The Christian Skeptic

Burger King’s famous slogan, "Have it your way," encapsulates much of what has come to define the turn of the century. With World War I, western society saw the slow demise of what had been a generally optimistic era. However, the subsequent era, firmly established through World War II, did not remain in the pessimism of the 1930s; instead, it chose to un-define the conventional categories altogether. Postmodernism is not a redefining of modern ideals: it is a relativizing or un-defining of semantics. It could be said that Derridean deconstruction has undone Cartesian foundationalism—ontology being usurped by the fluidity of language.  The results and reception of this are indisputably mixed. For some, the advent of relativism into mainstream thought has brought greater acceptance of political and social progress. For others, relativism is seen as a virtual enemy of the cross of Christ, trivializing the reality of the sacrifice made. Others still are unconvinced t

Some of my favorite, or comical, internet advertisements are those marketing Christian dating services with taglines such as "hot, Christian singles!" and "hot singles for missionary dating!" This trend, called tailored advertising , has engendered much controversy—shrouded as it is by matters of privacy violation and constitutional rights. However, barring spamming and phishing, the greater concern that is being overlooked is the looming threat that consumerism poses. Over forty-five years ago, Harry Blamires spoke of this as people "replacing purpose for function" (see "Its Concern for the Person" in The Christian Mind ). That being said, it should be keenly disturbing for everyone to consider the implications of tailored advertising: everything that makes you who you are is marketable . Worse still is if the church bought into this and began 'marketing' the gospel. It is important to preserve the message of the gospel. We might first