Growing up outside the church with two Hollywood and Broadway stars as parents, I sought the answers to the angst that besets the examined life in far left-wing activities, as well as in libertine pastimes.

Just before our Dartmouth graduation, a group of us pondered the fact that the drugs never delivered what Dr. Timothy Leary promised, universal consciousness. There were many memorable moments, but like the mirage in the parched Death Valley desert, all promised and failed to deliver – a symbol of the lies of the forces of darkness.

In the midst of all this, a wonderful older woman asked me to read the Bible and tell her what I found to be wrong with it. So, I started reading the New Testament. The Word of God eventually freed me from the angst, waking up the morning after asking Jesus into my life into a world that had wonderful meaning and delivered what other paths only promised.

Renewed, I got married and had four wonderful children. His hand was evident in everything good. Thanks be to God: I was chosen to be the director of the TV Center at City University of New York; then, chosen as president of the organization that produced “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” on CBS, which had 37 million viewers and won an Emmy Award; and then, our work with Christian Film & Television Commission® and MovieGuide to redeem the mass media of entertainment.

The most amazing of all blessings become crystal clear when I look back at the trajectory of the ministry. When we started MovieGuide® in 1985, the major studios in Hollywood released few movies with any positive Christian content – less than 1 percent! Years later, in 2012, 171, or at least 56.62 percent, of the movies released by the movie industry contained at least some positive Christian content! Also, when we started in 1985, only about 6 percent of the major movies were aimed at families; in the past several years, movies marketed to families have increased to nearly 40 percent of the top releases in your local movie theaters. Furthermore, when we started in 1985, about 80 percent of the top Hollywood movies were R-rated, but now, about 40 percent or less are R-rated! The former chairman of a major Hollywood studio told me these positive shifts are due directly to MovieGuide®’s influence as well as the Christian Film & Television Commission’s box office analysis and Annual Report to the Entertainment Industry.

God desires blessings for each person who comes to Him in the name of Jesus Christ. He says that He wants to adopt you, having had Jesus pay the price, so that you are an heir to His Kingdom, and to give you and each person who has real faith in Jesus “the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).

There is an instructive vision of His picture of how life should be in Isaiah 65:17-27. Isaiah is the only Old Testament prophet who writes about the New Heaven and New Earth, 790 years before the Apostle John transcribed the Book of Revelation from Jesus Christ.

Isaiah says that, in God’s design, each person shall build a house and inhabit it himself, and plant a vineyard and eat the fruit grown. Our houses won’t be taken over by another through zoning, eminent domain, taxes, mortgages and fees. Nor will our gardens be consumed by theft by another person or even civil entity. Moreover, each person shall live a long life, enjoy the work of his hands, and have healthy and wise children blessed by God. Also, He will answer us before we call on Him.

In other words, God’s world that He made for you and me is a world of freedom where each person can live his own life to the fullest!

In contrast to God’s loving world of real freedom, all of man’s other systems, ideologies and religions promise a lot and deliver a mirage that masks a desert of tyranny, where you lose control over everything, including your children.

Therefore, each generation has the opportunity to choose freedom or tyranny. The contrast between them is stark. The consequences of freedom are blessings and prosperity, but the consequences of tyranny are slavery and destruction.

In 1 Samuel 8, the people ask for a king because the other nations have kings. Samuel feels personally insulted, but God says they haven’t rejected you, they’ve rejected me. To clarify the difference, God instructs Samuel about what the king will demand. He’ll force the boys to serve in his army, putting them on the frontlines to die. The king will turn the young ladies into menial slaves. Furthermore, the king will take the vineyards and even the homes to enhance his own lifestyle. Finally, the king will tax everyone. Ultimately, says God, the king will enslave the people, and their land will face destruction.

Every attempt to fix the system that rejects the Good News of His Blessings ends in failure no matter how well intentioned. To make a man a new Communist, Lenin came to the conclusion that you had to rid the world of anyone who did not fit his definition. By the time Lenin and Stalin were finished over 80 million people had been killed to create a society that contradicted the very nature of every human being. The same with Pol Pot and Mao.

Why? Because power corrupts. First, the leader wants to help people do something worthwhile, like losing weight; then, he outlaws foods; and, finally frustrated, he must rid the world of those who refuse.

Those who support the government making micro decisions have not had to face yet the fact that the bureaucrat has no expertise or ability to gain enough expertise to deal with the problem. Freedom from government interference allows the person closest to the situation to deal with it.

Therefore, it’s time for regime change, not only in Iran and North Korea, but also in the United States.

