Some dude with religious/cultural aspirations has written a book appropriately titled:
Hipster Christianity: When Church and Cool Collide
It sounds like a scam, or at the very least an oxymoron (like truthful politicians). Here’s what the author had to say.
Hipster Christianity: When Church and Cool Collide is a journalistic, in-depth exploration of the phenomenon of “cool Christianity” in the 21st century. More than just a surface description of an interesting new trend in Christianity, the book goes deep into the questions of what it means to be cool and what it means to be Christian. Are these competing aims? (Always) Why is the church today so preoccupied with being cool, fashionable, trendy, and relevant? (Because they’re tired of being and hypocritical and rapey.) Where does this phenomenon fit in to the larger narrative of “hip” and “Christian cool”? (Probably a step above Creed.) …this book attempts to provide a thorough examination and nuanced critique of an increasingly prevalent but under-studied incarnation of contemporary Christianity: the Christian hipster.
Like all good generalizations (something I am well-versed in), the website offers 4 different types of Christian Hipsters, all of which sound almost rosey and glowing. 4 is way too small to describe the different nuanced types of hipsters (all of which should be set to a douchebag scale of 1-10), but maybe the Christians know how to keep their individualism to larger numbers.
The Artistic Searcher: “Frequently art majors at evangelical colleges whose intellectual life was rocked by That One Art History Professor Freshman Year, these Christian hipsters usually undergo dramatic shifts in their views of art between the ages of 18 and 25.”
The Frugal Collegian: “With one foot in their old Baptist youth group and the other on the unsteady terrain of viewing missions through the lens of post-colonialism, these kids are horizon-broadened, foundation-shaken and mind-blown on a daily basis…All the while they are learning to live lives of unconventionality–dabbling in post-legalism rebellion and vice (cheap alcohol and tobacco mostly)…”
The Monied Yuppies: More established in their tastes and less susceptible to fickle trends, these arts-patrons will not hesitate to pony up $100 to see Sufjan Stevens play Carnegie Hall. They eat well, drink well, love concerts, and attend churches with Vegan options at potlucks
The Bookish Intellectual: “Thoroughly conversant in all manner of mid-century Christian existentialism (Tillich, Bultmann, etc), the Bookish Intellectual is a frequent user of such words as ‘Other,’ ‘problematize,’ ‘ecclesiology,’ and ‘historicity.’”
Well, that just wrote itself.
Anyhow, I took their Christian Hipster quiz and this is what they told me:
Your Christian Hipster Quotient is 80 / 120
High CHQ. You are a pretty progressive, stylish, hipster-leaning Christian, even while you could easily feel at home in a decidedly un-hip non-denominational church. You are conservative on some issues and liberal on others, and sometimes you grow weary of trendy “alt-Christianity.” But make no mistake: You are a Christian hipster to at least some degree.
It’s vague enough, where if I switch ‘Christian’ with ‘Jewish’, it almost makes sense. But it’s a stupid online quiz. With stupid questions, because I love my skinny jeans. And since this blog is one big miserable scam, I’m going to have to assume that these Christian Hipsters are no better than me.
Are there any Christian Hipsters out there who would like to defend themselves against this cultural tirade? I’m putting you on the spot because you’ve obviously networked better than we, the Hipster Jews, have networked. We have this laughable excuse for a blog, while you have a trendy website AND a book.
It’s like the battle of the Old Testament vs the New Testament all over again. God (no, not Jesus) damnit.
