On Thursday I am driving to Omaha Nebraska to hear Frank Schaeffer speak. Frank wrote the most excellent book, Crazy For God which I reviewed in a past post as well as a few novels that are currently on my favorite books of all times list. If you haven’t read his Calvin Becker trilogy, Portofino, Saving Grandma, and Zermatt, might I somewhat forcefully encourage you to do so? They are absolutely hysterical books and completely horrifying at the same time. His most recent book Sex, Mom and God is a non-fiction account that centers on his missionary mother’s preoccupation with purity in sex as well as policing the frequency of her adolescent son’s wet dreams. I didn’t enjoy it as much as some of Frank’s other books – a bit too much pontificating on various topics such as abortion and parenting for me, but the parts about his mother are fun to read.
If you have enjoyed any of Schaeffer’s books, you will know that he often writes about his childhood, growing up in a Christian mission dedicated to saving the lost souls of all the European Catholics in the Swiss Alps. His parents were evangelical fundamentalists tasked with the crazy job of informing the world of the life saving power of Jesus even though they wholeheartedly believed that God had already predestined all people to an eternity in either hell or heaven and therefore their “witnessing” was basically for naught. But that did not stop them from doing it anyway! In this regard Frank’s parents remind me of the Phelp’s family who form the notorious “God Hates Fags church” in Topeka, Kansas. In some ways they share the same religious objective which is primarily to avoid the sin of blasphemy - or infuriating a tyrannical God who is at all times poised to unleash all manner of plagues upon your head should you put one toe out of line.
Frank’s parents regarded everything that happened to them, whether it be a flower they found in the woods or a lack of meat at dinner, as a message from God. So trapped were they in their superstitions, they could not see the damage they were doing to their children by ostracizing them from their community and poisoning them against anyone who had an even slightly different theology than they did. Frank grew up watching his parents attempt to convert anyone who came within shouting distance and as a result he learned at a very young age to deceive and manipulate his sisters and his parents in order to create a space for himself outside of their crazy belief system. It is these attempts at deception by Frank that blossom into the crux of his stories. In spite of the grim belief system of his parents, Frank’s stories are largely hilarious. He frequently manages to circumvent the rules of his kooky parents and outwit his obedient and ever watchful older sisters to experience life on his own terms.
There is also a tremendous amount of violence in these books, especially in the fiction series. Frank’s stories show the extreme cognitive dissonance of the Christian faith especially when practiced on a literal and fundamentalist level. Frank depicts a religion that encourages parents to beat their kids, that regards sexuality as something to hide, that glories in self denial and demands complete submission to an invisible and tyrannical God. The father in the Calvin Becker series regularly abuses his wife while the children are beaten with a belt in a detached manner that teaches them that violence can be a cold and calculating act. The mother in these stories is highly manipulative, but couches the power she wields in her family as merely acting as an “instrument of God”. To me, she is the true villain in these books, craftily caging her family in a belief system that she completely controls in spite of humbly playing the part of a help-meet and submissive, obedient servant of God.
Schaeffer’s book Portofino was turned into a film in 1998 starring John Lithgow as the half crazed missionary father and Dianne Weist as the simpering and calculating missionary mom who take an annual trip with their children to the Italian beach resort town of Portofino where they maintain their buttoned up Christian lifestyle, judge everyone who doesn’t and continue to witness for the Lord among the chain smoking, speedo sporting, slick and oiled Europeans who share the beaches with them. Unfortunately the film has never been released.
Schaeffer upcoming lecture is entitled
THE CASE FOR SPIRITUALITY IN THE AGE OF DOUBT:
How Both Atheism and Christian Fundamentalism Miss the Mark on Faith
Afterwards there will be a question and answer session. I have a few questions for Frank. Mostly I want to know if the film is ever going to be released and what percentage of the Calvin Becker books are based on true events and if his mother was as horribly conniving as the character of Elsa Becker. I also hope to ask Frank why he, a man who has witnessed first hand the deprivations of religion, continues not only to believe himself, but to push the idea of belief on others through talks like the one he is giving in Omaha.
If you enjoyed his books and have a question – leave it in the comments. Maybe I will get a chance to ask him. This presentation is also available via live streaming at 7:00 p.m. CST on Thursday January 26th Here’s the link for the video stream – www.darkwoodbrew.org.
I hope to get a few autographed copies of Frank’s books. Look for a giveaway in the near future!
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