Following Jesus is meant to involve looking at JESUS, watching what he does, enjoying his company, absorbing his teaching, following his example, and becoming more like him - as in, more conformed to Love.
But I've been doing this Christian thing for a fair few decades now.
And I've been around the traps when my faith community, the evangelical church, has made Christianity about what cultural icons you do & don't consume, watch or participate in.
And I wonder, if, with our ever-expanding hit list of culture war "no-no"s, we've taken our eyes of the Jesus we claim to follow.
I remember evangelicals condemning, banning or "cancelling":
- dancing (immodest)
- rock n roll (demonic; back-masking)
- yoga (demonic)
- yoga pants (immodest)
- meditation (demonic)
- hypnosis (demonic)
- Christmas trees (pagan)
- Cabbage Patch dolls (portal of entry to demons)
- The Beetles (because John Lennon said they were "more popular than Jesus")
- Jonathan Livingstone Seagull (demonic, dunno why)
- Dungeons & Dragons (demonic)
- The peace sign (it's a "broken" cross; witchcraft
- Dreamcatchers (demonic)
- Gillette razors (didn't like the ad calling on men not to be jerks; opposed Christian patriarchy)
- Coca-Cola (didn't like the company's diversity training)
- Tide laundry detergent (too supportive of gay rights)
- the band KISS (said it meant, "Knights in Satan's Service)
- Crystals (New Age, ergo, idolatry)
- Pokemon (it's Japanese for "pocket demon")
- therapy (secular; not trusting God)
- anti-depressants (Big Pharma idolatry; not trusting God)
- The Karate Kid (martial arts; demonic)
- Teletubbies (Tinky-Winky might be gay)
- Dr Seuss ("woke" - because company decided to pull a few non-sellers)
- Cheerios cereal (ad showed an inter-racial couple)
- Proctor & Gamble (witchcraft)
- JC Penny, a clothing store (because Ellen DeGeneres, who is gay, is a sponsor)
- Pastor Rob Bell (questioned theology of hell)
- Jen Hatmaker (supported same sex marriage)
- Beth Moore (spoke out against mass sexual abuse by pastors in the Southern Baptist Church)
- bar codes (mark of the Beast)
- credit cards (mark of the Beast)
- spaghetti trap tops (immodest)
- vaccines ("deep state"; not trusting God)
- Smurfs (satanic/Communist/Fascist)
- Calvin & Hobbs cartoon (the tiger was a "demon" encouraging the boy to go around parental authority)
- Amy Grant (evaded abuse by getting divorced; sang at wedding of gay relative)
- Harry Potter (witchcraft)
- Tampons (might spoil hymen for husband on wedding night)
- Disney (not homophobic enough)
- Feminism (not patriarchal enough)
- CRT (not white supremacist enough)
- Black Lives Matter (not pro-police brutality enough)
- Target (non binary bathrooms; Gay Pride-themed apparel)
- M&Ms (because Tucker Carlson thought flat shoes instead of heels is too "woke")
- Mr Potato Head (went woke)
- Starbucks (cup design wasn't explicitly Christian-Christmas enough)
- saying "Happy holidays" (not Christian supremacist enough)
- NFL (because some players took a knee during the national anthem as a quiet protest against racism)
- World Health Organisation ("deep state")
- Cuties (didn't like a movie exposing the sexualization of children, because it also took aim at fundamentalist patriarchy)
- Wayfair furniture ("they're trafficking children in cabinets")
- Yeti coolers (they supported gun reform)
- Nike ("Satan shoes")
- Dixie Chicks (they presumed the right of free speech, spoke out against Iraq war)
- My Little Pony (because rainbow)
- The UN alejibre statue donated by Mexican artisans (it was the beast from Revelations, and therefore proof that the UN is the anti-Christ)
- Unholy (a song saying that adultery is unholy and bad, make it make sense)
- Taylor Swift (water imagery is proof she's a witch) and they don't like it that she supports Democrats.
- Lauren Daigle, because she "promoted" Billie Eilish, and that's bad because Billie is a "Lucifer" singer (she sang a song called, "All the Good Girls Go to Hell, about global warming, so that means Lauren has to be cancelled so the godly don't have their godliness infected).
- Lil Nas X ("devil worship")
and, more recently:
- Threads (is really 666, mark of the beast)
- The Chosen, a show about literally, JESUS (because one of the crew had a small rainbow 🌈 flag somewhere on set)
- Budlight beer (too friendly to immigration and LBGTQI+)
- Barbie movie (it mentions gynaecologists, patriarchy and Fascism, but not in a good way)
- The 2024 Paris Olympics (raged-farmed Christians & conservatives believed disinformation that they opening ceremony "mocked" The Last Supper when in fact it was an allusion to the 17th Century painting by Jan Hermansz van Bijlert, that depicted the Greek God Dionysus and his "Feast of the Gods")
But I have just as many qualms about the things Christians have chosen to support & put their money behind ...
The collective fears that consumed the US in the 1980s and ’90s are still alive and well — all the way through QAnon and beyond.
As for "Unholy", it's not the song that fundies see as the problem, it's the gay man who performs the song. That's how it makes sense. You gotta know your fundies!
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