Now. What could this be?

Click here for a much larger version on which you can almost read the inscriptions.

"Remember" it says on the top, and cascading from there are names and quotations. And below that, a shrouded body.

And behind that a sales exhibit hall.

(That’s only half of it. For comparison, the Catholic marketing shows are about a fifth of that size, but Michael would say less – maybe a tenth. I’m sticking to my optimistic estimate. It’s probably somewhere in between)

Yes, it’s the always interesting sights of what was formerly known as CBA, but is now the International Christian Retail Show.

This time, I have a camera on hand, so I’m balancing chasing Michael (the Toddler) with trying to snap some decent photos of the marketing efforts of this segment, a world which provides much food for thought for those of us involved in Catholic writing and publishing, a far less "successful" "brand" than the CBA brand.

So, this first photo – which is of a display ultimately intended to advertise a new edition of Fox’s Book of Martyrs, I believe – inspires my first general reflections, which always concern the ways that this CBA market – very broadly speaking, "evangelical" Protestants (routine caveats as to the flexibility of that term) carries with it echoes of Catholicism – or is perhaps unconscious yearnings for the truths and realities that Catholicism openly acknowledges and embraces? For here we have a concrete reminder of the sacrifices of martrys – an artificial representation is acceptable if its purpose is to sell things, but the real thing, in a church, as a reminder and inspiration of the real lives of real martyrs – is not.

I also hear the echoes in every row of the exhibit hall, as a religious movement which was established on the conviction that there need not be any intermediaries between God and humanity but for the one mediator, Jesus Christ, celebrates…mediators. Preachers and teachers and writers and speakers whose images smile down on attendees from 10-feet tall signage

…and who are the subject of long lines of fans, just waiting for a few seconds of contact and a relic of the moment (er….see post below).

And the images thing just always gets me. Yes, this is pop religion we’re talking about, and serious evangelicals are just as horrified as anyone else might be, but honestly. As long as you’re going to have this, can you let me have my Madonna and Child and my St. Francis?

Click on the largest size to get a good look. No, not a joke.

The other intriguinging question remains the dynamic between evangelism and marketing. It is all evangelism – that’s the purpose of it. All of it. But the line is so, so fine, as it always has been for anyone who "sells" religious goods, whether that be outside a medieval cathedral or down at the corner Christian store. Or, er…via blogs. In a commercial culture, the line is even finer and almost invisible sometimes, I think, though.

(Spreading the Gospel..one piece of jewelry at a time…)

(Routine caveat – every year, worried pieces about pop evangelical culture appear in serious evangelical blogs and publications after CBA as well. There is no complacency about this within evangelicalism, believe me.)

The other point of interest to me is how pop evangelicalism mimics the secular culture. Some examples:

For young:

And just a bit older:

And still older:

And all of it sells, sells, sells. Christian publishers have enormous sales in comparison to Catholic publishers, the ritual complaining over which prompted the comment from our friend Matthew Lickona: "Don’t be silly. Book sales are for Protestants. Didn’t you know that?"

Sigh…

But then, I realize, as I ritually moan…there we go, crossing the line all by my Catholic self.

Sigh…again.