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This week, praise the lord. Let's face it, Christianity has a bit of an image problem. I don't mean Jesus here – there's a certain timelessness about an omnipotent Saviour of all humanity, and he's not likely to mess up by selling out. No, I mean the traditionalist and conservative image of Christians that many of us grew up with.But guess what? There are Christians out there making compelling web content that even a Philistine could enjoy. Ship Of Fools is by far one of the best, most “progressive” Christian sites on the net. It calls itself the “magazine of Christian unrest” and it isn't afraid to recognise and laugh at the (many) idiosyncrasies of organised religion. This makes for immediately engaging reading and there's plenty of genuinely amusing, thought-provoking material to enjoy – such as the popular Mystery Worshipper reports on church services (includes pew comfort ratings) and Fruitcake Zone, the web links area that “puts the ‘fun’ back into fundamentalism”. The people behind Ship of Fools were also responsible for The Ark, an innovative project which claimed to be “the world's first internet reality gameshow”. I'm not even going to try to explain the highly convoluted premise, as I’m lazy and it's much easier for you to see for yourself. If multi-user 3D environments are a bit too contemporary for your taste, perhaps you’re one of those people who find concepts easier to understand when rendered in Lego. Y’know, concepts like the profiles of leading social theorists. Or the Bible. That’s right - the internet's “The Reverend” Brendan Powell Smith (who is “not an ordained member of any earthly church, and is widely regarded as being both highly presumptuous and extremely vain”) has been illustrating Bible passages using the easy-to-swallow toy. Evangelists should be thankful that as a resource, The Brick Testament is a little more respectful of its subject matter than The Reverend's old Second Coming cartoon strips. So what can the Christian church at large learn from all this? Maybe the answer to their problem is a reality gameshow set in a replica Ark made out of Lego. Just a thought.
David Thair
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comment by rowan
Jun 30, 2006
I can't recommend The Brick Testament more highly, this morning I've been very much enjoying the bible's nudity, sex, violence and cursing recreated in the medium of Lego. It's quite literally a revelation (sorry...). I also like the fact that lots of them appear to be wearing Star Wars tops.
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related info
 useful linksark.saintsimeon.co.uk theory: lego-theorists www.thereverend.com www.thebricktestament.com bradthegame: second coming
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