Wrong kind of Christianity that's having the influence

The American Vision has had a nice string of articles recently. We have soaked in it so long...

Footnotes or Flowers? By Erich Rauch

...I have claimed previously that modern Christianity has two public faces: highly intellectual (which we have already discussed) and highly anti-intellectual (which we are preparing to discuss). I have also previously recommended that you take a field trip to the local Barnes and Noble bookstore and have a look-see at the religion section to find a representative sample of these two extremes. Now, I recommend that you make another trip, this time to the local Christian bookstore (if your community is lacking one, consider yourself lucky). If you can make it through the store without being choked by the perfumy scents that are inexplicably permeating the air, past the greeting cards, past the music CDs, past the jewelry and breath mints, past the t-shirts, and past the Bible covers and car-bumper ornaments, you will actually find a few books...kind of. At this point, you are literally trapped in the store, so you might as well take a look and wait for one of the ladies that work there to ask if you are looking for anything in particular (they're always ladies and they're always really nice). This is where it gets fun (and sad). Ask for a copy of any of the Christian responses to the New Atheists. Blank stare. Ask for a copy of a conservative commentary on the book of Acts. Another blank stare. Ask for anything by C.S. Lewis and when she brings you the Chronicles of Narnia tell her that you meant one of Lewis' nonfiction works. A really blank stare. Now ask for a copy of Joyce Meyer's newest book and her eyes will light up. She'll take you to a shelf containing every Meyer book written in the last ten years. She'll further tell you that she can order any of the other 453 books that Joyce has written and that she can have them by Friday. At this point you can thank her for her time and walk briskly to the exit, leaving without guilt and any intention of ever returning.

Such is the state of Christian "bookstores," bastions of anti-intellectual drivel and highly emotional, experiential trinkets to encourage you on your "Christian journey." It is this type of nonsense, which is being substituted for biblical Christianity, that is having the "influence" that R.C. Sproul rightly laments. Christianity is influencing America, but it's the wrong kind of Christianity that's having the influence. It is a feminine one. Most Christian bookstores are not designed with men in mind because it is women who do the majority of the buying. It has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Any man that unwittingly enters a Christian bookstore will quickly find his way out, thinking that he must have entered the Hallmark store instead. This would be funny if it wasn't so serious. The anti-intellectual, public-face of Christianity is a feminized, pastel-colored wall-hanging with a witty saying (maybe even a Bible verse) embroidered on it. It is a religion of feelings and emotions. It has nothing to offer besides happy thoughts. It is an emasculated, man-centered gospel of warm-hearted niceness...just like Grandma's cinnamon rolls....