All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes Review

Kenneth Myers of Mars Hill Audio is on campus this week. I recently read his book All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes Here's my take.

Kenneth Myers asserts that those who do not have much contact with popular culture will not enjoy nor do they have need to read his book, All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes, in which he closely examines popular culture and its nature, effects, and value and attempts to demonstrate the aesthetic superiority of high culture over popular culture (xii). Myers begins by defining culture and demonstrating the importance of studying culture. He claims that we are commanded to love God with all our being, and this includes our participation in culture. Thus, “we cannot be indifferent about culture.” (26). Culture is, he writes,

a dynamic pattern, an ever-changing matrix of objects, artifacts, sounds, institutions, philosophies, fashions, enthusiasm, myths, prejudices, relationships, attitudes, tastes, rituals, habits, colors, and loves, all embodied in individual people, in groups and collectives and associations of people…in books, in buildings, in the use of time and space, in wars, in jokes, and in food (34).

Clearly culture is not something that is easily or briefly defined.

Next, Myers explains the extent to which Christians should participate in culture and allow it to influence their lives. He writes that “we cannot expect our culture to be a holy enterprise, [and that] we can at least try to avoid participating in its profanities.” (53). Modernism found its roots in popular culture, and teaches that “what is popular determines what is good,” which has led to individualism and to subsequent isolation (71). Furthermore, modernism has contributed to popular culture a restlessness that desires the newest and most efficient devices (66).

Finally, Myers compares the aesthetic qualities of high and popular cultures, asserting that the debate is not rooted in taste, but rather in aesthetic value. He explains that since there is no quantitative measure by which we might easily compare high and popular culture, other bases for evaluation must be established (78). Myers claims, “The problem with standardized popular culture is that what is standardized wasn’t very good in the first place,” explaining that good art is supposed to reveal truths from human nature and it should not be suppressed by the demands of the populace (79-80).

Furthermore, popular culture “emphasizes the self and the present… it [encourages] a self-centeredness that Christians ought to avoid.” (101). Thus, when making decisions about culture, Christians should seek that which is most likely to “transcend our earthly preoccupations” (101). Popular culture has a tendency to highlight the artistic medium itself more than the actual message it is trying to convey, and for this reason Myers argues for the aesthetic superiority of high culture and the danger of the influence of popular culture (114).

Myers defends high culture throughout the book, while gently attempting to dismantle any value Christians might find in popular culture. He inadequately demonstrates the superiority of high culture, and makes large generalizations that apply only to pockets of popular culture. First, he compares popular culture to fast food which is served quickly, but lacks sufficient nutrients (89). Those who survive only on fast food, according to Myers, might be severely under prepared for “the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.” (89). His analogy successfully conveys his ideas: that prepackaged food is similar to prepackaged art, for example. However, Myers’ analogy unsatisfactorily describes popular culture because it falsely and prematurely degrades it. Fast food is practically a loaded word due to its negative connotations.

Myers cites Scripture to further make his point that high culture is superior to popular culture. He uses Philippians 4:8, claiming that Paul calls believers to think on that which is objectively true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. According to Myers, popular culture is more individualistic and subjective, and one cannot make objective decisions about whether it meets these Scriptural criteria (98). This trend of subjectivity, Myers fears, has crept into Christian worship services. He illustrates his point by imagining a service where a soloist sings a popular song that is

exceedingly trite, clichéd, maudlin, and pretentious. While the text it presented was generally true… the music was not true, noble, lovely, or admirable. If the soloist had some classical music training, you might stand a chance of persuading her that this was the case (99).

I too would be discouraged with such a performance. However, in this example Myers falsely characterizes popular music as “exceedingly trite, clichéd, maudlin, and pretentious.” (99). Surely Myers does not think that all popular music is this shallow. He makes large generalizations about popular music, and neglects much of popular music that could be characterized as true, noble, and lovely. Furthermore, not all people are “classically trained musicians,” and trite melodies may not be obvious to them. Also, not all people are well-educated theologians, and what he would call trite descriptions of God may not be so trite to them. Moreover, many of the terms in Philippians 4:8 are subjective, depending upon the culture in which one lives. For example, what is noble in the Middle East may not be so noble in America.

