If you are a regular follower of the Mediation blog, I (on behalf of myself, Brian, Thomas, Aaron and Kelly) have to apologize for a slowdown in posts, especially over the Christmas season. In all of the far-flung places we are found across this great continent (from Seattle to Atlanta to Toronto), things have been prohibitively busy! And the media waits for no man, woman or creature that crawls across the face of the earth.
Part of the challenge with a blog about theology and mass media (rather than “faith and culture” more generally) is the sheer vacuity of much ‘pop culture.’ As Tertullian might ask, “What hath Kim Kardashian to do with Radical Orthodoxy?” While “pop culture” is, undeniably, a species of “culture” with its own lexicon, mythologies, saints, prophets and visionaries, it is also too often a capital-driven, frequently mindless incubator of mediocrity. Christian exegesis of “pop culture” thus needs to not just theologically describe the vagaries of the mass media but attempt to engage it constructively. While we’ve been striving to do this all along, I think we’re just getting started!
As a result, I’m hoping this next year of Mediation will see more constructive dialogue about interesting things going on in media, from artists worth taking note of to actually worthwhile TV to news stories considered from a fresh, theologically-aware perspective. I also think we need to expand the conversation to include a plurality of voices, from a range of confessional (and non-confessional) traditions, political standpoints and theological orientations.
To that end, we are looking for some more occasional and regular contributors for Mediation. If you have some writing or blogging experience, and feel you could bring something to our conversation about theology, media, and creativity under the auspicious larger umbrella of The Other Journal, please drop us a line! (You can get in touch with me using the form submission here.)
All the best for 2012… and thanks for reading!