So, to be a cover family of a thriving family, this must be what people are looking for…
Dear Lord, I hope your portrait of a thriving family is much broader. Its my prayer that Heaven is full of people who aren’t like me yet thrived in their life with Jesus. Amen.
p.s. In fairness, the rest of the magazine exhibits plenty of diversity of race. Single, no-children, working class, or non-American… not so much.
With just a few months left until the general election the talking heads are busy hypothesizing about minutia. Of course the truth is that both the McCain and Obama campaigns are largely on hiatus. They are fund raising and building networks while Americans enjoy the summer.
I think the media is doing their best to keep this race interesting. In fact, most people believe it will be a blowout. I think we’re talking Bush vs. Dukakis numbers for Obama in November. Bush won 80% of the electorate in 1988 and I think Obama may win more than that.
Here’s why I’m predicting a landslide. (Please note, I’m not “endorsing a candidate.” Truth is, I’m voting for GW Bush. He bought my vote again!)
In 2000 and 2004, the media said that evangelicals like me elected George W. Bush as president. It’s my prediction that a massive shift will happen in 2008 as young evangelical voters decide they are ready to cease single issue voting. And the truth is, once you get to non-abortion issues that evangelicals care about… the pendulum will shift.
Tired of judges being attacked, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has created a video game to teach children how the justice system works.
“In recent years I’ve become increasingly concerned about vitriolic attacks by some members of Congress, some members of state legislatures and various private interest groups … on judges,” O’Connor told the Games For Change conference on using gaming technology for social improvement and education.
“We hear a great deal about judges who are activists — godless, secular, humanists trying to impose their will on the rest of us,” she said. “Now I always thought an activist judge was one who got up in the morning and went to work.” story link
I wonder if Focus on the Family will come out with a counter-video game about how former judges are the scourge of the earth? Wouldn’t that be delicious?
This story caught me off guard and I just find it funny. While I’m not a huge fan of James Dobson, I love what he teaches about raising kids. Like many other evangelicals I just wish he’d stop saying “activist liberal judges” any time someone puts a microphone in front of his face.
I’ve talked about this before. But I think it is safe to say James Dobson no longer represents the middle of the road Christian. I don’t think I’m in the middle of the evangelical road, but I think it’s becoming clear that he’s now losing traction with the masses.
I hate to sound like Rush Limbaugh. But I predicted sentiments like this. Middle of the road evangelicals are leaving the right-wing conservative camps in droves to express their dissatisfaction with their ignoring the policies that motivate young Christians to action. Justice. Equality. Education. Environment. These aren’t ideals to young Christians, they are minimum requirements and Dobson’s old-fogey-out-of-touch ways aren’t even on their map.
Prime example of Dobson’s lack of connection with today’s young Evangelicals:
Should Sen. McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can’t vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life. These decisions are my personal views and do not represent the organization with which I am affiliated. They do reflect my deeply held convictions about the institution of the family, about moral and spiritual beliefs, and about the welfare of our country. Source
How mature. He doesn’t get his hand-picked candidate so he isn’t going to vote. (Allegedly) Good leadership there Mr. Dobson.
Back in October I wrote about The Economy of Hate speech on the internet. Here’s a review of the math in the blog world when writing hate content:
Normal content + traffic = $1
Hate content + traffic = $5
Remarkable content + traffic = $10
Today I want to talk about something that runs rampant inside Christian publishing of all kinds. Instead of writing remarkable content they capitalize on fear. Listen to any Christian radio station or walk through any Christian bookstore and you’ll see that about 50% of the content is fear-based. Instead of focusing on truth or on the Bible, you’ll hear and see plenty of content that sensationalizes something minor for a profit.
Add this to the math:
Fear content + traffic = $5
For every cultural phenomenon, there is an equal and fear-based Christian equivalent. Harry Potter is “bad” (according to some) so let’s make some money by publishing books telling people how bad Harry Potter is! Christian pundit James Dobson has made a lot of money with his catch phrases “an attack on truth” and “an attack on the American family” or “liberal activist judges.” Just listen to more Focus on the Family and you’ll know how to protect your family from atheism, homosexuals, and judges.
Nevermind the fact that these are the stupidest statements in the world. If something is true you can’t attack it because it is truth. And my family is not under attack if my next door neighbors are gay. (When was the last time you heard of a gay family leading a raid on heterosexuals neighbors?) But you sure can make money on telling people to be afraid of stuff like that. Why? Because fear is a short-term motivator. If you scare people they will buy. (Or give to your cause. Or visit your website.)
Of course, the latest edition of the fear-based Christian media spewed out their sales pitch against the release of The Golden Compass. This is a fiction-based children’s movie with a decidedly atheist bent. In listening to and reading the Christian media in the past few weeks one would have thought that The Golden Compass was certainly related to the Antichrist! Even right leaning FoxNews got into the act by capitalizing on the movie with a plethora of fear-based coverage. Did they do this to protect unsuspecting Christians from those mean atheists out there? No. I think they were motivated by money. There is an awful lot of money to be made by scaring people. Advertisers love traffic to a website and television ratings. And fear sells in America more than sex. (When was the last time your local news led off with a story about sex? It always leads off with something to scare you.)
Each time I see the Christian media freak out about a movie, song, candidate, or other cultural influence I feel called to help people see through it. Follow the money trail! Think critically and ask, “Why is this person scaring me?” “What’s in it for them?” Ratings? Web traffic? Book sales? Donations? If James Dobson raises another $5 million for Focus on the Family, what’s in it for him? What does he lose if he can’t raise that money? What’s in it for a Christian website that increases traffic with fear-based content by 20%? Why is it that FoxNews has a group of people on their panel who are “experts” on a topic? Who published their books? What’s in it for Fox? What’s in it for the panel members?
Remember… The Last Temptation of Christ was going to destroy Christianity forever. So was Footloose, The DaVinci Code, and Harry Potter. Likewise, movies like Passion of the Christ, Lord of the Rings, and Chronicles of Narnia will lift Christianity up and millions of people will come to Christ, right?
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m just a cynic. Or maybe I’m just stupid and these things really do affect the effectiveness of Christianity in today’s culture. But my assumption is that Jesus is God no matter what.My assumption is that my family is in the hands of God. My assumption is that the word of God is unshakable in its inspired form. And my assumption is that God isn’t pleased with the money changers who use fear to motivate financial transactions in Christians.
I long for a Christian media who paints an accurate picture of the world. I long for James Dobson to care about real issues that don’t monetize like poverty in his town, poverty in the world, AIDS in Africa, and children sold into slavery. I long for the Christian media to look around and use their influence to lift up the name of Christ and motivate Christians to live a life worthy of all that Christ has given to them.
And I long for a Christian media that generates sales based on remarkable content instead of cheap fear.
