Time Square's Mad Machine

By: Lauren Fiorica

I was headed to the Bronx one morning and had to transfer trains at the Times Square/Port Authority station to catch a train there. This station has always been one of my favorite and least favorite stations. I love it because it’s huge and there are so many people and so many new things to see. But I don’t love it because it reminds me of terrible, terrible commutes.

Nonetheless, I was walking through the station relatively early in the morning on a Saturday with a friend of mine.  There were people around, but it wasn’t as crazy as it usually is. Perhaps the decrease in foot-traffic allowed me to soak in the station or maybe the decrease in foot-traffic forced me to.

As we turned down one long tunnel it was hard to miss that the entire length of it was lined with religious signs and bible verses. Some of them had verses, like one that read “But he was wounded for our transgressions,” others had warnings such as “Party in hell cancelled due to fire.” And at the end of the platform was a man standing patiently, handing out booklets.

Many people that walked by side-eyed the signs, unable to ignore them, and rushed passed the man. I myself am normally amused by such eccentric displays around New York, but this particular morning I didn’t write it off. I think I made the man’s day when I approached him as he was holding the booklets and asked if I could have one.

I was reminded of the essay “How Things Matter” were a quote is cited saying, “A materialized study of religion begins with the assumption that things, their use, their valuation, and their appeal are not something added to a religion, but rather inextricable from it” (7). Religious artifacts go hand in hand with religion. I think that people practicing different religions find religious things useful in expressing and extending their beliefs. In this case, I think that these signs, their imagery, and this booklet are meant to provoke (not necessarily in a bad way) the viewers. Perhaps the man recognizes that an image can convey the message of a religion to others just as powerfully as words or a testimony.

A look inside the booklet

Later on, I looked through the booklet. It highlights many problems of today’s society, such as war, divorce rates, and drugs in the format of a comic strip. The booklet, entitled “The Mad Machine” ends with a conversation between two men who are discussing their problems. One man says “Jesus is your only hope…he’s the only way to heaven” and the other man can’t believe it, responding with “But…there must be some other way!”I think the booklet was designed to get the reader to question their lives and their priorities and put their troubles on Jesus. With this in mind, the booklet does a good job of stating the gospel.

The point of his overall presentation was to get people to learn about Jesus Christ, and he does this in a very bold way. Beyond Bible verses and depictions of Jesus, a few of the signs lining the platform depicted the graves of various religious figures, such as Buddha, Mohammed and Mary, suggesting that they are dead and unfulfilling. In a city such as New York, where many people have different beliefs, this is truly controversial. It openly asserts that some religions are false, while Christianity is true. This man’s presentation goes against notions of tolerance, while also inviting everyone to come and know his religion. I think that many people walking by might be offended by his setup, but from his perspective, he is spreading the gospel to a sinful city.

Left photo depicts Jesus surrounded by
the graves of other religious figures

This reminded me of Niebuhr’s Moral Man and Immoral Society in a few different ways. The man’s actions reminded me of Niebuhr’s ideas of coercive measures. Niebuhr writes, “A distinction must be made...between the propaganda which a privileged group uses to maintain its privileges and the agitation for freedom and equality arrived on by a disinherited group” (245). I don’t think that the man viewed signs and booklets as a way to keep Christianity the majority religion or brainwash people into his religion. I think he saw his actions as necessary in bringing freedom and hope through Jesus to the people who pass by, even though it would make some people uncomfortable. I think he was willing to make a lot of people uncomfortable if it meant that even a few would find comfort in what he was promoting.

A lot of people take to the streets of New York with signs and pamphlets to share their beliefs. It is certainly a bold, daring, and even inciting approach to demonstrate ones religion in the city, but I think that most of the people behind such actions believe they are looking out for the best interest of those walking by. I can’t say that this particular set of provocative religious artifacts changed any of my beliefs, but I certainly thought about them as I passed by and continued on my commute.

Works Cited:

Houtman, Dick and Birgit Meyer, “Introduction: Material Religion—How Things

Matter” in Things: Religion and the Question of Materiality (2012)

Niebuhr, Reinhold. Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics.

Louisville: Westminister John Knox, 2001. Print.