From The New York Times
Aurelio F. Barreto runs a chain of five stores, all in Southern California malls,
called C28. That name is a reference to the verse Colossians 2:8, ''See
to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive
philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles
of this world rather than on Christ.'' What's interesting is not so much the messages that the hoodies,
belt buckles and other items carry, but rather their graphic style,
which looks more suited to a skate or surf boutique, or perhaps the
goth-ish mall chain Hot Topic.
In the book ''Selling God,'' R. Laurence Moore argues that this
interplay is inevitable: ''If religion is to be culturally central, it
must learn to work with other things that are also central.'' In a more
distant past, that might have meant working with the king. In America
since the 19th century, it has meant working with the pop-culture
market. In the early 1900's, the popular revival preacher Billy Sunday
sold picture postcards of himself and his family, along with souvenir
hymnals, at his events. The early publishing industry was at first seen
by some as a rival to religion, but then moral tales and tracts used
this new pop form to spread a spiritual message. Moore quotes the
thinking of the American Tract Society, a major religious publisher, in
1834: ''The young demand something more entertaining than mere didactic
discussion.''
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