Rapture Ready! Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture
Daniel Radosh
Scribner, 2008
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Daniel Radosh, a secular liberal Jewish writer who can be read in The New Yorker and The Week magazine has provided an outsider’s perspective on America’s Christian pop culture. Rapture Ready! Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture is both hilarious and tragic. Hilarious because he uncovers the odd and eccentric (bizarre?) world on the edges of American Christianity – edges that threaten to become the center – and tragic because too much of what he says is pathetically true. A discouraging number of American evangelicals – if we can apply that term as broadly as he does – have created a travesty that masquerades as biblical Christianity.
The following comments, taken from the review section of Amazon, provide a window into how others view his work:
“Radosh’s entertaining, often enlightening guide to a $7 billion industry cruises through the complex, diverse world of Christian pop culture…He takes his role of reporter in an unfamiliar land seriously, yet he isn’t afraid to use his well-honed wit to good advantage.”– Booklist
“Goes beyond mockery to engage seriously with Christian believers who make, consume, and even criticize Christian pop culture.”– TheAtlantic.com
“As an outsider, he sees things that all of us who grew up in this little world either slide past, choose to ignore or shrug off.”– Relevant Magazine
“Radosh has discovered a world that is hilarious, unpredictable, and lucrative! It seems there’s a foreign country in America and it’s right down the street…and now I’m not so sure that I’m not the foreigner.”– Sam Seder, Air America Radio
“What happens when a secular liberal enters the conservative Christian subculture? Yes, he’s grossed out at times, appalled at least once, amused sometimes and cussin-mad at others — and maybe even a little scared on occasion. But in the end, he offers evaluations and insights that might be considered downright prophetic and compassionate too. No evangelical insider could have done as good a job as Daniel Radosh. He’s a witty, energetic, and insightful writer who grabs your attention and interest on page one and won’t let go until he’s escorted you to a powerful conclusion in the final paragraphs.” — Brian McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christian and Everything Must Change
For the most part, I agree with the comments above. However, I’m not so sure I would go quite as far as Brian McLaren in saying that “No evangelical insider could have done as good a job”. As any careful evangelical reader will observe, Radosh does not always get it right, and he certainly does not provide a wide enough picture of American evangelicalism. But given the stature of those reviewing Radosh positively, we must accept that the largely secular readership of this book will have a disturbingly truncated view of evangelicals.
Radosh describes his aim in writing the book:
“This is a book about popular culture. It’s about entertainment, leisure, and shopping. It’s also about politics and the culture war that engulfs America. And it’s a little bit – but not as much as you might think – about religion. True, it is by definition impossible to draw a distinction between evangelical faith and the consumer lifestyle of evangelicals, but I drew one anyway. From the beginning of my research, I made a decision not to set foot in a church, mega or otherwise, unless it was to attend an event that any neutral observer would describe as performance rather that worship (even if the people hosting it might beg to differ). While you’ll hear a fair amount about Christian faith and Christian values, both with and without scare quotes, this book is not primarily intended to be a critique of either.” [pp.2-3].
I think Radosh has been fair in setting out his parameters. I’m also pretty sure that evangelicals will be dismayed to see how they are perceived by at least one outsider. If Radosh has it anywhere near right, we are self-absorbed consumers, with little discernment. But Radosh does not always get it right.
For example, when critiquing the work of that “Caped Christian” known as “Bibleman” (pp118-132), Radosh laments the “common evangelical notion that feelings are to be trusted above rational discernment” (p.121). I certainly do not fit into that notion, nor do any of the evangelicals with whom I associate. It may be true of the more erratic wing of evangelicalism’s charismatic branch, or say the prosperity gospel cohort, but it certainly fails to describe the mainstream evangelical world.
While likely to be long forgotten by the end of the book, Radosh’s own disclaimer is critical to keep in mind when reading. He says his book is
“intended to be personal and idiosyncratic rather than comprehensive … a series of adventures, each one investigating some broad aspect of Christian pop culture by focusing on one or two particular events or a a handful of interesting people … some of the people … are at the center of Christian culture and some are on its fringes … I do not pretend to offer a definitive overview or history of this entire subculture … ” [pp.5-6].
Though written from an eclectic, personal point of view, given the profile of the author, as well as the mainly secular readership the book will garner, it should be read by the Christian community. Radosh portrays Christian rockers, tatoo artists, comics, creationists and a host of others who exert an influence on the Christian public. Some of that influence is positive, but far too much is less that complimentary.
Read and laugh, then weep and repent for the travesty too many of us have created within our evangelical subculture.
