Today, in a live chat online, Leonard Sweet told my doctoral cohort that the days of the megachurch are numbered. That's not new news, but his reason for its demise is novel: suicide bombers.
Let me tell you what will end those $100 million churches: when some "visitor" to a megachurch, with a big bulky sweater, pushes a button. There is only ONE place left in culture where thousands of people can gather without any security. I can't get megachurch pastors or architects to take this seriously. Talk about a stampede to the micro. The lawsuits that will follow this loss of life will keep the stampede going for years. I spoke to the NRB convention right after John McCain last week, and warned them that their biggest story in the future would be this. No one wanted to talk about it. In fact, the guy who invited me didn't speak to me afterwards because I had "stirred things up" too much.
Len Sweet is an oracle. He has an amazing ability to think way ahead of the rest of us. So, as incredible as his remarks seem, it's hard not to take him seriously. And while bombings of religious buildings are not widespread, even in the most violent parts of the world, they are not without precedent. If Len Sweet is right, the role of "usher" is about to undergo a major upgrade.
Monday is my favorite TV night, and NBC's Heroes is my favorite show. Save the cheerleader, save the world. Next in line is FOX's 24. If you've been following the current season, you know that a disaffected Russian general is conspiring with radical Muslims to deploy five nuclear bombs on USAmerican soil. Muslim terrorists have repeatedly served as antagonists for the series. In 2005, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) met with FOX network heads because it was concerned the series might "cast a shadow of suspicion over ordinary American Muslims and could increase Islamophobic stereotyping and bias." Weird fact: between 9/11 and 2005, three former CAIR employees were indicted on federal terrorism charges. CAIR leaders have also made statements in support of Hamas and the domination of USAmerica by Islam. In 1998, a California newspaper reported that CAIR's chairman of the board, Omar Ahmad, proclaimed that the Koran should become USAmerica's highest authority. He also declared that Islam does not desire a status of equality in USAmerica, but is striving to become the dominant religion.
All this talk of terrorist bombing and religious domination is frightening to be sure, but let's not single out Muslim extremists. The Christian tradition has its own radical extremists. Here's a quote from Jerry Falwell (radio interview in March 2002):
"This 'turn the other cheek' business is all well and good but it's not what Jesus fought and died for. What we need to do is take the battle to the Muslim heathens and do unto them before they do unto us."
Falwell was criticizing former President Jimmy Carter's "message of peace and reconciliation", which Falwell denounced as "simply incompatible with Christian teachings as I interpret them." Falwell has been spouting his inflammatory rhetoric since he launched the Moral Majority in 1979. In that year, he announced, "I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be!" If you were a Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, or atheist living peaceably in USAmerica, how would you feel about such comments? How does this differ from Muslims who want to impose Sharia law on the western world? The point is, exclusivism and extremism have a strange way of seeming normative and innocuous when we're defending our own beliefs and perspectives.
I like the angle 24 is exploring this season. President Wayne Palmer, faced with nuclear explosions on USAmerican soil, is beleaguered by hawks who want him to legislate Muslim detention centers in every USAmerican city. The rationale: you don't know which Muslims you can trust and which you can't, so lock 'em all up. Instead, President Palmer invites a semi-repentant Muslim extremist to appeal to USAmerican Muslims, asking them to divulge any information that could lead to the discovery and arrest of the terrorists. Ingenious.
Here in Canada, we take a typically laid-back approach to theses issues: the best way to solve the world's problems is to bring them to a head in small-town Saskatchewan. CTV's Corner Gas is leading the way. Right behind it is CBC's Little Mosque on the Prairie, which humorously (but insightfully) portrays the hang-ups faced by a little Muslim community living in the fictional prairie town of Mercy, Saskatchewan. The creator of the show is Zarqa Nawaz, a mother of four from Regina, Saskatchewan, who 10 years ago started making short films on the humor of being Muslim in North America. Eventually, she had enough material to build an entire TV show. Check out the recent interview with Nawaz in altmuslim.com (love the combination of "alt" and "muslim").
And, if you've got 22 minutes for a provocative laugh, check out Little Mosque's first episode.
