What is secular? The most common use of this word is non-religious. In other words, most people when they use the word secular are referring to their life in the "secular" world like their job or sports. Recently, I was listening to an interview of a contributor to a book called Faith, Film, and Philosophy. This book allows leading Christian thinkers to pick a movie or two and write about the bigger message and issues raised and give some Christian response to it. The guest was asked if he had to pick one bigger agenda being pushed either consciously or unconscioiusly by Hollywood, what would that be. He didn't speak about permiscuous sex or overt slams on Christianity or attitudes about violence or many social issues. Instead, he spoke of an all consuming secular way of looking at life all the time. He clarifies the way in which he means secular. Secularism is basically an attitude that states, "even if God exists, He is irrelevant to how we live our lives on a daily basis." Certainly, most of the films that receive high praise from Hollywood elites show this man-centered view as being THE relevant way to consider the human condition(think Oscar nominations). However, most people I know don't think such films are in touch with the way they view the world anyway. The shows and films I'm concerned with are the biggest popular hits for TV and film. The characters never seem to consult God for their ethical choices, turn to him in their hour of need, profess any devotion to God, or discuss any matters about their faith in God and how that influences their lives.
In the words of the guest being interviewed, "if you truly take the existence of God seriously in regard to His influence and meaningfulness in daily life, it is inevitable that God Himself becomes a character in the show or film if even only indirectly."
The key issue about this to me is NOT that most people who are in power in Hollywood don't consider God to truly be relevant, but that those people saturate our most popular films with this conclusion in a thousand subtle ways. This, in turn, creates a perception in people's minds about how people in general view the world and the way things truly are. Perhaps worst of all, it creates thousands of specific ways on "how-to" live your life without God. The key to appreciating the seriousness of this trend is in grasping the subtlety AND the complete saturation of it. Whether it is Jack Ryan, Jack Bauer, or Jack Shepherd, not a single one has ever uttered a single prayer in all the times I've watched them.
One last point,
1. How often do you consult God about your ethical choices?
2.Do you turn to Him in your hour of need?
3.Do you profess your devotion to Him?
4.Do you discuss the impact of your faith in Him with others?
We are not called to be Jack-like. We're called to be Christlike.
3 comments:
Hip Hip Hurrah. I totally agree! Well said....Mom
Good post. I especially like the part at the end where you steer us to think about our personal life. It's always easy to see how the world doesn't consult or consider God, but then you promt us to look at ourselves.
On another note: My favorite shows are 1 - Battlestar Galactica. The whole theme of that show is one where key players on both sides consult God in one way or another. It's a show about God..not that it is correct in all it's assumtions of God. But that shows over now.
The other one is Heroes: This show is not NEAR as overt as Battlestar, but key players have prayed, and there is a hint of a higher plan.
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