By:
Carl Beech | Jan 2015
The
EA are asking Christians to boycott The Sun, but if the church wants to reach
it's average reader, we need to think differently says Carl Beech.
I
live in Derbyshire and I sometimes go to my local pub called The Rose and
Crown. I was there last week chatting to the parish priest whilst observing the
largely male clientèle as they laughed and moaned and played dominoes very
loudly. (Yes it can be a loud game). I’ve spent a great deal of the last ten
years of my life talking to working class men (which is my background too)
about Jesus Christ in pubs, working mens clubs, curry houses and sports clubs.
Its
often a little bit “cold” to start with but humour and food normally cuts
through. I’ve got many reflections after all these years but one of them is
that the Christian world I view in church, on social media and on TV/radio is
light years away from the lives that these men live. Sometimes I think even
Scotty wouldn't be able to get the warp drive pumping fast enough to make up
the distance any time soon.
The
Sun claims its has over 7 million readers. 44% of them are apparently women. It
also reaches more men under the age of 35 than its next three nearest
competitors. Crucially its readership is 68% in the C2DE demographic. That's
manual workers (skilled and unskilled), working class, and those not working.
Now,
I don't read The Sun and I’ve actually never, ever purchased a copy. I have
older teenage daughters. I see men looking at them in a way that objectifies
them. I have campaigned to see the eradication of violence against women. I
have counselled countless numbers of men with addictions to pornography. I know
the score. I can't help but feel however
that not many Christians actually read The Sun anyway? I’m not aware of any. I
bet they read The Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Independent, The Times, The
Telegraph.
No comments:
Post a Comment