Jon Swerens

A blogger at something called beautifulatrocities.com posted a comparison of movie reviews for Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11″ and Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.”

Let’s play a game! Let’s reapply the quotes from the “Fahrenheit” movie to the “Passion,” and vice versa!

So in this funny parallel world, A.O. Scott of The New York Times would say:

“Mr. (Gibson)’s populist instincts have never been sharper…he is a credit to the republic.”

and also this:

“(Moore) has exploited the popular appetite for terror and gore for what he and his allies see as a higher end.”

Disclaimer #1: I do not know much about this blogger. There’s plenty of cussin’ on his blog, so be careful.

Disclaimer #2: I remain uneasy about Gibson’s film and appreciated some of the criticism of “Passion” from a Reformed Christian perspective.

Have fun playing along the brightly lighted cultural divide!

So as I read through my own postings, I see that I’m sounding pretty morose. I admit it’s easy for me to slip into that sin, so I need a frequent dose of joyful Christianity in my life.

On to The Jolly Blogger by David Wayne, a PCA pastor in Maryland. He comes to my rescue with some wonderful points by a favorite author, G.K. Chesterton. Pastor Wayne links to an article in Gilbert Magazine called “Bad Christian Journalism and the G. K. Chesterton Remedy,” by J. Fraser Field. Here’s his whole comment, which is worth the read for me:

Jollyblogger: Advice to Christian Bloggers from G. K. Chesterton

But here are a few quotes:

The “bad Christian journalist” seems to write from a worried, panicked, mindset. The sky seems to be falling to him. Secondly, where is the “face of Christ” in this? There is no sense of “Christ the overcomer” in this, only “Christ-and-His-cause-are-about-to-be-defeated-and-we-better-do-something-now-or-we’re-all- gonna-die, . . . aaaaahhhh!!!!” Third, this is a definite rant. Fourth, no joy and hope here, and this writer definitely isn’t detached and playful – he’s dreadfully serious.

I think Chesterton, or his interpreter, J. Fraser Field, is on to something here, but it also seems to me that there is a place for deadly serious writing from Christians. As to “ranting,” well, Matthew 23 sounds alot like a rant to me, straight from the lips of Jesus. And how about the book of Galatians as a rant from the apostle Paul, especially when he says that he wishes the troublers would, . . . um . . . well, read the book and you’ll see what he wished they would do to themselves.

On the other hand, with those caveats I think I mainly agree with Chesterton/Field here. The “bad Christian journalist” has a tone to his writing that is one of weakness and victimization. A sense of victimization is pervasive in Christendom today. And the truth is we are victims of the world’s animosity, its just that, per I Peter 2, we’re not supposed to act like victims.

Good stuff, and thanks for the reminder, pastor.

Here are some other good blogs that I must put in my favorites on the right side:

* One is GetReligion, a site that examines religion coverage in journalism. And it’s not usually pretty.

* Another is a blog by Bunnie Diehl, a young Lutheran who works at an undisclosed media establishment somewhere around D.C.

* The third is The Dawn Treader by a fellow PCA member in Roanoke, Va.

I’ll comment on them all at later times.

I have complained that the PCA statement on marriage and homosexuality (see post below) is not strongly Trinitarian.

Now I think maybe it’s just not strong enough, period.

Is there ever a time for the church to pray an imprecatory psalm? (imprecatory: adj. used as a curse)

Here’s Douglas Wilson’s take on the 10th Psalm:

Break their evil arms

Is now the right time for the Church to cry out to her Father for judgment upon our foes? If not now, when?

Here is my denomination’s recent statement on marriage and homosexuality:

PCA Statement on Marriage and Sexuality

The statement smacks down the idea of homosexual marriage pretty hard. But I find it odd that the statement does not include a lot of Christian distinctives. There is no mention of the Trinity. There is no mention of the fact that marriage is a shadow of Christ’s love for His Church.

Are we in the PCA trying to find Jewish and Muslim allies with this non-Trinitarian statement? If we are, should we be?

American journalism stands at what it believes is a crossroads. And the media are finding it’s tough trying to walk down two roads at the same time.

Journalists want two things that seems to be at odds with each other: They want to be fair and interesting.

Writing a fun story that has no connection with the facts is out of the question. But so is writing a true story that is so dull that only a bureaucrat would read it.

The problem comes from faulty definitions. Journalists usually believe that fair means scientifically objective. We believe we can stand aloof from the truth, measure it with precision calipers and dispense it with the meticulousness of a pharmacist. This is why my journalism degree from West Virginia University is a bachelor of science degree, not a bachelor of arts.

