What Would Jesus Do?

Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker

This is somewhat of a phenomenon. I could just jam these pictures of the couple in this blog entry and in fact that would already be quite something, but the story is something else and it would be a shame not to include it.

Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker were a televangelist couple. They somewhat started out in the 1960s on Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network but in the 1970s started their own television ministry, which they called PTL (Praise the Lord). They professed what was described as "feel-good preaching." It was very emotional and dramatic: "Tammy had the gift of being able to weep at will and sometimes, appearing to be emotionally transported by her interviews with born-again guests, let the tears flow freely. Her mascara was so heavy that it mixed with the tears and flowed down her cheeks, creating a Gothic web of black tracks."

They were also obviously in it for the money, if not for anything else: "One main theme of the Bakker's feel-good preaching was that money, comfort, and success are all signs of God's favor. If God likes you and you trust him, you will get rich. [...] The first stage in "prosperity theology," however, is willingness to give generously as a sign of faith [...] Bakker discovered that by disclosing a real financial crisis at the network, or manufacturing the appearence of one, he could persuade TV vieweres to send in more money than if he gave the impression that everything was under control. [...] Nothing made [Tammy] weep more than a falling-off in donations, and nothing seemed so well calculated to bring forth more cash than another bout of sobbing."

Above all though, they seem to have been just a gifted couple of entertainers: "The Bakkers' blend of storyteling, preaching, and folksy Christian chat shows was intoxicating; even people who should have known better found themselves powerless to switch channels when the magnetic couple was on the air."

It all ended in collapse and scandal though in the 1980s: "It was discovered that Tammy had been treated at the Betty Ford Clinic for drug addiction, and [...] Jim had, a few years earlier, had a sexual affair with a nineteen-year-old church secretary named Jessica Hahn." Moreover there were serious charges of fraud. Their empire in time crumbled, to make complete their drama.

Source: Patrick Allitt. Religion in America since 1945: A History. Columbia University Press. New York, 2003.

Holy laughter: Kenneth Hagin & Kenneth Copeland

Jesus cakes

 (there is just no escaping Sallman)

Some of these images I got off the blog catholicicing.blogspot.com. I am obviously an instant fan!

Book: Selling God by R. Laurence Moore

R. Laurence Moore. Selling God. American Religion in the Marketplace of Culture. Oxford University Press. New York, 1994.

A lot of times do I ask myself the question how things got to be the way they are. That is by no means a question I care to ask within the domain of religion alone. However that domain is one in which fascination prompts this question most urgently in my experience. An answer to this question then is presented by R. Laurence Moore in his book Selling God. 

Before I deal with the answer that I understand Moore arrives at in this book, let me first note that the tone of the book is very enjoyable. I don’t really know how to accurately describe it but scholastic wit might hit close to home. An example of this might say more than trying to describe it. In the introductory chapter he writes: “No one dares suggest that neon signs blinking the message that “Jesus Saves” may be false advertising.” (p. 7) Right away I knew I was in for a treat. 

Let this light tone that is chosen not be misleading though, it is by all means a thoroughly researched, profound and nuanced analysis of the way in which the market and religion have interacted and have influenced each other in the United States of America. It is in fact a dazzling voyage through American commercial history. Most perplexing seemed all the nineteenth century developments and figures. Religious figures that can almost do no else but amaze such as George Whitefield, Charles Grandison Finney, P. T. Barnum, the Fox sisters and Frances Willard. Not to be outdone almost by some other secular ones such as the writer Mason Locke Weems and the entertainer P. T. Barnum. 

 Arbitrary bewilderment aside though, what conclusion does his analysis lead him to? The answer seems to begin with the fact that the separation of church and state left all denominations unprotected and depending on charity. The pluralist situation then demanded that all denominations compete with one and other. By any means necessary. Those who embraced popular and commercial means in fact then fared better than those who didn’t. As Moore puts it in his epilogue: “Religious leaders perceived the decline of spiritual power and decried the loss in their sermons. Piteous breast-beating, however, was not an effective reaction. Along with everyone else, clerics were left with no choice except to slip by steady degrees into an affectionate embrace of the world. They were forced into postures of selling annually religious doctrines that could keep up with the competition. Religious leaders could either give in to the sway of the market or watch as their churches died.” (p. 269) 

It is a strong conclusion but by no means covers all the whys and hows treated in the book. The narrative is very broad and while being introduced to the fiction writers, entertainers, providers of recreation, prophets of health and even Muscular Christianity, things that you find in contemporary Christianity tend to fall into place. It would almost make one stand in humble understanding rather than burst out in laughter when faced with a painting of Stephen Sawyer. Almost.

Christian Art: Bernard Plockhorst

 The Good Shepherd

The Guardian Angel

Prayer hands with Bible

Scripture tiles

Final Placement - Shine

Camo Bible

There are also camouflage Bible covers.

Scripture Tattoos

This is but a small selection from the collection that I found on the website http://www.religioustattoos.net.

Spiritual art: Soul to God

From the website: "Soul to God.com is a unique, affordable art service that creates beautiful, inspirational, spiritual art you will love and treasure for years to come. We specialize in creating art just for you featuring personal service, gifts and memorial art. We can put you, or someone you love in a beautiful spiritual setting within the art! Our goal is to create a spiritually meaningful work of art that acts like a silent prayer for you. Every time you look at it, we’d like you to feel uplifted and blessed."

http://www.soultogod.com

Pope Benedict XVI plaques and prints