"In his book 'The Culturally Savvy Christian', cultural critic and arts advocate Dick Staub makes the point that discernment should be 'evaluating the nuances of art, not just evaluating it based on a superficial checklist of unacceptable elements.'
Indeed, the point that many artistic Christians are trying to make is that art has so much more to offer us when we engage with it beyond our simplistic moral rubrics. Think about the Bible, they say. It's full of offensive content: sex, beheadings, prostitutes, torture, infidelity, you name it. The Bible is R-rated; it's dangerous. But that's only because life is that way, and every story has to have conflict and resolution, darkness and light.
Something doesn't have to be safe in order to be good. Christian hipsters are desperately trying to communicate this about art. It should not be constricted by a prudish commitment to 'safe,' but rather it should be allowed to do what it is meant to do: unveil reality and expose truth in all of its messy, mysterious glory."
Indeed, the point that many artistic Christians are trying to make is that art has so much more to offer us when we engage with it beyond our simplistic moral rubrics. Think about the Bible, they say. It's full of offensive content: sex, beheadings, prostitutes, torture, infidelity, you name it. The Bible is R-rated; it's dangerous. But that's only because life is that way, and every story has to have conflict and resolution, darkness and light.
Something doesn't have to be safe in order to be good. Christian hipsters are desperately trying to communicate this about art. It should not be constricted by a prudish commitment to 'safe,' but rather it should be allowed to do what it is meant to do: unveil reality and expose truth in all of its messy, mysterious glory."
- Brett McCracken in Hipster Christianity (p.165)
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