With the rapid onslaught of objectionable TV shows, books, and other media, some Christian individuals and families have decided upon one thing for media consumption: forbid all secular works, but permit ALL creations of Christians. Is this really a desirable, realistic standard, or is it going too far in the worthy mission of protecting family purity?
Grounded in the knowledge of the Bible and faith in God, a quality Christian film will be nothing but wholesome and family-oriented. Who can forget the “Sunday morning values” and “Saturday morning fun” of VeggieTales? Who can resist the gripping stories, great illustrations of Biblical truths, and professional acting of such Christian movies as Overcome, The Open Door, and Courageous? It would be a joy to watch wholesome Christian films. There is no woke messaging at all. They present strong applications of Biblical values. Every family can—and should—allow their children to enjoy this kind of movie from time to time.
Without a doubt, controversial media is prevalent in society. Take, for example, shows such as Arthur, Star Wars Resistance, and Star vs. the Forces of Evil. Each of these shows has a premise that children will be intrigued by and fascinated with. The producers of these secular television series cash in on a child’s innocence to tempt them with woke storylines. Since the TV producers have/had money (or federal funding, in Arthur’s case) riding on it and therefore fear losing popularity and viewership, it has become harder and harder to find an animated show or live-action sitcom (especially for the non-preschool age groups) that does not glamorize controversial issues. This is probably why some families refuse to watch any cultural artifact unless the producers are Christian.”
Can non-Christians produce anything remotely family-friendly? They can. They DO.
As Grace Seymour put it while consoling her brother John in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1871 society novel Pink and White Tyranny, “You will never make me believe, (John), that there are any human beings absolutely without the capability of good.” Because all human beings are made in the image of God, and He has implanted an idea of His laws (even though people repeatedly break them) in everyone’s hearts, all of us, including non-Christians, are capable of making family-oriented media. Published by Bob Jones Press, the Biblical Worldview book calls this principle “common grace.” Everyone needs God’s “special grace” to redeem their souls. However, because non-Christians possess a sense of morality that is also called “common grace,” they will be able to produce decent media.
Take, for example, a secular cultural artifact such as Sonic Underground. The studio produced only 40 episodes of this 1999 DIC Entertainment cartoon; it was a quick sales pitch for the SEGA Dreamcast console, but many of these 40 episodes are very wholesome. It treats evil as evil and has a generally positive message. It has storylines of good vs. evil in which good ultimately wins.
Sometimes, items made by professing believers are really just cheap junk, and may even have doctrinal error. Trinity Broadcasting Network is a bottomless pit of doctrinal error, with its un-Biblical teaching that God always wants to give believers more stuff and that poverty is a sign of sin. Many “healings” on TBN are edited, choreographed, staged footage, sending the red flag that they are fake.
Have you ever listened to some music playing on K-LOVE or Family Life Radio? Some of these artists sound as though they're imitating the world’s worldliest raps or raves, but inserting “God” or “Jesus” where needed, and just enough of His Name to sound somewhat distinct from other rappers’ work.
Evidently, sometimes a non-Christian can produce a better final product than a professing Christian. To summarize, condemning all non-Christian works and consuming all Christian works is being too strict with media. Some cartoons, books, or movies produced by non-Christians are quite wholesome and teach positive messages, and some media produced by believers is full of false teaching. This dynamic was more noticeable with older, pre-2019 historical eras.
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