A blatant attack on Christianity by Hollywood

Well, fact is the "cover" of movies aren't always what they appear to be in the movie, this I know for a fact since I've been to many disappointing flicks thinking it was about one thing from the description of the preview and it turned out to be something else. You really can't know the facts untill you see the whole thing.

BTW...NO, you can't judge the book by a cover because the cover is specifically designed to draw you in and then at times doesn't have exactly what it appears to have. This is called marketing, a common tool used to sell products.

 

While there is certainly some truth in that statement, it doesn't relieve us of the responsibility of warning.

Ezek 3:18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20 Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 21 Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.

Ezek 33:8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

It was so good, he said it twice.

 

I will pray for you brother

 

What? What are you talking about? The catholic jesus requires the help of the church for salvation. Catholics believe in the exercisism nonsense, not me.

 

Greetings Jailminister:

I was thinking about you the other day. Your family is still in my prayers.

I would agree with you that we should warn the churches, but I would beseech all of you to resist being pulled into a trap.

Remember the movie The Last Temptation of Christ? From the standpoint of a film, it was absolutely dreadful. I still cannot believe that an actor of Willem Dafoe's caliber could be duped into participating in this movie. Remember how many churches boycotted this movie, and in some markets they actually picketed the theatres which played it. It was free publicity.

I am an art lover. Several years ago, there was a photographer named Robert Maplethorpe whose work was displayed in several cities. I always felt as if some of his work intentionally went "off the scale" with respect to homoerotic imagery, to the point of being commercially hedonistic (sex does indeed sell). There were a few of the pieces in his collection that were overtly vulgar, and willfully offensive. The art could have been left to "stand on its own merit" and die on the vine, but some religious groups boycotted the exhibit, thus ensuring its success.

Recently, I read an interview with Gene Klein (a.k.a. Gene Simmons of the rock group KISS). Gene is quite intelligent, and he was discussing his belief that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Gene said that the group never disputed the claims that they were devil worshippers, as it was essentially keeping them on the front page. As a result of all this free publicity, what initially started as "the hottest band in the world" became a merchandising machine. Gene is very skillful with respect to marketing the band, and the band's name is on practically everything, from KISS lunch boxes to the KISS coffin (no joke). [Note: I think that KISS even has a trademark on that introduction.]

I think you are correct when you say that we need to warn the churches, but I would hope that the producers are not enriched by an all-out boycott. As a matter of fact, it wouldn't surprise me if bad publicity is the real motive for the website. Hopefully we can resist the temptation to accidentally enrich the producers.

May God shower His Blessings on you and your family, Jailminister.

 

Precisely.

The trailer of a movie or cover of a book can cause damage all by itself.

For instance, the liberal media does have an effect on public opinion and mood. It is also a fact that people often scan headlines without reading all of the story. Often, stories that would hurt non-libs or help libs have headlines to that effect even though the story might have the opposite effect. This gives the writer an out by saying that the story was factual.

Example: A recent headline about employment was something like "Unemployment Claims Exceed Expectations". This reinforces the notion that the job situation is bad and getting worse and by default that Bush is to blame. However, the story cites experts that acknowledge that the overall data reflects an improving job market- both the number of jobs and wages.

My point is this. Covers or trailers and such can have an impact on those who see them. If the image of Christianity or God is damaged by a movie advertisement then it is still damage whether representative of the movie as a whole or not.

The ad's for "Bruce Almighty" were blasphemous to me. I didn't see the movie so I can't comment on it. I did see the ads though- and find them offensive.

A Bible is the Word of God regardless of the binding. However, I would not buy a Bible that had blasphemies or pornography on the cover. As you acknowledge, the cover can make a statement of its own. We as Christians shouldn't ignore it.

 

Your idea that if the cover makes Christianity look bad than the movie must be bad is unbelievably ridiculas. I personally saw Bruce Almighty, and I now have the movie as part of my movie collection I loved it so much. There is much more to many things that could benifit us if we took a deeper look instead of walking away if it appeared to be something different.

I feel if we hold to the theory that the cover speaks for the whole package to automatically obstain, we place ourselves in a dangerously limited world and may actually miss out on some amazing things God has in store for us. Am I saying you or anyone else should go see this movie? No, but I am saying I plan to for this very reason and I may be highly disappointed but I will feel better knowing I gave it a chance.

 

While there is certainly some truth in that statement, it doesn't relieve us of the responsibility of warning.

Ezek 3:18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20 Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 21 Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.

Ezek 33:8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

It was so good, he said it twice. </font>[/QUOTE]I know the answer is not just warning but in always teaching our children why something is not right and what is right and allowing them to get the convictions (Biblical) needed in life. I believe we to often say "Don't" or "no" without giving a sound biblical reason.

In christ,

Flippo