Next week on the 4th December we'll be looking to find God in the cartoon South Park. Read that sentence again if you need to - it isn't the most obvious choice, perhaps, but I hope you will be surprised. It is very rude and provocative (over 18s only I'm afraid), but incredibly sharp and insightful. They touch on Christianity fairly frequently, picking away at the rubbish bits. It's very funny too.
26 November 2008
Homer, Cartman and Bob Part 2: South Park
Next week on the 4th December we'll be looking to find God in the cartoon South Park. Read that sentence again if you need to - it isn't the most obvious choice, perhaps, but I hope you will be surprised. It is very rude and provocative (over 18s only I'm afraid), but incredibly sharp and insightful. They touch on Christianity fairly frequently, picking away at the rubbish bits. It's very funny too.
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My mum used to crease up at South Park, then felt guilty as she knew she shouldn't find it funny since it was "rather rude". (She was a good Christian woman too)
Fab evening tonight, Andy. Thank you! Challenged us to view South Park in a completely new way.... never a bad thing... hee hee!!
How did the South Park night go?
Sorry I couldn't make it, but I'm intrigued to know if you found any Christian links?!!
You can watch all of the episodes of South Park on this website: www.southparkzone.com
We watched these episodes:
Christian Rock Hard - lots about naff Christian music and materialism. All togther now, "You're once, twice, three times my saviour..."
The Passion of the Jew - thought provoking stuff about anti-semitism's roots in Christianity.
Cartmanland - why do evil people prosper while good people suffer?
We could have watched:
Are you there God? It's me, Jesus
Do the handicapped go to hell?
Probably
Red Hot Catholic Love
Something Wall Mart This Way Comes
Woodland Critter Christmas
Go God Go! - Richard Dawkins is appointed to the kids' school as a Biology teacher
Go God Go! XII
Cartman sucks - Christian 'correctional facility' for kids
Fantastic Easter Special - Da Vinci Code spoof
PS some of those extra episodes are rather ruder than the ones we watched
As a Pastor I must urge you to rethink. Please understand, dear friends, that God and the Lord Jesus Christ are not to be found in South Park. God has revealed Himself through His Word, the Holy Bible. I accept that many of you may have had difficult church experiences and be disillusioned with Christianity. I've been there too. But escapism is no answer. Seeking God is the only answer. May the Lord help you.
Thanks for your concern, anon. Andy will be replying to your thoughts properly later on, but I wanted to say welcome along and I hope you enjoy having a bit of a browse around.
We are a group of folk with different church experiences, some of them difficult. But we're delighted to have found each other. SofaChurch feels like a lifeboat to many of us - a safe place where we can be honest about where we're at.
Hope you hang around and chat some more with us!
Hello, anonymous pastor. Thank you for your interest in our group. How did you hear about us, by the way?
You mustn't worry about us, though. We do all see the Bible (I prefer not to use the term 'Word of God' for the Bible personally as I think that term refers to Jesus. I think that some Christians can be in danger of idolising the Bible, and giving it a status it doesn't claim for itself) as a primary source of revelation about God, as you say. Having said that, we do see God's fingerprints all over the world in nature, and also in many human-created art works. We are made in his image, and when humans are creative they are working in tandem with the divine spark in them. And people who are not followers of Jesus can also exhibit this divine creativity. We think that God can speak prophetically through anything he chooses to (Balaam's Ass, for example).
South Park does, in my opinion, offer a sharp prophetic edge that can help us in the church to see our own failings. It sometimes takes an 'outsider' to see and express problems that we are blind to. As one example, how many times have you examined the role that early Christians played in the persecution of Jewish people throughout the centuries in your church? God cares about this stuff, and if it takes an irreverent cartoon as a vehicle for him to get his message across then so be it.
Closing ourselves off to any channels of revelation is choosing when God can and cannot speak to us, which is placing ourselves above God.
Hi Anon. Lovely to have you joining us and adding some interesting points to the discussion too. Thank you.
Eek, I really don't think that viewing such cartoons as Southpark is as an 'alternative' to considering the Bible. Its just that at SofaChurch we often consider what's going on in contemporary society (as presented by the media, in films, books, music, government legislation etc) and how this fits in with what the Bible says and the Lord Jesus' teachings too.
We are told in the Bible to be "as wise as serpents but as innocent as doves" and "to be in the world but not of it" and I truly think that SofaChurch is enabling us to this: by encouraging us to consider carefully how the Lord Jesus would want us to respond to certain issues presented in society. In the case of Southpark, the cartoons explored contemporary Christian music, anti-semitism's roots in Christianity etc .... its always interesting to consider other viewpoints and responses to our faith.
Was rather surprised that you think we may be being a bit 'escapist' though. Think rather that we're trying to ensure that our faith is real, living and relevent to the society in which we live, so that we can "give an answer to those who ask us" and most importantly to point folk to the Lord Jesus. who really is the only answer to many of our questions and inner yearnings.
Well, you've really got me thinking, Anon. Thank you! :0)
I'll admit, Anon, that there have been some topics that Andy's planned to look at at SofaChurch that have had me thinking: "This is it - the last SofaChurch. People are going to stop coming after this one. They'll be too offended."
But they've kept coming. They've laughed at the bits I've thought were 'too far'. I think there are things that aren't appropriate viewing for Christians, of course. But that 'cut off point' seems to be different for different people.
Some find South Park unsuitable, because of the views expressed or the language. For me, I make sure I don't watch 18 certificate films, as I know that the imagery in them will play on my mind.
Again, I feel comfortable reading a lot of chick-lit, but draw the line at some of the sexier titles, as I find what I read affects my thinking. The Bible does suggest that we think about whatever is pure, good, etc.
But I think in the case of South Park, a lot of very good points are made about the state of the church; the discrepancies between what we preach and what we actually practise. It's edgy and rude, sure, but if you watch some of the episodes Andy has linked to, you'll find that the messages are often uncomfortably spot-on.
If I were introduced to my younger self, I'm certain that she would think I was no longer a Christian, that I had back-slidden and needed pulling back into the fold. Finding spirituality in south Park? As if. I would think I needed the laying on of hands and a few demons driving out (and maybe I do - who knows?)
But allowing yourself to ask difficult questions, to really pick the church (and all it stands for) to bits, is healthy.
And to search for God in unexpected places is also great, because, as we keep finding, He's there. He's limitless. It's us that think He's only to be found in certain clean, 'appropriate' places. Jesus was right there in the thick of the prostitutes and the sinners, and He still is.
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