One the books we've read for this class is called Secular Music & Sacred Theology. It's a series of essays compiled by Tom Beaudoin, all of which deal with topics concerning popular music and its explicitly religious/spiritual dimensions. Topics range from discussions on Barth and Lou Reed to rock music and the NAACP. These next few blog posts will be addressing some of these essays and reckoning with their content. For the first, I'd like to talk about Michael J. Iafrate's idea of "staying punk" when it comes to Christian theology and the church.
Iafrate talks a lot about how he grew up in the DIY punk community and how that world has never been fully separate from the world of theology. (He mentions playing in a hardcore punk band at the same time he was getting his masters.) As a more established adult, Iafrate reflects on how important it is to him that he maintains some aspects of the punk community in his professional life. Towards the end of the essay, he outlines how to do so. He says that "staying punk" will require his "theological production to be committed rather than neutral or objective." This involves accepting that the world is fraught with systemic injustice and that combating injustice is one of theology's highest callings. He goes on to say that the punk rock ethos challenges many of the boundaries and sense of importance we place on individuals rather than whole communities. Finally, Iafrate claims that "DIY punk's construction of alternative networks of culture making in response to mainstream gatekeepers can offer insights and perhaps even concrete models for alternative practices of theological production and dissemination that make room for the emergence of suppressed theological voices." In other words, punk theology makes room for people that have been historically silenced in the elitist realm of academic theology. He also mentions that punk has a certain messy edginess that could conceivably challenge the pristine "corporate rock" aforementioned elitist theology. Certainly a lot to take in here, but what Iafrate says is, in an interesting way, both refreshing and threatening. I absolutely believe that the marginalized must be heard and that traditional power structures must be dismantled for justice to reign. As Jesus Christ said, "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." At the same time, I have, intentionally or not, subscribed to the narrative of Great Thinkers in theology. The canonized few who have defined theological studies for generations. Not that these men (and they are overwhelmingly men) have made bad theology, but that they have been lifted up in disservice to the many. Similarly, I follow the Great Bands and Artists who have made the most "important" rock music. Iafrate speaks to a call for justice I without hesitation agree with, but he also challenges my notions of traditional power structures both in academic theology and rock music. That makes this kind of message really powerful. I've never been a punk. Indeed my chosen musical community has been heavy metal. And the more I think about it, the ethos of punk and the ethos of metal share a lot in common. They both have a strong counter-cultural urge, a commitment to authenticity in the face of the corporate machine, and dedicated underground networks of musicians and fans. Maybe there is a way that I can "stay metal" when I become an pastor or a theologian? That 's definitely an idea worth exploring too.
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AuthorSam Coker Archives
April 2018
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