Although my research paper ended up showing that media developed for Fundamentalist Christian Children is far more complicated than my initial reaction to the pieces provided, it’s difficult not to take a first look at such work and be overwhelmed by its literary shortcomings. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Apocalypse
Revelation at the Schoolhouse: Danielle Gold Creative Project
The Stratemeyer Syndicate produced and sold millions of mystery books for children between the 1920’s and the 1960’s. They are best known for creating and distributing classics like Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, The Bobbsey Twins and The Happy Hollisters, but not every one of their creations achieved commercial success. Mary Lou arrived on the scene in the mid-60’s, long after the Girl-Detective trend had lost stream. Criticized for being too dated and too modern at the same time, the series was discontinued after the first three volumes sold less than four hundred copies combined. Due to its rarity, the books are highly valued by the modern collector. I was fortunate enough to come across a tattered copy of Revelations at the Schoolhouse while cleaning out my grandparents’ vacation home. Although its possible that I am missing parts, I have transcribed what I found to the best of my ability and uploaded it to the Internet for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!
-Danielle Gold
Nuclear Suburbia
I found the online “Nuke York, New York” article fascinating especially as someone that considers herself a New Yorker, an a person that has been displaced from the city in the face of natural disaster. It was somewhat nice to see that the correlation between New York and fictional apocalypse depictions was more than my keeping my eyes open for my hometown, and interesting to see how 9/11 and Hiroshima imagery combined in the public psyche.
Holes In the Mindset: Half-cocked Fundamentals
Strozier’s breakdown of Revelation allows for us to simply soak in the main points of John’s visions without drowning in the language and warnings for morality, making it a lot easier to understand and empathize with fundamentalists, like Colby said. However, I have to say that I find myself disagreeing with some of his analysis of Revelation and also some of what he says about some of his seals of fundamentalism, particularly what he says of the letters and what he also says on the seal of revenge.
Fundamentalist Mindset and Language
I had actually tried reading the Left Behind series a couple of years ago but never got a chance to really finish the first book. Like everyone’s mentioned, Glorious Appearing and the Fundamentalist Mindset essays go hand in hand. The Tribulation Force is trying to fight of the Antichrist, Nicholae Carpathia at the start of the novel, drenching the reader immediately in violent imagery. I think what we need to keep in mind though is that whereas the Rapture and its related events are all still hypothetical for us, the world of Glorious Appearing is a world that is undergoing the seven years of rule under the Antichrist. These characters have lost their family members to God and have been shown proof through Carpathia’s resurrection that there is more to come, which is why the language is so fundamentalist because it is happening in their concrete world. What I’m particularly interested about though is more language of the essays. We’re all using terminology that Strozier and Boyd used but I found some of their definitions lacking and, to use another of their words, ‘simple-minded’.
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Fundamentalist Mindset and Cities
In spite of all I read about the idea of a New Jerusalem and the strong understanding of how apocalyptic belief affects modern politics granted by my reform Jewish background, I expected a modern fundamentalist writing like “Glorious Appearing” to be an attack on cities and large groups of people gathering in urban spaces. Continue reading
The Fundamentalist Appearing
In LaHaye and Jenkin’s Glorious Appearing, I found the fundamentalist mindset quite noticeable and disturbing – even before I read the Strozier, which I finished after reading GA. As Colby mentioned, the ideas outlining fundamentalist mindsets – paranoia, dualistic thinking, and rage – are all very clear in Glorious Appearing.
What struck me most, in addition to the connection between Strozier’s essays and the book, was the way I found certain elements of apocalyptic gender roles manifest itself in Glorious Appearing. Most of the men, despite several having lost wives or loved ones, were single-mindedly focused on Jesus and God in a way that on some levels struck me as homo-erotic. I couldn’t help but think of the thousands of virgin men that would enter New Jerusalem and reflect on the characters in Glorious Appearing, who are mainly male. The few women, and the couple of Naomi and Chang, remain almost wholly devoid of any hints of sexuality, though they do seem to fulfill stereotypical gender roles – Leah, the caring female nurse; Rayford, the rippling, gun-slinging action hero – that I also found in line with the gender roles propagated in The Book of Revelation.
Revelation of Watchmen
The Need for the Apocalypse
Both Kermode and Rosen discuss the idea of an apocalypse as a, as Rosen puts it, “sense-making” narrative. Despite it’s clearly morbid message, it provides of reason to live well. It something to analyze one’s behavior against, and provides meaning to actions that would otherwise be meaningless.
Zombie Apocalypse Training
Zombie Apocalypse Training: HALO Corp. To Train Military, Law Enforcement On Virus Outbreak (click for link to HuffPost article)
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is ready for a zombie apocalypse. Gun owners got prepared for a zombie apocalypse. Now, the military and law enforcement are getting ready.