Myers seemingly neglects differences in classes and types of people by appealing to high culture as the superior form. Myers addresses this, however, arguing that judging culture means not only being concerned with taste and social class, but also with “the nature and the effects of cultural phenomena…” (76). He explains it this way:

If what happens when we listen to classical music, read literature, or attend the theater is fundamentally a different kind of experience than listening to rock ‘n’ roll, reading romance novels, or watching ‘The Cosby Show,’ then it is clear that having a ‘taste’ for high culture is a very different matter from having a ‘taste’ for popular culture (77).

Popular culture, according to Myers, focuses on ethos, while the quality of high culture is preserved by objective standards (77). However, mankind is not all on the same plane with regard to art, and not everyone appreciates classical music in the way that Myers does. In fact, one might find more aesthetic beauty, nobility, and loveliness in a popular song than a classical song, and there may be more truth in a popular song than the other.

Moreover, Myers generalizes, “The problem with standardized popular culture is that what is standardized wasn’t very good in the first place.” (79). He still makes objective a quality that is subjective by nature. People who are not classically trained musicians may actually prefer the popular as opposed to the classical, and they may not wish to “acquire the taste” of high culture (83).

Myers argues that great culture “imprints itself in our lives and becomes a reference point for our most subtle and profound experiences.” (82). According to Myers, if held by this standard, anything that meets these criteria should be considered good art, whether it is a part of high culture or otherwise. There is a fundamental fallacy in trying to dogmatically quantify something that is truly subjective. Because of this, Myers inadequately transcends his high culture biases, and in doing so, makes highly generalized strokes that are too broad to be completely valid.

Transformers... more than meets eye

Helen and I didn't sleep well last night. It started out as a regular Saturday night. Helen and I were both working on school work while watching a movie on TV. We watched Back to the Future II which was followed by Back to the Future III. Around 8:45, we heard an explosion and the power went out. A transformer must have blown somewhere. So what do you do when there's no electricity? I thought we should just go to bed, but Helen wasn't tired. So we decided we would watch a movie on our laptop. The problem was that the battery wasn't fully charged and we weren't sure if we would be able to watch the whole thing. We started Coach Carter and put the laptop screen on super dim to conserve battery.

Much to our delight, at 9:45, the power came back on. We both got ready for bed and decided we would watch the rest of the movie. At 10:45, there was another explosion and the power went out again. Frustrated, we kept watching the movie until the battery ran out.

We couldn't sleep, it was too quiet. About 1 am, the power came back on. We turned on the fan for some noise, and I finally started to sleep well. But, guess what happened at 2:45. Another explosion and another power outage.

We opened the window, fell asleep at some point, and woke up this morning with the power back on. What a crazy night!

No funny stories, just a life update

Things have been going well lately. School is just starting to kick into full swing, and since I did a lot work over Christmas break, I'm not feeling to overwhelmed right now. I've been trying to stay a couple weeks ahead on reading, and I've been successful so far.

On Wednesdays, I've been dropping Helen off at work, and then spending the day at church. We have staff meetings in the morning, and then I spend the rest of the day reading and writing for seminary. It's been so good to trap myself away from internet and TV, since it forces me to do something. If I stay at home, nothing will get accomplished. I wish I could fix that.

Helen and I are excited about Anna coming to visit next month. Helen is giddy, especially since Anna will be here for 6 or 7 days. She's probably going to blow all of her leave from school, but it's worth it.

Soon I'll have some book reviews and papers to post so you can see what I've been doing in school. Maybe that will interest some of you, or maybe it won't.

Today, if you're feeling down in the dumps, at least you're not having a day like this guy had:

Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven...

but nobody wants to die.

Amazing Grace

Somehow this slipped past my attention. Amazing Grace is a movie that is coming out in a couple of weeks.

