocence (Christians need a good deal of work here as well).

So here is my healthy dose of skepticism: mightn't Jay be a political tool for transforming conservative protestantism? The US is full of theological tools for transforming Islam, just read Saba Mahmood's latest article in Public Culture. Indeed these tools were sharpened in the protestant cultural arena. If Jay is such a tool (which is quite likely...there are lots of edgy preachers around to make documentaries about, but Jay's pedigree draws much more attention...He's a Paris Hilton of the South), then what is the "good" around which his audience is being oriented. This is assuming that "Jesus" is often co-opted for the goods of one political ideology or another, which leads me to one of my favourite quotes of 2006:

"I always think of Jesus with big eagle wings, as the lead singer of Lynard Skynard...and he's got this angel band...and I'm in the front row, just hammered ..."

And when I laugh at this let's just say I'm using my shrewdness. But conflating the Christ with the American Eagle is a bit of a mistake...though Lynard Skynard might make it past the pearly gates ...I wanna fly-eye-ayeye free bird, woaw,..

Question for Larry King: Just which "sect" is the liberal sect of Christianity?