"Piety Kills the Creative Mind"

Saw this today as an advertisement for some group of Christian artists...disgusting, isn't it? The all-too typical "Yeah, I'm a Christian, but I don't let that interfere with my art" mentality that we saw a lot of in the 80's and 90's--can anyone say U2? (I had a couple other references jumped to mind this morning, but they've slipped off the tip of my tongue...I may update this later). It's meant to be shocking, it's meant to be in your face, it's meant to challenge your assumptions. Flummery, humbug and balderdash. As with most things meant to shock it just comes across as juvenile. Listen, it's not deep, it's not thoughtful, it's not Christian. It is rebellion.

First, piety doesn't kill the creative mind. Tell that to David. Tell that to Solomon. Tell that to Jesus.

Secondly, what exactly is piety? A couple of my favorite definitions, from that big old nasty opponent of the arts, John Calvin:

• "I call 'piety' that reverence joined with love of God which the knowledge of his benefits induces."
• "True piety consists in a sincere feeling which loves God as Father as much as it fears and reverences Him as Lord, embraces His righteousness, and dreads offending Him worse than death."
  

Give me piety any day.

Now I didn't name the group or link to 'em because I don't want to deal with a bunch of those poseurs coming over here and showing their intellectual superiority over me because they "get it" and I don't. Yeah, I do get it, and I know what name to apply to it. Vanity.