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Becoming Barnum

There is an episode of Southpark in which the character Cartman exploits his knowledge of Christianity to form a 'Christian' rock band in an effort to become wealthy. As a former believer in all the wonderful irrationality that is Christianity, I have wondered if it would be immoral to feign belief for the purpose of increasing the likelihood of me being successful at an endeavor. Within a Christian market, using Christian references in or on a product is tantamount to having brand recognition in secular society. It would be very easy to exploit this for gain as P.T. Barnum exploited the gullibility of those who viewed his exibits uncritically. He could have, and may have, justified the cynical exploitation of his audience by claiming that they wanted to be fooled. However, there is a dintinction between wanting to be amazed and suspend belief and not realizing at any point that you are being fooled. I suppose that if a former believer were resentful of Christianity, they could simply kill all Christians as Hitler attempted to kill the Jews. Wouldn't it be better to just fool them into giving you their money? I am not refering to something as immoral as faith healing while you know full well that you cannot help them and that they require medical treatment. I mean artistic expression that it uplifting to believers with the false claim that you are a true believer, just like them. What do you think?

Tags: Barnum, cynical, exploitation

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Permalink Reply by Zero_6ix on September 8, 2010 at 9:49am

Interesting question. I'm always of the mind to KEEP IT REAL, and as such would personally avoid this situation. I wouldn't want to feel disingenuous, but at the same time, the opportunity is ripe for the picking. There is indeed money to be made, and there is no real pre-requisite to actually be a christian to record christian rock. Just watch out for that back-lash should the truth become exposed and keep any snarky bad-mouth sessions to a minimum.

As for the morality, well, you aren't saying anything they don't want to hear, and you aren't going to be making inflated claims. Sounds golden.

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Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on September 14, 2010 at 9:31am

I see your point, but people like Barnum were predatory in their own way. Sure, I guess you can claim the people got what they deserved, and perhaps wanted, too. But people like Barnum have to maintain constant vigilance it seems, and exist in a perpetual state of insincerity. I could not do that, and I don't think life would be rewarding for me. If you could do that, I think it would have to sync with your personality -- because if it is antithetical to your personality, it would not likely be sustainble.