Megachurch Media

I went to CHURCH this weekend. No shit. In Spokane, a once-was industrial mining and logging powerhouse in eastern Washington state that has given way to suburban sprawl, methamphetamines, and yeah, HUGE CHURCHES.

Go ahead, laugh. But let me tell you something: if we are engaged in a culture war, these folks are kicking our ass. The Life Center church that I attended was one of four in the city, which qualifies it as a religious franchise on the make.  Capacity 2500+, which places it as one of rough 1338 megachurches in America. They conducted a full-on TV-quality broadcast of the sermon and bookended every section with a live Christian rock band. People cried and waved their hands in the air. The WB-friendly compositions were  licensed from a commercial firm.

They interspersed the even-toned vanilla moralizing with hallmark-specialesque videos played on dual jumbrons, and a little digging leads me to think that these pieces may have been farmed out from a company like this one (dig the Die Hard respect!).

Browse GodTube.com for a spell and one realizes that this culture must be experiencing a (gross) mass media renaissance of its own.

I know it's funny, but dudes, IT'S NOT FUNNY. Measured in brute numbers, this culture is outmaneuvering the left on a daily basis. The army of god is on the march, and they're already geared to mobilize en masse against whichever candidate our superdelegates (near arbitrarily) choose.

Y'know, sitting there under the influence of one or two of their 16 oz. Christuccinos, I came to the conclusion that the form they've chosen for mass communication may really have legs. Put people in a room and talk to them about what goes on. Deary me, I think we need a new weird church of our own to galvanize all our stray lefty sheep. (No Ted, not that weird.)

Amen. Anyone else up for Sunday service?

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Comments

[protogenes]

"I think we need a new weird church of our own to galvanize all our stray lefty sheep"

I think it's just such mass gatherings that creeps out the "stray lefty sheep"

You are all individuals. Yes, we are all individuals.

[andy]

Were you kidding about the "Christuccinos"?
My friend and I went to a coffee shop recently that we slowly realized, as we sat there, was an official God-lovin coffee shop. In fact, everyone around us was studying their bibles! My wife was incensed, almost, feeling duped, and lamenting that her money was probably going towards preventing someone from having an abortion.
We left after a bit, and she continued railing about them for some time. The next day, she realized she had left her purse there. I was relieved--of course it would still be there. And it was, and they were of course really nice when she went to go get it. And of course she felt bad, sorta...more like conflicted...it's like secretly evil puppies or something...

[Alison Randall]

...but your wife's still going to burn in hell, right? So you're even with the nice, purse-watching Christians.

[Less Lee Moore]

I agree with protogenes. And I'm glad I live in Canada now.

[Jonathan Steinke]

I attend an Episcopal church...does that count?

[Young Jean Lee]

I'm an NYC-based experimental playwright and director who just did a show that was precisely a "weird new church of our own to galvanize all our stray lefty sheep". It was weird seeing all these lefty hipsters feeling the spirit--people were crying and freaking out. You can read more at: http://www.youngjeanlee.org/church.html.

[Young Jean Lee]

Also, weirdly, I happen to be an hour and a half away from Spokane right now, in Pullman, WA.

[Woody]

I thought Reverend Billy was the "new weird church".

[Timmy]

Well, something had better outnumber the left... Especially when that Leftist-Muslim-Gay dude gets elected President. Big Brother is coming!!! Sweet Jesus, Great Googa-Moogah!

[evilpainclown]

well now we have god tube...dont forget myspace...or it's dark cousin...mydeathspace.com, a place to see where all those myspacers, who have died, and why they died...and also myspacers who have been incarcerated...sent to prison

http://www.mydeathspace.com/

[Ike]

Don't worry: Not all of those crazy Christians are right-wingers. Some of them are actually liberals. Seriously. I can't find the web page about 'em that I sort of liked, but they're all over the net. Some of them are still a little unsettling, but they're way better than the regular kind.

Also, I agree with Woody. Reverend Billy and his Church of Stop Shopping are pretty awesomely qualified to be our "new weird church."

[boil]

Americans United for Separation of Church and State is fighting on the front lines in this war. Anytime you see some crackpot Christian brought down in court, chances are AU did it. If you have any pennies after the marathon, pitch a few their way.

[Craig]

There are a lot of sane Christians (no, really!) who grow particularly uneasy around megachurches and the like, and hare distant from the religious right.

It's just that the right is just far more vocal.

Huge comfort to me was discovering Geez Magazine -- A Christian magazine from Aiden Enns, one of the former editors of Adbusters.I find it much more interesting, deep, and thought provoking than its secular sister magazine.

You can read some of its articles on the website:
http://www.geezmagazine.org/

I'd just point out that a lot of Christianity isn't as far right as most assume. And it's been getting better lately.

[JMet]

I dunno guys... I think Ted has some pretty convincing random babblings. Also his photo will surely haunt my dreams.

[Jonathan Steinke]

Well, thank you for all those lovely and socratically well-justified statements, Timmy. The "Great Googa-Moogah" part was an especially nice touch. Take your imbecility somewhere else.