Christians have given up their squeaky wheel

Back in March 1966, this quote of John's was printed in an interview by reporter Maureen Cleave in the London Evening Standard:

"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first - rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."

Then, almost five months later, on July 29, a teen magazine in the US, Datebook, reprinted the quote out of context, not submerged in an article, but as a part of a front cover story entitled "The Ten Adults You Dig/Hate The Most".

All hell broke loose. Radio stations in the south banned Beatles music. There were rallies of boys and girls stomping on their records and bonfires of Beatles material. 1

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Today, if an entertainer were to say something a hundred times more derogatory about Christianity than what Lennon said, I believe there would be little to no protest in the Christian community. Yes pastors may mention it during their sermons and talkradio hosts would mention the double standard but there would be no bonfires or marches in the street.

Does this mean that Christians are not as passionate about Jesus? Perhaps. Does this mean that bonfires are not en vougue? Doubtful. Does this mean that Christians have been properly neutered by the media and the court of public opinion? I think so.

1966 was only three years after prayer was removed from our public schools so a Judeo/Christian morale was still very much in the fabric of our society. In 2008 there have been several generations in which Jesus has been weened out of public lives. Would a group of Christians feel embolden to burn CDs today after someone badmouthed Jesus? Doubtful. There is such a negative connotation associated with *-burning, such as book burning that today's Christians would not be caught dead at a burning.



1. http://www.beatlesagain.com/bapology.html