EBOOK
About
An empathetic, funny, and sharply critical collection of essays exploring the Christian pop culture of the 2000s and its influence on today's politically powerful evangelicalism
In 1999, after three years of secular living in Eastern Europe, Joelle Kidd moved back to Canada and was enrolled in the strange world of an evangelical Christian school. In Jesusland, Joelle writes about the Christian pop culture that she was suddenly immersed in, from perky girl bands to modest styling tips, and draws connections between this evangelical subculture and the mainstream, a tense yet reciprocal relationship that both disavows the secular while employing its media markers. But none of this was just about catchy songs: every abstinence quiz in a teen magazine was laying the foundation for what would become a conservative Christian movement that threatens women's healthcare, attacks queer and trans rights, and drives present-day political division.
Through nine incisive, honest, and emotional essays, Jesusland exposes the pop cultural machinations of evangelicalism, while giving voice to aughts-era Christian children and teens who are now adults looking back at their time, measuring the length of their skirts, and asking each other if their celebrity crush was Christian enough. With care and generosity, Jesusland shows us how the conservative evangelical movement became the global power it is today by exploring the pop culture that both reflected and shaped an entire generation of young people. In Jesusland, Joelle Kidd writes about her evangelical adolescence through the lens of Christian pop culture of the early 2000s, linking it to the rise of today's far-right politics.
Joelle Kidd is a writer, award-winning journalist, and editor living in Toronto. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in outlets including The Walrus, LitHub, Catapult, PRISM International, Prairie Fire, and This Magazine. Joelle holds an MFA from the University of Guelph's Creative Writing program. Jesusland is her first book.
• Wow, Not What I'd Call Music: The Strange Mirror World of Christian Pop
• Boy's Bible, Girl's Bible: Gender, Purity Culture, and the "New Look for Teen Bible Publishing"
• Pledges and Purity Rings: The Rise of Abstinence Teachings for a Generation Told That True Love Waits
• Declarations of War: The War on Terror, the Culture Wars, and the Christian Persecution Complex
• The Root of All Evil: The Bible Publishing Industry, The "Prosperity Gospel," and the Shepherd's Guide
• First There Was Nothing, and Then It Exploded: Creationism, Anti-Evolution, and Religious Freedom
• Jesus at the Box Office: Passion of the Christ, October Baby, Fireproof, and Other Faith-Based Films
• Clean Comedy: Being Funny within a Moralistic Worldview
• Armageddon Outta Here: Climate Change and the End of the World
"Joelle Kidd's tour through the uncanny realms of Christian pop culture feels like having a lively, illuminating conversation with your smartest friend. Braiding relentless curiosity, sharp argument, and wry comedy, Kidd offers a lucid critique of evangelicalism that is always attentive to, and respectful of, the mysteries of faith. This is cultural criticism at its finest. I'll read anything Kidd writes." - Tajja Isen, author of Some of My Best Friends
Sales and Market Bullets
• THE TIME IS NOW: As millennials and Generation Z mature into older adulthood and Y2K/aughts nostalgia peaks, and with the explosion of documentaries and writing about the role of Christian evangelicalism in the resurgence of far-right politics, Jesusland - which explores the often silly, sometimes hypocritical, and usually cringey pop culture produced by Christian creators in the early 2000s - is a timely book.
• FROM THE EDITOR: "Now that the children and teens of the early 2000s have becom
In 1999, after three years of secular living in Eastern Europe, Joelle Kidd moved back to Canada and was enrolled in the strange world of an evangelical Christian school. In Jesusland, Joelle writes about the Christian pop culture that she was suddenly immersed in, from perky girl bands to modest styling tips, and draws connections between this evangelical subculture and the mainstream, a tense yet reciprocal relationship that both disavows the secular while employing its media markers. But none of this was just about catchy songs: every abstinence quiz in a teen magazine was laying the foundation for what would become a conservative Christian movement that threatens women's healthcare, attacks queer and trans rights, and drives present-day political division.
Through nine incisive, honest, and emotional essays, Jesusland exposes the pop cultural machinations of evangelicalism, while giving voice to aughts-era Christian children and teens who are now adults looking back at their time, measuring the length of their skirts, and asking each other if their celebrity crush was Christian enough. With care and generosity, Jesusland shows us how the conservative evangelical movement became the global power it is today by exploring the pop culture that both reflected and shaped an entire generation of young people. In Jesusland, Joelle Kidd writes about her evangelical adolescence through the lens of Christian pop culture of the early 2000s, linking it to the rise of today's far-right politics.
Joelle Kidd is a writer, award-winning journalist, and editor living in Toronto. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in outlets including The Walrus, LitHub, Catapult, PRISM International, Prairie Fire, and This Magazine. Joelle holds an MFA from the University of Guelph's Creative Writing program. Jesusland is her first book.
• Wow, Not What I'd Call Music: The Strange Mirror World of Christian Pop
• Boy's Bible, Girl's Bible: Gender, Purity Culture, and the "New Look for Teen Bible Publishing"
• Pledges and Purity Rings: The Rise of Abstinence Teachings for a Generation Told That True Love Waits
• Declarations of War: The War on Terror, the Culture Wars, and the Christian Persecution Complex
• The Root of All Evil: The Bible Publishing Industry, The "Prosperity Gospel," and the Shepherd's Guide
• First There Was Nothing, and Then It Exploded: Creationism, Anti-Evolution, and Religious Freedom
• Jesus at the Box Office: Passion of the Christ, October Baby, Fireproof, and Other Faith-Based Films
• Clean Comedy: Being Funny within a Moralistic Worldview
• Armageddon Outta Here: Climate Change and the End of the World
"Joelle Kidd's tour through the uncanny realms of Christian pop culture feels like having a lively, illuminating conversation with your smartest friend. Braiding relentless curiosity, sharp argument, and wry comedy, Kidd offers a lucid critique of evangelicalism that is always attentive to, and respectful of, the mysteries of faith. This is cultural criticism at its finest. I'll read anything Kidd writes." - Tajja Isen, author of Some of My Best Friends
Sales and Market Bullets
• THE TIME IS NOW: As millennials and Generation Z mature into older adulthood and Y2K/aughts nostalgia peaks, and with the explosion of documentaries and writing about the role of Christian evangelicalism in the resurgence of far-right politics, Jesusland - which explores the often silly, sometimes hypocritical, and usually cringey pop culture produced by Christian creators in the early 2000s - is a timely book.
• FROM THE EDITOR: "Now that the children and teens of the early 2000s have becom