Onward Christian Skaters

I mentioned before that there was a fast-growing contingent of skaters in the U.S. who are probably just as mad that ESPN took the Christ out of the X-Games as they are that whoever it was took the Christ out of X-Mas.

Skaters and Jesus go back at least to the late '80s, when Mark Gator Rogowski converted to Christianity shortly before being convicted of the murder of Jessica Bergsten. However, whereas the Gator version of Christianity was seen as an insane move by an unstable man, current Christian skaters seem very well-adjusted, and some, including Chad Timtim and Jamie Thomas, are among the most successful in the sport.

For your viewing pleasure I give you Matt Beach's part from Kaleidoscope, a film centered strictly and exclusively on professional skateboarders who walk in the light of the lamb.



Note the force of conviction behind the closing monologue, as well as the references to the lecherous lifestyle that claimed many of the dude's friends. Note also that the skating is on par with most of the stuff you'll see on this blog in terms of creativity and smoothness.

Anyone who saw the eight-year-old blonde girl dancing to Christian metal in Jesus Camp knows that we live in an age where evangelical Christianity is willing to branch out into hip subcultures in an effort at rescuing more souls from Satan's grasp. It's therefore not much of a surprise or a shock that skating has its share of believers. Still, there exists some apparent contradiction between the often reactionary mores of Christianity and the devil-may-care (or even I-like-the-devi), punk attitude that characterizes much of skateboarding:


Thrasher Magazine

Zoo Ministries

From 777 Skateboards' Web site:

What does “777” stand for? In the Bible, the number 7 stands for completion and perfection- 777 is the alternative to 666- and you don’t need to be a Christian to know what that stands for. If you are tired of skulls and crossbones, violent “cartoons” and messages of death- if you are looking for something different-
check out what we have to offer.

Notice the up-front presentation of coolness as uncool and vice versa. The style is somewhat reminiscent of straight-edge (that is, convictions--and not just shocking lifestyles--are the true currency of cool).

The attitude is much less confrontational with skatepunk ideology than it seems on the surface. The smoothness with which these videos carry over is abetted greatly by the ease with which one can get over atheistic hoitytoit and just enjoy watching these guys rip it. In fact, the similarities between these guys and other pros far overshadow the differences, in terms of both interest and scope. The way Kaleidoscope's skaters talk about Jesus is very similar to the way most skaters talk about skating. And they rip just as hard. Chad Timtim:



Stoked, the documentary about Gator's rise and fall

Family Christian Stores catalog listing for Kaleidoscope

777 Skateboards