Adventist Korean Youth a Parachute Religion?

It was the systematic theologian J. Moltmann who asked in 2001 whether we should dialogue with other religions or missionize them.(1) Should they become us or should we just talk to them?

It was in the Middle of the 1990’s, after 1995, that Christian punk came out. They started to associate so strongly with secular punk that they found them attractive to incorporate and imitate them. They started selling Jesus through popular culture, called Christotainment (2).

Some observers of this phenomenon started to talk in 2009 of a “hyper-real testament” that was developing.(3)

You cannot miss the oppositional subculture that is developing outside of the perimeters and kind of left on their own?(4)

G. Lynch studied in 2006 this relationship between religion and popular culture and was convinced that music has a transformative influence over these Generation Y and beyond people.(5) In fact, alternative spiritual identities and ideologies are developed.

When Christian Punk got underway in the late 90’s Bennett wondered if they are a neo-tribe of people, these Christian young people.(7)

In some concerts of the youth, they were throwing Bibles off the stage to demonstrate that relationship evangelism is more important that Bible evangelism!

Think of the Christians and their agony when this happens. (8)

Listen to Ian from one of these bands who said in England: “ ‘not always about the whole Christian thing; just telling kids [to] follow your dreams, do what enjoy … I think that can be as encouraging sometimes’

Thanks Jesus for trying. Remember Jesus saying in Matthew 28 it is all about making disciples and teach them, well the youth have now new prophets who tells them otherwise. Right?

(1) Moltmann, J. 2001. “Dialogue or Mission? C

(2) hristianity and the Religions in an Endangered World.” In Christianity and Other Religions, edited by J. Hick and B. Hebblethwaite, 172–187. Oxford: Oneworld.

(3) Malott, C. 2009. “Christotainment in Punk Rock: Complexities and Contradictions.” In Christotainment: Selling Jesus through Popular Culture, edited by S. Steinberg and J. Kinchlove, 247–268. Boulder: Westview Press.

(4) Possamai, A. 2005. Religion and Popular Culture: A Hyper-real Testament. Brussels: Peter Lang

(5) Magolda, P., and K. E. Gross. 2009. It’s all About Jesus! Faith as an Oppositional Collegiate Subculture. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

(6) Lynch, G. 2006. “The Role of Popular Music in the Construction of Alternative Spiritual Identities and Ideologies.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 45 (4): 481–488

(7) Bennett, A. 1999. “Sub-cultures or Neo-tribes? Rethinking the Relationship between Youth Style and Musical Taste.” Sociology 33 (3): 599–617.

(8) Stowe, D. 2011. No Sympathy for the Devil: Christian Pop Music and the Transformation of American Evangelicalism. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

(9) Source: I. “Abraham, Respecting religion in youth music subcultures: inclusivity, individuality and conflict avoidance strategy” Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland (Received 17 October 2013; accepted 25 March 2014).