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Trend: A Pattern of LifeTREND: A PATTERN OF LIFE A 'ground-breaking and convention-shattering book' shouts the blurb, 'written and observed' by Sue Rinaldi, a Christian who has 'stormed Wembley Stadium with her music'. Excited? This book certainly promises a great deal and contains a vast amount of material, covering social change, spirituality, androgyny, eco-warriors, singleness, medical ethics . . . Rinaldi races through contemporary culture, offering her descriptions and opinions of its curiosities, hence the title Trend. Her narrative is full of statistics and memorable quotations, helpfully highlighted for easy browsing, with the occasional resume of philosophical history, so Heidegger, Julian of Norwich, Tinky Winky and Princess Diana all receive attention. Observation, however, not analysis, is what Trend offers. There is an acknowledgement that we are in a post-modern culture, but there is no real critique or biblically-informed response to it. Clearly Rinaldi wants to show the hope of the gospel in an attractive light but she has out-manoeuvred herself by choosing this format. She optimistically traces signs of spiritual interest in the new 'Generation Y' (less despairing, more moral than Generation X) evidenced in renewed interest in celibacy, healing and ethics, and hints obliquely that Christ has something to offer here. For example, she interviews a Christian involved in a healing ministry, slots in quotations from Jeremiah when discussing abortion and includes words from a Christian writer on singleness. Yet this journalistic style Rinaldi herself has adopted means that references to Christ are infrequent and woven into the narrative as if Christianity is just another trend. All of this begs the question: who is this book aimed at? Seemingly from the cover which downplays Rinaldi's Christian credits, the intended audience is the thoughtful non-believer, but I fear that this book can do little to deepen spiritual interest because of its very optimistic nature. Moral problems are highlighted, but they remain 'out there', so the reader is never forced to face his or her own guilt. The thoughtful non-believer can be aware of these issues simply by reading the newspapers. Surely Christians can say so much more to today's Generation Y! For the Christian, this book has an impressive range of sound-bites in a small number of pages, but for cultural insight, why not read the papers and dip into Francis Schaeffer? Sarah Allen© Evangelicals Now - August 1999 |