But telling a story with objective test tubes and Bunsen burners is boring. So journalism is also trying to tell personal stories. The problem is, these end up feeling like advocacy or truth bending.

A recent poll found that many Americans use late-night monologues as a primary means of receiving news. This understandably alarms journalists, many who are really trying to straddle the fence between fair and interesting.

But consider a rosier conclusion. People do not mind getting news from a “biased” source as long as they have an idea what the bias is. I know where Dennis Miller, Glenn Beck, Paul Harvey and NPR are coming from. So as I listen to them, I just wear the appropriate baloney filter and drink it up.

This would be wonderfully freeing news for the national media, except for one point: They have believed the myth of scientific journalism for so long, their ranks are full of skeptics who keep all truth at an arm’s-length away. This is why they are horribly out of step with middle America. This is also why middle America doesn’t trust them: They don’t trust anyone who claims a mantle of pure scientific objectivity. Readers and viewers just aren’t that stupid.

But for members of local media, this calls for more transparency and more honesty in what we believe.

We all come at news from a particular angle. This is not bad, this is just human. Telling people where we’re coming from may be scary at first. but readers who are human enough to know that no one can keep their beliefs and their actions sealed in separate Tupperware containers will appreciate and eventually embrace the honesty.

Will it happen? I don’t know. This is an incredibly Trinitarian view of journalism. We Christians believe there is no such thing as truths dangling by themselves in midair. All truth is wrapped up and bound in the Person of Jesus Christ.

So admitting our beliefs would be the Christian thing to do. But it also would help journalists become more trusted and more believed. More people would listen and read. More people would write back when a journalist does well or does poorly. It would save journalism from being the mediocre and irrelevant entity it is today.

If I bother to go over to Christianity Today, I’m sure I’ll find some stories about how the church is doing in Iraq. Someday, I’ll take the time to do just that.

But what concerns me right now is how little attention the national press gives to the topic of religious freedom.

If a newspaper is shut down by Iraqi authorities, the news hounds are all over the story, as well they should. But how about the churches of Christ? Is there freedom for the declaration of the gospel in Iraq? You’d never know one way or the other by watching the national news.

This shows the terrible myopia of the press. Do the reporters and editors in Manhattan not understand how closely linked the freedoms of press and religion are? Do they not realize that they are both freedoms to declare the truth, one in the “secular” realm and one in the “spiritual”? Don’t they remember that freedom of the press and freedom of religion are knit together in their sacrosanct First Amendment? When one freedom hits the drink, the other is not far from getting wet.

But let’s not be too hard on the press. They know not what they do. The blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the American church, which has spent the last century either mumbling into its hat or squabbling over disputable theological nits.

The church has the responsibility to declare the truth in the preaching of the Word. And God promises His Holy Spirit to give such a declaration power and authority. So why do we hesitate? A lack of faith? An ungodly timidity? Yeah, probably so.

Let us not continue down this path. Let us instead confess our sins of unbelief and cowardice (I certainly include myself in these categories) and boldly speak the whole gospel truth in love. Let us study to show ourselves approved. Then let’s see the national press even try to ignore us.

Television news keeps you up to date! Not like boring ol’ newspapers! Here’s the big breaking news story on WANE-TV’s web site:

More Rain Could Cause Flooding

And more sun could cause heat!

UPDATE: This poorly written post was edited on Wednesday for your reading pleasure.

My wife and I really enjoy watching “King of the Hill” every weeknight. But the ads on late-night Fox TV sometimes are horrible.

Some of the worst ads are the Sluts on Call phone service ad and the Dudes Cruising for Dudes phone service ad. I have opinions on those, but my opinions would be obvious and, in Canada, illegal.

Instead, I’ll mention the advertising by Rally’s Hamburgers. Here are the lyrics of their more-hip-than-thou theme song:

You don’t do nothin’ you don’t wanna do

Ain’t nothin’ phony about you

Keepin’ it real, you do what you feel

You gotta eat, you gotta eat Rally’s

At first, Mary and I were merely appalled at the corporate strategy of using cool self-centeredness to sell fast food.

But then we began thinking. And in an opposite and strange way, the theme song could be a Christian rallying cry.

As we who follow Christ continue in His way and His words, we are more and more transformed into desiring good. And finally, when we reach that golden shore and are utterly remade in His image, our desire to taste sin will be vanquished. Then we truly will do nothin’ we don’t wanna do — because we will have no sin, we will want to do only those things that will bring glory to Christ.

But we can rest easy knowing the wedding feast will feature something better than hamburgers.