Not Your Mother's Morals
Not Your Mother’s Morals: How the New Sincerity is Changing Pop Culture for the Better
In Not Your Mother’s Morals: How the New Sincerity is Changing Pop Culture for the Better, Jonathan D. Fitzgerald argues that today’s popular music, movies, TV shows, and books are making the world a better place. For all the hand-wringing about the decline of morals and the cheapening of culture in our time, contemporary media brims with examples of fascinating and innovative art that promote positive and uplifting moral messages—without coming across as “preachy.”
The catch? Today’s moral messages can be quite different than the ones your mother taught you. Fitzgerald compares the pop culture of yesterday with that of today and finds that while both are committed to major ideals—especially God, Family, and Country—the nature of those commitments has shifted.
In his witty, expressive style, Fitzgerald explains how we’ve arrived at the era of New Sincerity and why it’s good news for our future.
The Author:
Jonathan D. Fitzgerald’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Religion Dispatches and more. He is an editor at Patrolmag.com and writes a column for the popular religion website Patheos.
The Endorsements:
“Jonathan Fitzgerald is a young talent in the religion journalism world.”
-Mark Oppenheimer, “Beliefs” columnist for the New York Times and author
“In a world full of paper-thin facades and knock-offs, Jonathan Fitzgerald points the way forward to a more authentic future. In Not Your Mother’s Morals, he explains how the new sincerity movement in contemporary pop culture is making way for moral storytelling in unlikely places. I highly recommend this engaging book written by one of the rising generation’s most thoughtful cultural observers.”
– Jonathan Merritt, author of A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars
“I say this — and I say it sincerely — that Jonathan Fitzgerald is an astute observer of Christianity in Western culture. By turning ‘conventional wisdom’ on its head, he shows us some truth we would not otherwise have seen: that the ‘new sincerity’ is in fact good for us, for our faith, and for our culture. Someone might even say that it’s virtuous. Highly recommended.”
-Tony Jones blogs at Patheos, writes books on Christian theology, and is the theologian-in-residence at Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis
“Our generation of writers has spent an enormous amount of energy trying to understand where Christian engagement with popular culture was going after the evangelical bubble exploded. ‘Not Your Mother’s Morals’ has arrived just as we’re able to start looking back and making sense of the trajectory, and it is an excellent guide to a cultural landscape that many of our parents are just beginning to understand.”
-David Sessions, religion reporter for Newsweek/The Daily Beast and founding editor of Patrolmag.com
“Fitzgerald is poignant, with a voice that forces you to confront the source of your perspective. This work expresses emerging generations’ sentiments simply, effectively, and vitally. He makes a point that many have felt, but few can articulate.”
-Andrew Schwab, Frontman of Project 86 and Author of The Tin Soldiers