Jessica Simpson strikes back

The following is from today's MSNBC:

Jessica Simpson is telling some Christians to take a walk.

A group called The Resistance has accused Simpson of looking like "a stripper” in her video for “These Boots Were Made for Walking.” In the video, the “Dukes of Hazzard” star washes a car while wearing a barely-there bikini.

But Simpson, a pastor’s daughter, says that sort of attitude is why she didn’t pursue a career as a Christian singer. “It didn’t really surprise me because I grew up with a lot of that backlash,” Simpson said, according to World Entertainment News Network. “That’s why I didn’t end up going into the Christian music industry. I think that if they're really good Christians the judgment wouldn't be there.”

I really do have some sympathy for people who try to be Christians in the mainstream marketplace. I know that they are targets for anybody who has their own narrow view of the way Christians should act. I have referred to this in my previous post about Jessica Simpson's video for These Boots Are made for Walking. But is Jessica really being fair here? Is The Resistance being fair? I have never heard of the Resistance before today so I did a little research - it wasn't hard - and discovered that they are a very different group from most mainstream Christians. In fact, the way MSNBC characterises them, simply as Christians, is hardly fair to the rest of us. I am so in disagreement with their views that I don't even want to link to their site. Here is a sample. The Resistance's website says that "There is a Satanic pentagram clearly designed in the street layout of Washington D.C." So this is a group that isn't really on the same page as I am. What they wrote regarding Jessica is a lot more inflammatory than MSNBC lets on. I am willing to bet that Simpson really doesn't know much about this group other than that some reporter told her that a Christian group said she looked like a stripper. Given that I can understand her reaction. My initial reaction to her quote, without knowing any more background than the short MSNBC article has, is that Simpson is unfairly characterizing Christians as heartless critics who can do little but take potshots at people trying to be light in the world. However, it seems that more often than I'd like to acknowledge, that view might be more true than I think.

It is also worth noting, however, that even MSNBC characterises her wardrobe in the video in question and "barely there." I still think it was a mistake for her to make the video in that way. it's one thing to dance like that in your living room (see my earlier post for her father's response) but quite another when the whole world is watching. But, given these two choices, I'm with Jessica on this one.