"Gruffudd plays Wilberforce, who, as a Member of Parliament, navigated the world of 18th Century backroom politics to end the slave trade in the British Empire. Albert Finney plays John Newton, a confidante of Wilberforce who inspires him to pursue a life of service to humanity. Benedict Cumberbatch is William Pitt the Younger, England's youngest ever Prime Minister at the age of 24, who encourages his friend Wilberforce to take up the fight to outlaw slavery and supports him in his struggles in Parliament."

The movie's title is taken from the popular hymn by John Newton. Newton was a captain of a slave ship until he had a radical conversion after navigating his ship through a storm. Newton is quoted as saying in his journal about that day, "that the tenth of March is a day much remembered by me; and I have never suffered it to pass unnoticed since the year 1748-- the Lord came from on high and delivered me out of deep waters." (Then sings my soul, Robert J. Morgan, 2003.)

After watching the previews on the website linked above, it looks like a good movie. Go see it. It releases 2/23/2007.

Vote!

A girl that plays for my dad's bball team is in a poll for best player in centex. Her name is Lindie Kimbro and she's a junior. She averages 25 points and 9 rebounds a game. she shoots 85% freethrows... the team is 20-6. they just beat #2 in the state last week. in that game she had 32. Please help...

go to this link.

Sounds like Somebody has a case of the Mondays

This is preemptive, because I already feel a case of the Mondays coming tomorrow. If this blog finds you in the same condition, please watch this video and see if this doesn't make you feel better.

Super**wl Sunday

The NFL is enforcing their copyright on the Super**wl, and going after the big culprits who abuse the system: churches. That's right, churches and their Super**wl parties are singlehandedly costing the NFL millions... or BILLIONS of dollars in advertisement revenue. Just like Christianity brought the downfall of the Roman Empire, so too might FBC Anywhere, USA cause the demise of the National Football League. So beware... no showing the Super**wl on a TV larger than 55", and for crying out loud, don't call it a Super**wl Party!! Call it an NFL Championship Party or Big Game Watching Party... or maybe call it what it REALLY is: Funny Commercial Watching Party. Because seriously, who really cares about the Super**wl when the Cowboys aren't in it?

Take that SBC! Watch the commercials in small groups at your houses on your undersized TV's!

Huge Win for Aggie Basketball

They beat #6 Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse. A big 12 south team has never won there. A&M has never beaten Kansas in basketball... EVER. Huge win for the Aggie program.

A&M students watched the Aggie women beat Kansas in college station, then watched the men's game on the big jumbotron at Reed Arena. After the win, the students stormed the court. Check out this amazing video. It's pretty sweet.

Snow!

Helen had two Snow days this week, Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, I still had class, but we spent the rest of the day playing in the snow. On Friday, we decided we would go sledding with the Bethancourts at Reservoir Park. We used the lid to a big plastic tub as a sled and we had a blast! Here are some pictures from our adventures.

Look how graceful the Bethancourts doubled up on their sled!

And look how graceful Helen and I did it. Notice that there is no sled in sight. It slid out from under us and stayed at the top of the hill. Amateurs!

Our second try was a little better.

Phillip decided he would go without a sled. But he lived in Connecticut for awhile, so he knows what he's doing. Yankee.

That's me sledding. The marks on the outside are places that we sledded before.

It was so steep and slippery that we had to use the railing to walk up. It was quite a work out.

This is right outside our apartment in the courtyard.

My first snow angel. I made this on Thursday.

Not bad, eh?

On the steps leading up to our apartment.

The Southern campus.

Our truck was covered in snow on Thursday. It was worse on Friday, but we didn't get a picture.

This is Southern's campus also.

For more coverage of the sled-fest, please see the Bethancourt's blog.

oh the weather outside is GLORIOUS

It snowed enough for me to peg Helen with a few snowballs and for me to lose traction for a second driving out of our apartment complex. She got the day off and we're going to play before I have to go back to class.

Carry on.