non-conformity

by austin pfeffer



Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. - romans 12:2

Being "counter-cultural" is all the rage these days. The problem is, we inherited a set of non-conforming practices which have now become conformity. In the post-Woodstock years, art has become a commodity. Clothes and music are not just expression, they are profits. So now its acceptable for Indie rock to be a marketable. Somehow bands like the Phoenix, Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear, Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, are considered "indie rock" even though some of them got heavy playtime during the Super Bowl in car commericals, ads, and game transitions. Tattoos have gone from an act of subversion ("I am thinking of getting one, but not somewhere unreasonable, that I could hide at work") to an act of conformity. I love the following quote from the show HOUSE, when he's interviewing a candidate with a tattoo and the candidate criticizes House for not being accepting of "non-conformity."

"Nonconformity; right... I can't remember the last time I saw a twenty something kid with a tattoo of an Asian letter on his wrist. You are one wicked free thinker! You want to be a rebel; stop being cool. Wear a pocket protector like he does, and get a hair cut. Like the Asian kids that don't leave the library for a twenty hours stretch. They're the ones that don't care what you think." -Dr. Gregory House

I like non-conformity when its sexy, but my wife and some of her friends are just disinterested in culture. I like tattoos and local ag and subverting the need for a phone. Being counter-cultural, non-conformist, subversive, is not to be alternative, its taking a look at culture asking "what is happening?" and doing the opposite. Last night I saw non-conformity at its finest, and it was not sexy.

What is non-conformity on Valentine's Day? Well against my original thinking, Erin and our friend Sally organized us to go to a shelter, in the midst of this freeze-out of the southeast, and hand out hot chocolate to those waiting outside for admittance. I certainly did not lean towards this idea, but they looked at culture "dinner, flowers, gifts, cards" and they suggested the opposite. It was cold, it was not sexy, and it was totally subversive. No card companies made money off us, no florists, no hotels, no restaurants...I learned something, I learned what real subversion is.

counter culture advocates

by austin pfeiffer

Last night at the Franklin House we had our usual Sunday Dinner and Discussion. The topic was James 3:18, the namesake verse for Peacemaker Revolution. We were discussing how the verse relates to conflicts of our city. We decided first, that Shalom, the idea of holistic peace in a universal sense, was not what was being referred to by making "peace." We saw it as a general aura of reconciliation, but without differences. As we went on we decided peace making is NOT two things.

First, you are not an arbiter, Christians that is, because we are not the judge nor the objective source of reason. Second, we are not an advocate for humans. The counter culture of Christians as makers of peace in society, enters here. Christians advocate God, the creator of the world, and as doers of peace, Christians seek to restore the world to its intended unity. If that is the case, peacemaking has everything to do with advocating God and peace, and does not end by advocating the oppressed or seeking justice.

We talked about some heated decisions by local business people and politicians regarding tax money and investments in the city and our group fell on both sides of every argument. We talked about our next door neighbor, a man suffering from throat cancer and out of work, who was evicted from his apartment. The counter culture here is to engage not just the unjustly evicted, the victim of capitalistic ambition, or the overlooked by government care, but engage the oppressor, the landlord, the investor, the mayor.

Our idea of Christian community centers on the microeconomic, the micropolitical, the neighborhood approach to change. We hope to change our corner of the world, take care of our orphans, widows, slaves, on our street and hope that others will do the same in their nest. If we engage our neighbors, all of them, not as arbiters, not as judges, not as representatives of the disenfranchised, but act as advocates for reconciliation in the cases of economic, social, government injustice, then we can call ourselves...makers, doers, of peace.

wrestling with radicalism

by austin pfeiffer


photo from adbusters issue 79


About a year ago, Adbusters had an article describing hipsters as the end of western civilization's great counter-cultural movements. The article draws a great comparison between the seeming counter-culture of hipsterdom with its reliance on consumerism, marketing, and capitalism. I am willing to subject myself to such scrutiny. The article points out the reliance on graphic design, fashion, brand names, and products as part of the movement. Its the first marketable counter culture Adbusters claims.

I've recently been thinking about martyrs. They are not mentioned very frequently these days. We like the idea of counter-culturalism, but for us it means our music independent, our beer hand crafted, and our produce local. But what does it mean to die for a cause? The counter culture of hipsterdom relies on making ourselves comfortable at home in the empire we dwell, even if there is some subversion to the normalcy of it. I think buying local, imbibing the work of artisans, and supporting somewhat non-commodified art are good things, but they lead me down a path of justification. They move from responsibility to activism. Fashion, food, art, are not bad things, but they essentially deal with me...me...me. To participate in these arenas of life would require I do so with some responsibility. Going to a mega-coffee chain for my coffee, buying clothes at a mall, eating out of season imported fruit, are perpetuating injustice and thus we must respond by finding ways to dress, eat, experience art, which are sustainable and productive, but they are not activism.

My fear is that I would become comfortable drinking good beer, hanging out in great coffee shops, riding my bike around town, and wearing American made clothes and were some freakish change to happen in our government and I as a Christian became an outlaw, I would cower from radicalism, resigning it to a justice filled lifestyle still centered on...me. People run across our border everyday risking their lives, people organize underground Churches in their homes in China, the Anabaptists of the 16th century were executed for not marrying their faith with the government and the sword (both, not just the government's army), and the martyrs of the first three centuries were not justice living consumers, they were Christians, pure and simple. They could not be anything else and since that was not legal, they were criminals.

I don't seek to be self-depricating, I will continue to live my earthly life, aware that my sheer existence will in and of itself have a consuming impact on earth. But I hope to keep reminding myself that radicalism does not usually end with me being the recipient of the reward. I don't need to find a way to be punished or persecuted, but I hope I don't live a life which would make it difficult for me to face such a prospect.