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Skye Jethani Profile picture
@SkyeJethani
Apr 23, 2018 • 15 tweets • 8 min read • Read on X
According to Pew the avg American reads 4 books/yr and 26% of Americans did not read a single book last year. I wonder about evangelicals. I would be curious to see data on how they engage information. By reading (books, articles, etc) or by watching (TV, YouTube)?...
2/ And is there any correlation between reading v. watching and their politics/voting? On our podcast @drmoore attributed Trump’s popularity among white evangelicals to his televangelist-esque message & style—bold, prosperity, name-it-and-claim-it simplicity…
@drmoore 3/ He even has the outlandish hair, gold-gilded decor, and a penchant for financial & sexual scandals. (There’s a fascinating new @politico article by Ruth Graham about the tight relationship between Trump & Christian TV I’d recommend.) The more important idea...
@drmoore @politico 4/...however is the formative power video media has over Am. Christianity and the diminishing influence of the incarnate church. As one pastor said, “I’m lucky to get a person 2hrs a month. @FoxNews gets them for 2hrs every night.” And I wonder about the diminishing...
5/...formative influence of the written word among evangelicals. Last week I attended the meeting of 50 leaders at Wheaton College to discuss the state of Am evangelicalism. With 1 exception the main presenters were all authors not video/tv personalities.
6/ They were all thoughtful, brilliant people with nuanced understandings of the intersection of the gospel and culture. Their books sell very well & are written to engage a non-academic audience, but for every 1 evang who reads their books there are probably...
7/...thousands who don’t & who marinate in “Christian” cable news and TV. I’m not against using video/tv, but the dearth of thoughtful, non-partisan Christian voices on video/tv is very troubling. & we can’t just keep writing books assuming ink & paper will move the church.
8/ This isn’t 16th century Europe. The next reformation will be livestreamed. Many of Trump’s strongest evang supporters are tv/video focused: Huckabee, Falwell, Paula White. Robert Jeffress said the leaders meeting in Wheaton “have very little impact on evangelicalism.”
9/ If tv/video is what’s shaping evangelicals, he may be correct. I see two possible responses. 1) Get more thoughtful Christian leaders on TV, cable news, YouTube, etc. Voices that articulate the Gospel of Jesus Christ not the Gospel of Christian Nationalism.
10/ We need to see them on @CNN, @FoxNews, and @MSNBC in order to show the country there is an alternative evang vision for public engagement. Not anti-Trump but pro-Gospel that values the dignity of all people as God’s image-bearers & that displays #FaithOverFear.
@CNN @FoxNews @MSNBC 11/ But that’s not enough. We also need 2) pastors who acknowledge the spiritually formative power of media/video & challenge their congregations regarding the media they consume. Does 2hrs/night of cable news help you love your neighbor more? Does it...
@CNN @FoxNews @MSNBC 12/...increase your empathy, compassion, commitment to justice, and brotherly love? Or does it fuel anger, resentment, fear, nostalgia, and division? Does it grow or kill the fruit of the Spirit? We need pastors who see formation as a 24/7 reality & not limited to what...
@CNN @FoxNews @MSNBC 13/...happens on Sunday or under the umbrella of church programming. Media decisions are as important to the development of our Christian character as financial and sexual decisions, and maybe more. If churches neglect this area of formation we shouldn’t be...
@CNN @FoxNews @MSNBC 14/...surprised to discover the vacuum is being filled by partisan voices on tv/video claiming to speak for Christ but who are really prophets for the false god of Christian nationalism. To wrap this rant... Books are great. I write books. I read books. Books have shaped my faith
@CNN @FoxNews @MSNBC 15/ But that’s not true for a lot of Am Christians. We can’t rely on the written word alone to lead & disciple. We need mature, Jesus-centered leaders who can communicate across media if we are to see the idol of Christian nationalism brought low.

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More from @SkyeJethani

Skye Jethani Profile picture
Oct 2, 2023
General John Kelly (former Trump chief of staff) about Donald Trump:
“What can I add that has not already been said? A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs...
...are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family – for all Gold Star families – ...
...on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France. A person who is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women,...
Read 7 tweets
Skye Jethani Profile picture
Sep 21, 2023
🚨Rant Alert🚨
I know the Senate relaxing its dress code is not the most urgent issue facing the country, but I still think it representing something important that's worth talking about. So, here I go...
usatoday.com/story/news/nat…
We all know trust in institutions is plummeting & that is eroding our civic bonds, national unity, & American identity. One way we strengthen an institution's identity & respect is by agreed upon norms. We abandon some of our individual preferences & desires in order to...
...participate in the institution. When enough people sacrifice some of their individuality, the institution becomes sustainable. This is universally true. For a family to exist, it's members must be willing to sacrifice some of their individualism for the sake of the group...
Read 8 tweets
Skye Jethani Profile picture
Nov 8, 2022
When I was young I enjoyed carnival rides. But now any rotating attraction will end with my head deep in a carny commode begging for the sweet release of death as my guts spasm & the room spins before I eventually collapse in a cold sweat on the seedy tile of the bathroom stall..
...Likewise, I used to enjoy elections. We'd order Chinese food &watch the returns. The democratic process was exciting & even a source of pride. Not anymore. Now elections turn my stomach & have me begging for mercy rather than swelling with pride. I dread what should be a joy.
Unlike the carnival rides, it's not me that's changed but our democracy. The hyperbole, hysteria, & lies. The morally bankrupt candidates & the elevation of party above country is grotesque. I'm incredibly sad at what America & our elections have become.
Read 8 tweets
Skye Jethani Profile picture
Oct 18, 2022
Today on Twitter I was called "a poop stain." I find this insult intriguing & would like to give it more thought & analysis. This will, of course, require more intellectual fortitude than the insult's original dispenser possesses, but I need a break from my work. Let's begin...
First, scatological insults are as old as humanity. We have probably been identifying our enemies with excrement since before language existed. One need only observe the monkeys flinging poop in the zoo's primate house to discover it can be offensive, defensive, & amusing.
It may seem that I am comparing my critic to an undeveloped animal lacking both intelligence & nuance. This is not true. Rather, I am applauding the transcendent nature of his insult which can be appreciated by all human—indeed, all mammalian—cultures. Which leads to a 2nd point.
Read 11 tweets
Skye Jethani Profile picture
Jun 10, 2022
The purpose of an airliner is not to kill someone, but when 19 terrorists flew hijacked airliners into buildings and killed 3,000 Americans, the response was not "thoughts and prayers." It was the implementation of new laws, technologies, & policies...
...to ensure they would not be used that way again. It's worked. We don't regulate something because of its intended use, but because of its potential use. Guns now kill more kids and teens than anything else in America. More than cars or drugs—which are both highly regulated...
...in this country because they are potentially deadly, not because they are intended to be deadly. If we are willing to change laws & policies for other lethal problems, shouldn't we be willing to consider the same for guns?...
Read 4 tweets
Skye Jethani Profile picture
Apr 16, 2019
How will JJ Abrams’ Ep9 “The Rise of Skywalker” bring the saga to an end, explain Rey, fix the mess that was Ep8, incorporate Palpatine, and satisfy fans? Here’s my complete (updated) Skywalker Saga theory in 21 tweets...
1-Palpatine seduced Anakin to the Dark Side with the promise that together they would discover the secret to cheating death. Unbeknownst to the Jedi, they succeeded.
2-They learned it is possible to be resurrected using ancient Jedi and Sith artifacts. Palpatine had entrusted a secret contingency plan to Snoke in case of his death.
Read 22 tweets

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