Gentle Fudge: On Blasphemy and Dusty RelicsGentle Fudge

Gentle Fudge

religion, politics, current events, and other fashionable dinner conversation.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

On Blasphemy and Dusty Relics

There is plenty of activity surrounding the Madonna "Confessions" tour and blasphemy has been thrown around a lot by church leaders. Reminds me of protests at heavy metal concerts. Overall, as an artist, I do think the whole mock crucifixion on a disco-mirror-ball cross is in bad taste, but what else do we expect from the pop diva who has made her living on shocking an antiquating institution into reanalyzing the faith of our fathers and the fixtures in our weekend country clubs?

In the late 80s/early 90s, many music groups began blurring the line between the secular and the sacred and sparked a mini-revival in the spiritual arena. Madonna was one of them. We were encouraged to wonder, to see G-d in the details, to doubt, to question, to see the Kingdom on earth, to speak in public and quit hiding our lights under little buckets which, as any good firestarter knows, impairs feeding the flame and eventually will kill any fire left. Action cemented faith. But the voices were still there: "You can't be [fill in the blank] if you [fill in the blank]."

Legalism is willingly remaining in the fishbowl.

Not to be overly cynical, but much of what we once held dear has lost meaning for many since spirituality has become a dry excuse for a Sunday morning nap before the game, looking down our noses at those less moral than us, and beaming over the BMW in the parking lot that G-d "blessed" us with. We have lost our saltiness and others merely shrug and say "so what?" We are so comfortable in our climate-controlled megachurches. Our mentality has shifted from "go into the world" to "let the world come to you (and then convert them to Your Version of xtianity)." We focus on appearing reverent and perfect, unaware of our spiritual numbness.

I don't want to discount the opinions of the cardinals of the Catholic church. But it makes me wonder. Has the cross become our good luck charm? Has it lost meaning for many who see our culture saturated with a symbol that means little more than 14 karat? Why does a poorly performed publicity stunt get our dander up? Or is it an appropriate gesture for someone who feels crucified by her childhood religion, damned to hell because she didn't measure up to the human standard of righteousness and now she is seeking purification the only way she knows how -- through penance?

Labels: christian, Madonna, spirituality

posted by Sara @ 9:18 AM

0 Comments: