2020 Year In Review Wrap-Up
Thank you so much for reading this year. So much has happened this year and it’s crazy looking back on this rollercoaster of a year.
Scroll down and browse my year-end roundup.
2020 Year-End Cultural Thoughts
I have never been more disenfranchised from “American Christianity” than I have this year (though the previous 4 years leading up to this are not far behind.).
I have watched as many family and friends have given themselves over not only to blind allegiance to one political party, but to conspiracy theories and the dehumanization of those who disagree.
The religious tradition I grew up in (vanilla wanna-be mega-church influenced by Focus on the Family) often implicitly carried with it the notion that “to follow Jesus was to be Republican,” but that heresy has never been louder than 2020. People claiming to be “Christians” have not only supported the most divisive, vulgar, criminal, sexually immoral, irreligious president of our time (who tear-gassed a crowd of protesters so that he could take a picture with a bible in front of a church or re-tweeted one of his supporters shouting WHITE POWER at people protesting systemic racism) and have called in to question the very election they were counting on, all while claiming that being asked to wear a mask to protect their neighbors is an “infringement” of their rights.
This year has crystallized the heart-wrenching fact that many people cannot tell the difference between Americanism and Christianity, and if you question them, they will say you are neither. “Pastors” are claiming persecution when all they’ve been asked to do is the bare minimum to look out for others. (Read my piece “Love Your Neighbor, Wear A Mask (Americanism Is Not Christianity)”
Al Mohler has led other SBC seminary presidents in an ill-advised crusade against Critical Race Theory while allowing things like ESS (Eternal Subordination of the Son) to be taught in our seminaries. That, on top of a year when Mohler has refused to rename seminary buildings, he has been revealed to have supported chattel slavery, condemned Harriet Tubman, and admitted he has been influenced by the Lost Cause theory of the South. In his bid to become president of the Southern Baptist Convention, he has wholeheartedly given himself to the Republican Party without apology. (Read my piece “MLK, Trump, "White Moderates", Abortion, And Christian Witness In America”)
And all the while, we have seen the emboldenment of (White) Christian Nationalism erupt like Mount Vesuvius. The “Proud Boys” ripped BLM flags off of churches while the police stood by and anyone who believes in Systemic Racism is apparently a Marxist and hates America. (Read my piece “Nationalism is Anti-Christ” // from 2019).
And it’s hard to understand why so many “Evangelicals” continue to endorse this lying, conniving, sexual assaulting, conning, grifting president. The only answer can be that many American Christians have felt their position of cultural influence slipping away. Why else would you be mad if the grocery cashier doesn’t say “Merry Christmas” or if there are nativity scenes on public property? But these are the very things “pastors” like Robert Jeffress (whose church trademarked the “hymn” Make America Great Again) claim to be persecution. (Read my piece “The False Persecution Complex of American White Evangelicals” and yes, this one was technically from 2019).
I don’t know what 2021 will hold, but I don’t see the waters of Evangelicalism calming any time soon. And this makes me thankful and hopeful. God’s Church will prevail and not even Christian Nationalism, MAGA, or a sexual-predator, White-power president overwhelmingly supported by White Evangelicals will change that.
2020 Year-End Television
With 8 kids, I don’t really get the chances to keep up with television the way that some of you do. That’s not a complaint, just an observation. Because, after all, I am a grown-ass adult and I will make time to watch what is important to me.
With that having been said, there were two television shows that really stood out to me this year. In a year as bleak as 2020, it does not go unnoticed on me that my two favorite television shows of the year both carried themes of positivity with them.
Joe Pera Talks With You, Season 02:
Joe’s awkward but calming presence was just what we needed going in to the final year of the white power president’s administration. And his child-like joy at “discovering” ‘Baba O'Riley’ by the Who is television at its best. No, really, the whole season is worth purchasing and that episode is a hightlight.
Visit Joe Pera’s page at Cartoon Network
Ted Lasso (Season 01):
Apple TV finds their breakout show with the disarmingly positive Ted Lasso. An American “football” coach is brought to England to coach European “football” and surprisingly heartwarming hilarity ensues.
Visit Ted Lasso’s page at Apple TV
2020 Year-End Books and Reading
Well, The only thing from 2020 that I read this year was the fun Grateful Dead Origins graphic novel and Ken Layne’s Desert Oracle (both of which appear here). But that doesn’t mean I didn’t try to do my fair share of reading. It just means that I’m not very good at keeping up with the newest books.
So, here are a few of the books/authors that kept my attention or made an impact on me this year.
Grateful Dead Origins Graphic Novel by Chris Miskiewicz
If you’ve read some of the fuller book-length treatments of the Grateful Dead, there won’t be much “new” material here for you. But that doesn’t make the graphic novel treatment any less enjoyable. Well worth your time if you have any interest in the Dead.
Purchase Grateful Dead Origins by Chris Miskiewicz at Amazon
The Overstory by Richard Powers:
Published in 2018, this beautifully written story collects the stories of seemingly random characters, intertwines them with the story of trees, and leaves us moved. Highly recommended.
The Anatomy Of Peace by The Arbinger Institute
I was assigned this book during my second unit of CPE. I don’t often do this with assigned reading materials, but I asked my wife to read it as well. It was that impactful for me. Telling the story of a 60-day teen AZ desert recovery camp, the authors force us to examine whether our hearts are at war or at peace. This book has been tremendously helpful for my own personal emotional health. Highly recommended.
Purchase The Anatomy of Peace at Amazon
Haruki Murakami
Though I’ve heard of Murakami for years, I had not actually read anything by him until this year. And, I have been captivated. First of all, any novelist who lists Kurt Vonnegut as one of their main influences already has my attention. Couple that with an author who has over 10,000 LPs, most of them jazz records?! I mean, come on, what has taken me so long to read this guy?! Kafka On The Shore was my entry point, and then a friend sent me A Wild Sheep Chase. But after that I decided to work my way through everything else in chronological order. I just started my sixth Murakami book, so that should tell you that I connect.
Desert Oracle Volume 01 by Ken Layne
A collection of tales from the Zine. Layne takes us exploring through the sunbaked Southwest where we meet UFO’s, doomed hikers, gamblers, unknown creatures, and the resiliency of human life. Even in the desert; we can find life.