Fundamentalism and Art

"Fundamentalism and Art are mutually exclusive. There is no such thing as fundamentalist art."
Steven Pressfield in The War of Art (Go buy this book.)

The artist and the fundamentalist are both individuals who are struggling with what do to with freedom. Art moves us forward to a new future, engaging new ideas, new realities, new experiences. To the artist, humanity is valuable full of possibilities for redemption. The fundamentalist moves us backward, to a better, more pure day, or time, or idea.

To the fundamentalist, we know the ideas, there's no need for new ones. They are driven to take themselves and the rest of us back to a time when it was right. There is only one right, and they know it. To disagree with them, is to be outside the bounds of God's understanding, to be unorthodox, to be heretical.

To the artist, God is transforming the world (individuals, communities and his creation) into a new creation. The hermeneutical lens is fundamentally different for the artist. They see Jesus as bring restoration, but a restoration for a new future in which God co -labors with us.

In the christian ghetto, artists are neutered of the power of new idea, to question, to wonder and wander, to say things in new ways because the least mature person, ie the fundamentalist, see new ideas as dangerous and against the very realities of God.

This my friends is why we have such crappy art. Why our books have little to know edge, why our art is generic or moralistic or simplistic or about the lowest common denominator of faith.

This is why the artist is often on the fringe of society anyway. They are exploring the things that make us uncomfortable, whether it be music, preaching, writing, dance, or painting.

Art and fundamentalism are mutually exclusive. Take heart... if you are in the sites of fundamentalism, your art probably holds more power.

Otherwise, go see Fireproof this weekend.