Friday, December 17, 2004

The New Book Idea

I was struck the other day for an idea for a book. This was not something about theatre and therefore about career advancement but rather just about making money.

Marisa was telling me a story she had read or heard on NPR about a school teacher in California who was suing his district over the content of his syllabus. Apparently under the guise of a US History course this instructor was teaching a class about the importance of Jesus in American government. I'm foggy on the details. The course used George Washington's personal prayer journal as a source document as well as a George W. Bush speech.

I was struck by the curious combination lately in the public conscious tying together our current president, our founding fathers, and Jesus.

Suddenly I had an idea for a book. Since its for contemporary mass consumption it is of course a picture book. Here's the idea, I take iconic American images and then insert Jesus. For example:

You know, connecting our patriotic roots with today's evangelical Christian faith. There are many possibilities: the Boston Tea Party, the signing of the Declaration of Independence... There should be no end of opportunities for images - all of which are in the public domain. I think the title of the book would be "Our Faith is Our Strength." I especially like this one with Jesus sort of Steering the Ship of State. I think that would be the title of this image.

So, I have to explain that part of me thinks this is a little sick. Its just not the part that thinks it will make a lot of money. I believe that the sickness is a marketing tool as well. On the one hand you'll have the people that will buy the thing as a serious testimony to our nation and their faith. On the other hand you'll have a whole population of sarcastic people like me that will buy it for the humor value. I swear it will make a mint.

Anyone out there better with photoshop than I am want to help?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

im totally down with helping out on the photoshop end of it. just let me know what PD photo's you want to use....

steph

Anonymous said...

Let's just say that there's are better, much more historically accurate ways of doing this. e.g. the Crusades...i.e. to achieve salvation by slaying the "infidel."

dad

Anonymous said...

actually....eliminate the 's in the above comment....and I refer you Robert the Monk's account of Urban II's speech at clermont late in the 11th century.

Anonymous said...

see:
http://images.google.com/images?q=urban+II+at+Clermont+images&hl=en&lr=&sa=N&tab=wi&sourceid=tipimg

David said...

For those of you that don't speak HTML thats:

http://images.google.com/images?q=urban+II+at+Clermont+images&hl=en&lr=&sa=N&tab=wi&sourceid=tipimg