Christian Brand Behavior
May. 13th, 2010 07:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valarltdA thought occured to me as I was dealing with the Cognitive Dissonance post.
What I tend to call "being Christian" isn't Christianity at all. It's Christian Brand Behavior.
Christian Brand Behavior is a tribal affiliation sort of thing. It has little to do with the teachings of Jesus ("You only have one butt, you can't ride two horses." --Gospel of Thomas) and more to do with community mores and in-group behavior. I document a lot of what I was raised with or acquired in college here.
Brander Beahvior is all about perpetuating the Brand (being a good witness) and expanding the brand (winning souls). And those missions tend to overlap, when they insist everyone be a good witness, even the nonbelievers.
It is an interesting/unpleasant combination of superstition and morality. It combines control-freak behavior, a demon-haunted world-view, misogyny and its cousin homophobia, and a seige mentality. There is the strong perception that anyone who doesn't live this way is not Christian.
A Brander may never read his Bible, but he will also never set anything on top of it. He will insist that Bibles should not be bound in hard cover or paperback, like other books. A hardcore Brander will tell you that you shouldn't have any book in your house except the Bible.
A Brander will leave the room if a Tarot deck is in it, for fear of evil. If someone has it in their luggage, that person will likely be yelled at for spiritually contaminating the room. Yet, a Brander will use Bible-cracking. (Bible cracking: opening your Bible at random, selecting a verse with your eyes shut. Then taking that verse as a message from God.)
Branders will have long discussions over the spiritual toxicity of Star Wars vs that of Star Trek. They consider the first watered-down Eastern Thought and the second communistic humanism. They may or may not have seen either one. If they haven't, their arguments will be taken from websites and a little book called "The Religion of the Force."
A Brander will refuse to be around peace signs. Although it was created using the semophore signals "N" and "D" for Nuclear Disarmament, a Brander will be quick to tell you it's Satanic, because it's a broken cross.
The blog Stuff Christian Culture Likes is an excellent snapshot of Brander behavior.
Branders range from relatively mild (as detailed above) to the kind who refuse to have dolls in their house, or who discuss which clothing colors are more modest or who debate whether women should be allowed driver's licenses.
And most of all, there is no room for forgiveness in the Brander universe. Not from each other and certainly not from God.
What I tend to call "being Christian" isn't Christianity at all. It's Christian Brand Behavior.
Christian Brand Behavior is a tribal affiliation sort of thing. It has little to do with the teachings of Jesus ("You only have one butt, you can't ride two horses." --Gospel of Thomas) and more to do with community mores and in-group behavior. I document a lot of what I was raised with or acquired in college here.
Brander Beahvior is all about perpetuating the Brand (being a good witness) and expanding the brand (winning souls). And those missions tend to overlap, when they insist everyone be a good witness, even the nonbelievers.
It is an interesting/unpleasant combination of superstition and morality. It combines control-freak behavior, a demon-haunted world-view, misogyny and its cousin homophobia, and a seige mentality. There is the strong perception that anyone who doesn't live this way is not Christian.
A Brander may never read his Bible, but he will also never set anything on top of it. He will insist that Bibles should not be bound in hard cover or paperback, like other books. A hardcore Brander will tell you that you shouldn't have any book in your house except the Bible.
A Brander will leave the room if a Tarot deck is in it, for fear of evil. If someone has it in their luggage, that person will likely be yelled at for spiritually contaminating the room. Yet, a Brander will use Bible-cracking. (Bible cracking: opening your Bible at random, selecting a verse with your eyes shut. Then taking that verse as a message from God.)
Branders will have long discussions over the spiritual toxicity of Star Wars vs that of Star Trek. They consider the first watered-down Eastern Thought and the second communistic humanism. They may or may not have seen either one. If they haven't, their arguments will be taken from websites and a little book called "The Religion of the Force."
A Brander will refuse to be around peace signs. Although it was created using the semophore signals "N" and "D" for Nuclear Disarmament, a Brander will be quick to tell you it's Satanic, because it's a broken cross.
The blog Stuff Christian Culture Likes is an excellent snapshot of Brander behavior.
Branders range from relatively mild (as detailed above) to the kind who refuse to have dolls in their house, or who discuss which clothing colors are more modest or who debate whether women should be allowed driver's licenses.
And most of all, there is no room for forgiveness in the Brander universe. Not from each other and certainly not from God.
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This was directly below this post on my Flist
Date: 2010-05-14 01:17 am (UTC)Re: This was directly below this post on my Flist
Date: 2010-05-14 02:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 01:34 am (UTC)Interesting article with Pentecostals lamenting their circus-like churches.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 04:22 am (UTC)This concept of "Christian Brand Behaviour" is good. I appreciate being differentiated from that band of ijjits (presuming I am).
no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 09:26 pm (UTC)Which makes it hard, and frustrating. Especially when I find some writers today who put out good stuff that I find helpful and comforting when they actually stick to scripture, but rage-inducing when they go off on evangelicalism.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-18 09:50 pm (UTC)