"I think all fiction should be fair game for the Christian market, except porn, of course"
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Jenkins is pitching a boundary that sounds permissive until you notice how carefully it’s fenced. “All fiction” is an expansive, democratizing claim: Christians shouldn’t be relegated to Amish bonnets and altar-call melodrama; they should be able to browse the whole bookstore without flinching. But the phrase “Christian market” gives away the real target. This isn’t a manifesto about artistic freedom so much as a statement about consumer legitimacy: a huge, organized readership wants access, and publishers should stop treating it like a niche that must stay in its inspirational lane.
The “except porn, of course” does two jobs at once. First, it’s a moral checksum, a quick signal to gatekeepers that he’s not smuggling decadence under a liberal-sounding umbrella. Second, “of course” performs social choreography. It preempts the predictable objection - Aren’t you just asking for sanitized art? - by offering an obvious red line that most mainstream audiences will also accept. Porn becomes the consensual villain, letting everything else slide into “fair game” without having to litigate violence, profanity, queerness, blasphemy, or despair - the kinds of material that actually trigger Christian-market controversies.
Context matters: Jenkins is a commercial novelist tied to an ecosystem (big-box retail, church networks, values-driven imprints) where category labels are economic destiny. The line quietly argues for a broader Christian presence in general-market storytelling while preserving the market’s role as a moral filter. It’s less culture war bravado than a bid for expanded shelf space with a carefully maintained halo.
The “except porn, of course” does two jobs at once. First, it’s a moral checksum, a quick signal to gatekeepers that he’s not smuggling decadence under a liberal-sounding umbrella. Second, “of course” performs social choreography. It preempts the predictable objection - Aren’t you just asking for sanitized art? - by offering an obvious red line that most mainstream audiences will also accept. Porn becomes the consensual villain, letting everything else slide into “fair game” without having to litigate violence, profanity, queerness, blasphemy, or despair - the kinds of material that actually trigger Christian-market controversies.
Context matters: Jenkins is a commercial novelist tied to an ecosystem (big-box retail, church networks, values-driven imprints) where category labels are economic destiny. The line quietly argues for a broader Christian presence in general-market storytelling while preserving the market’s role as a moral filter. It’s less culture war bravado than a bid for expanded shelf space with a carefully maintained halo.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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