Nothing More Ugly Than an Orthodoxy Without Understanding

As you consider artistic expressions in our culture that you would consider obscene or harmful (Lady Gaga comes to mind) keep in mind this quote from Francis Schaeffer from a few decades ago:

These paintings, these poems and these demonstrations which we have been talking about are the expression of men who are struggling with their appalling lostness. Dare we laugh at such things? Dare we feel superior when we view their tortured expressions in their art? Christians should stop laughing and take such men seriously. Then we shall have the right to speak again to our generation. These men are dying while they live, yet where is our compassion for them? There is nothing more ugly than an orthodoxy without understanding or without compassion.

- Francis Schaeffer, The God Who is There

(HT:  Doug G.)