Aug 31, 2015 | Culture
Mars Hill is the famous place in Athens where the Apostle Paul debated with and spoke to Greek philosophers as described in Acts 17. It is also the name of an audio journal produced by Ken Myers for more than 20 years. A couple years ago Andrew Ferguson at the Weekly Standard wrote a great piece about Myers that prompted me to start subscribing to Mars Hill Audio. Myers is definitely a high culture guy, so you won’t find any analysis of pop culture in the journal, but he always does thoughtful interviews that teach me things I didn’t know, and helps to expand my understanding of the world as a Christian. (more…)
Jul 29, 2015 | Culture
Most people would date the start of the culture wars to the 1960s and the sexual revolution, but the secular left’s war against all things traditional actually began with the Chambers-Hiss case in 1948, according to Mark Judge. He makes a persuasive case. More surprising to some would be the man he puts at the heart of the effort to fight back against this alien religion, Richard Nixon. And that’s exactly what Judge argues, that communism and it’s offspring, modern liberalism, is a religion. (more…)
Jul 13, 2015 | Culture
What is this world coming to when The Onion can mock the abortion industry without any seeming embarrassment or concern? That’s just what they did in one of their faux news stories, “Planned Parenthood Opens $8 Billion Abortionplex.” A mall dedicated to abortion! It’s really kind of astonishing when you think about it. The Onion’s is a reliably liberal take on the world, although I don’t doubt that they are equal opportunity offenders. (more…)
Jul 2, 2015 | Culture
David Harsanyi at The Federalist is one such conservative supporter who is having second thoughts. In “Was I Wrong To Support Gay Marriage?” he articulates what should have been obvious to everyone from pretty much the beginning of the push to redefine marriage:
I’ve supported same-sex marriage ever since I first heard the idea. And when I became a political columnist in the early 2000s—despite being the “conservative” at a good-sized newspaper—I was the only one at the paper (as far as I can recall) who unequivocally backed gay marriage publicly. Though I wasn’t gullible enough to believe I’d be persuading many readers, I was gullible enough to believe that my allies in the cause were merely concerned with “equality.”
As we dig out from the avalanche of half-baked platitudes about “love being love” and watch alleged news organizations and the White House adorn themselves in cheerful rainbows, we can look forward to the self-righteous mobs that will be defaming anyone who is reluctant to embrace the state’s new definition of marriage. Love is love, except when a person loves their God and follows the principles of their faith, evidently.
Do a majority of Americans who support gay marriage believe these traditionalists deserve to be treated like unrepentant Klan boosters? Of course, there will always be the obnoxious Puritan, as the quote goes, who loves God with all his soul, but hates his neighbor with all his heart. But, as any honest observer would tell you, there are also many profoundly decent religious people who aren’t filled with enmity, aren’t bigoted, aren’t hateful, but do still hold long-established notions about what marriage should look like.
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Jun 30, 2015 | Culture
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize that our entire culture is in trouble. We are staring down the barrel of a loaded gun, and we can no longer afford to act like it’s loaded with blanks. The guidance counselor at a public high school near my home confessed to a parents’ group that the teenagers who have attended the school during the last ten years are the most dysfunctional, illiterate group he has witnessed in close to forty years at the same school. Our society has replaced heroes with celebrities, the quest for a well-informed character with the search for flat abs, substance and depth with image and personality. In the political process, the makeup man is more important than the speech writer, and we approach the voting booth, not on the basis of a well-developed philosophy of what the state should be, but with a heart full of images, emotions, and slogans all packed into thirty-second sound bites. The mind-numbing, irrational tripe that fills TV talk shows is digested by millions of bored, lonely Americans hungry for that sort of stuff. What is going on here? What has happened to us?
—J.P. Moreland, Loving God with All Your Mind
Jun 29, 2015 | Culture
The title of a piece in the LA Times after the gay marriage ruling: “Years before court ruling, pop culture shaped same-sex marriage debate.” Ya think!” In fact, film and television have made homosexuality almost ubiquitous, to the point where many Americans think that gays make up 30 to 40 percent of the population. The gay rights movement has said one in 10 is homosexual, but the actual percent is under two. This issue turned Hollywood into a propaganda machine. From the Times:
The Supreme Court on Friday legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. But years before that 5-4 decision, film and TV helped spur Americans’ acceptance of gays and lesbians.
“Movies and television have played an immense role in getting us here — and I’m going to take some credit for the TV side,” said Michael Lombardo, the programming president of HBO, which brought the gay-themed plays “Angels in America” and “The Normal Heart” to television, and has prominently featured gay characters on such series as “Six Feet Under,” “Sex and the City” and “Looking,” about the relationships of a group of gay friends in San Francisco.
“TV has been a powerful influence because it brings the lives of gays and lesbians into people’s homes and that has increased people’s understanding,” added Lombardo, who is gay.
Perhaps the watershed moment was the 1997 episode of ABC’s sitcom “Ellen,” in which star Ellen DeGeneres came out to 42 million viewers (and some advertiser backlash). But there are many other examples of popular film and TV shows that have influenced public opinion.
The authors of the piece make a statement that is at one time absolutely true and absolutely not. After giving an impressive list of gay stories in cinema and television history, they state:
Such moments point once again to Hollywood’s unique role in reflecting changing social attitudes.
There is no doubt that Hollywood reflects the cultural zeitgeist, but there is absolutely no doubt Hollywood determines it as well. Their statement seems to imply the culture changed before Hollywood did, but the Supreme Court last week would have never invented a “right” to same-sex marriage apart from the influence of Hollywood on the culture. For those of a more conservative bent, especially my Evangelical brothers and sisters, who want to see the culture move in their direction, an “invasion” of Hollywood would be a good place to start.
Mars Hill is the famous place in Athens where the Apostle Paul debated with and spoke to Greek philosophers as described in Acts 17. It is also the name of an audio journal produced by Ken Myers for more than 20 years. A couple years ago Andrew Ferguson at the Weekly Standard wrote a great piece about Myers that prompted me to start subscribing to Mars Hill Audio. Myers is definitely a high culture guy, so you won’t find any analysis of pop culture in the journal, but he always does thoughtful interviews that teach me things I didn’t know, and helps to expand my understanding of the world as a Christian. (more…)
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