My Submission to America’s Essay Contest: “An Artful Case for God”

November 9th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker

America Magazine has announced the winner of its essay contest (see here), which had the topic:

At a time when atheism and religious belief have become prominent issues of discussion and debate in both our nation and our church, the editors chose as the general theme: “A Case for God.”

Clearly my essay didn’t win, but I include it below:

An Artful Case for God

A successful case for God must begin with God’s role as the creator rather than an outdated disciplinarian. If faith is to have any chance in the modern era it must convince young people, the unaffiliated, and atheists alike that it is still relevant in an age of iPods, blogs, sophisticated video games, alternate cyber-realities, and high definition television. One reason many people are not voting for God with their feet and filling church pews is because they see so much optimism, potential, and ingenuity in their technology and media and so much responsibility and antiquated repression in religion. Many religious institutions are increasingly turning to technology to disseminate their messages, but they are using new media to preach old messages and are effectively crossing their fingers and hoping an interested audience miraculously materializes and keeps coming back just because there are JPEGs, megabytes, and podcasts involved. God could surely help that square peg find its way into that circular hole, but we should not rely on Him to intervene when we are quite capable of developing a fresh strategy that can repair it ourselves.

New media is not a miracle pill that transmutates an audience and hypnotizes it into accepting a life view that it has no use for. It is a tool that is only as good as its message, but if fed the proper content new media can tell the story of God better than anyone has ever been able to tell it. It is inspiring to imagine how well the Evangelists could have conveyed their thoughts and revelations with the help of Hollywood producers and YouTube. But it is not only a question of crafting a well articulated sermon, editing and copy editing it ad infinitum, and inserting the proper metaphors and references that will appeal to young folks and non-believers.

Non-believers and at-risk believers, just by virtue of their participating in an increasingly plugged-in world, are incorporating religion into their lives in ways they do not yet even imagine. Rather than shopping faith to them with an unsolicited doorbell ring during dinner time, we need to focus on our common ground. The best way to convince people of God is through God’s creations and through our ability to imitate said creations. Religious art fills our top museums and galleries, both real world and online, and we can do a much better job of discussing it and viewing it as religious art rather than simply art about religion. If atheists can celebrate the art that religion has produced—and indeed they do at the Metropolitan Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the many other great institutions of the arts in this country and around the world—then surely they can come to see the religion embedded in that art as well.

Will atheists begin converting en masse when they see Raphael’s Annunciations or Fra’ Filippo Lippi’s Madonna and Child? Probably not, as much as we would like them to, but one thing is for sure—it is clear that they will not even consider converting without understanding faith and learning about it in a safe place that does not feel like it is proselytizing. Art can set that process in motion, even if it cannot guarantee results.

On a daily basis people encounter art almost perpetually, as they are bombarded by graphic design and video art as they navigate websites, read packaging and advertisements, and watch the news. If one operates a blog, or even customizes an icon on an instant messaging service or personalizes a social networking profile, one is designing and thinking in artistic terms. It is even becoming difficult to Google something without being tempted by “Google artist themes,” which invite browsers to add art to their Google homepage. As of the writing of this essay, 688 people have already chosen to customize their Google homepage with a design called “The Names of God,” designed by Brad Buscher, the born-again author of the blog “Christianity Confesses.” These 688 browsers will see the word “Abir” (one of God’s names, “the Abir of Jacob,” deriving from Genesis 49: 24) in both English and Hebrew every time they open Google. The design was so successful that Buscher introduced “The Names of God 2,” with the other name “Palet” (from Psalms 56:8 and 32:7), which has already attracted 270 users.

A society of producers, designers, and creators will find a message about creation and innovation more appealing than one about divisive issues like politics, which so often assumes the role of religion’s evil twin. American foreign policy toward Iran is the subject of so many disputes in this country, but how many Americans know that about a year and a half ago the third prize winner in the Iran-sponsored World Award of Monotheistic Religions exhibition was a piece by one Michal Jandura of Poland, who created three interlocking books forming a triangle, set to a background that repeats “There is only one God” over and over again. Each book has a symbol: a cross, a Star of David, and a crescent. When the media begins with the assumption that religion is divisive that trickles down to innocent readers, and the myth quickly becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

How many people know about artist, professor, and scholar, Mel Alexenberg, an Orthodox Jew based in Israel, whose art and installations seek to repair Israeli-Palestinian relations by pointing to common artistic elements shared by both traditions? Or of painters like Catherine McClung of Spring Lake, Michigan, who proudly says “I pray before I paint that His hand would be with mine,” and Solomon Muhandi, who spray-paints messages like “Peace Wanted Alive” all over Kenya’s slums, because he feels, “Signs speak louder than our voices”? How many people even know about “Christ the Redeemer” (“O Cristo Redentor”) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, let alone drew inspiration from it recently surviving a lightning attack?

Art can not only bring different people together and allow them to focus on their creative potential, it can also reach out to the younger generation which is being taught about God but is having difficulty engaging a personal God. There is perhaps no better way to get young people to take ownership of their faith than to allow them to create sacred art of all sorts. This allows them to personalize their faith rather than speaking only in borrowed words. Surely the borrowed words belong to some of history’s greatest prophets and scholars that have ever lived, and they cannot be replaced by a diet that exclusively consists of contemporary technology. Modern poetry will never replace Shakespeare, and PowerPoint productions of spirituality will never overtake the Gospels. But joining the two guarantees a great blend of modern real-world language with classical, proven, traditional truths. Creating art and appreciating it can make people understand what it means to be a creator, and that helps them begin to appreciate God’s role.

It is risky, of course, to pitch God to people as simply the Creator without much of a discussion about the details involved in such a proposition. Some would even call it idolatry to collapse God to a concept and so bound Him with restrictions and borders. This risk can be overcome once the message of God-as-Creator is internalized. When creation is viewed in light of mimicking God (imitatio dei), it is up to the individual believer to decide for her- or himself what that belief entails. Believers, like non-believers, turn to their family, friends, and teachers for advice and feedback on their decisions and choices, and believers will surely seek out advice and assistance to navigate their personal faith.

The key to this art-based approach to faith is that art can help overcome the largest gap, which lies between believing in a god and not believing in one. The gap between believers of different faiths is much smaller in comparison. Pastors, professors, and religious advisers will find a much easier time exploring particular details of faith and practice with newcomers to the church who approach them with a healthy view of a generous, creative, kind God, than they will trying to engage people who shudder when they hear the word “church,” imagining demons, hocus pocus witchcraft, and worse.

“A Case for God” is unfortunately not likely to be uncovered in just one essay, anymore than one conversation alone will lead someone toward a path of total transformation. People are complicated and their interactions and life decisions are made up of ongoing processes that continually develop. In art, people of faith can perhaps find a case for helping put themselves in a position where they can make a good case for God to a receptive audience that might actually listen and be interested in internalizing.

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