Regrettably, too many people get confused and even seduced by the mirage, and so they die in the dessert of statist folly that promises what it cannot deliver. Even those in the church have followed the siren song of worthless promises that sound good but are merely tinkling brass. They believe what they think they can see that is only a lie, rather than the truth that is faith in the secure guaranteed promises of their Creator and sustainer.

It is time to choose the Good News of the Blessings of the Creator who wants to adopt us through the price paid by Jesus Christ – who gives us Freedom!

If you want freedom from bondage and impoverishment, then call upon God, your Father, in His name, Jesus. He will save you and bless you. After all, He reigns with all authority.

So, choose this day – the Good News that brings freedom or the mirage that offers bondage.

The critics and naysayers are upset. They don’t like it when we, or people like Gov. Mike Huckabee and the Rev. Franklin Graham, say the rejection of God, Jesus, the Bible and God’s law is a far bigger problem than the proliferation of guns.

One Christian critic even called us “legalistic” for suggesting this.

However, calling for more faith and values in our cultural environment isn’t legalistic but actually promotes the right balance between law and grace while preaching the gospel of grace. Paul himself writes in Galatians 5:6 (often considered the epistle on salvation by grace through faith) that “the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Note here how Paul links simple faith with a simple work: the expression of love.

Of course, legalism isn’t the only heresy when it comes to the subject of law and gospel. The opposite heresy is antinomianism, or lawlessness. And, Paul warned about that one too in the Book of Romans. In fact, it often seems to us that antinomianism has become a greater problem in today’s churches than legalism. As Paul says in Romans 6:15, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!”

Thus, shouldn’t we “train up a child in the way he should go,” as Proverbs 22:6 urges?

Shouldn’t we teach children to be more kind, less violent and more loving in general? And, don’t we want to educate them in how to use the mass media in a way that honors the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Also, why do people seem to presume that the increasing rejection of God, faith and biblical values in our society, especially by young non-Christians (according to pollsters like Gallup and Pew), have nothing to do with society’s capacity for cruelty, debauchery and callousness? Shouldn’t we preach the gospel to non-Christians? Shouldn’t we teach them about sin and evil so they will repent and turn to God through Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit?

Without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, however, a person has no reliable divine foundation for his or her expression of love.

One critic noted that violent crime has been decreasing in recent years.

However, though violent crime in many cases has indeed decreased in recent years, it’s still higher than it used to be. Also, some of the violent crimes are more egregious, the massacre in Newton being one of the worst of examples. Furthermore, although the murder rate has decreased since 1960, the overall violent crime rate per 100,000 people has increased from 160.9 incidents in 1960 and 162.3 incidents in 1962 (the year the Supreme Court outlawed voluntary prayer in public schools) to 386.3 incidents in 2011, according to the Uniform Crime Statistics from the FBI.

Also, the number of aggravated assaults has increased from 86.1 in 1960 to 241.1 in 2011. In fact, we would allege that the recent decreases may be at least partly due to the efforts of people like those at Movieguide and its supporters to alert the general population, and especially people of faith, about the negative impacts of media sex and violence, as well as direct them to entertainment choices that may be more redemptive, more uplifting, more family friendly and less callous.

Non-Christians aren’t the only ones who succumb to the negative effects of gratuitous, graphic or callous violence in the mass media. Both Christians and non-Christians can be affected, especially when the mass culture, or large portions of it, becomes more and more hostile not just to Jesus or God, but also to the Bible, biblical morality, church, the Holy Spirit and religion. Also, we are all affected when the “news” media neglect to cover some issues because those issues (like the increasing rates of unwed pregnancies in our society ever since activist courts decided pornography shouldn’t be outlawed but prayer in public schools should be, or like the decrease in gun crimes in areas where people are allowed to carry concealed weapons) don’t fit their antinomian bias.

You can ignore the fact of the increase in violent crime since 1962 and since the new MPAA ratings in the late 1960s, but this fact cannot be ignored. And, if there’s been a decrease in violent crime in recent years, perhaps you might want to ask if Movieguide’s promotion of family movies and movies with Christian, morally uplifting content, along with the increased incarceration of violent criminals and the increased amount of gun ownership, has something to do with those decreases.

In light of all this, the focus on gun ownership and gun control strikes us as a huge red herring.

Thus, the new atheism running rampant in major parts of our society seems to teach (if stretched to its logical conclusion) that people are just soulless meat machines. It also seems to replace Jesus and His church with government. That’s why everyone should read George Washington’s Farewell Address about the vital importance of religion and morality.

In referring to these issues, we weren’t calling all non-Christians soulless meat machines, as one person claimed. Instead, we were speaking about one of the evil spirits of our increasingly secular age. This dark spirit seems to be one of the major factors that have led to the high level of darkness and brutal violence we still see in too many of today’s movies.

It’s not legalistic to discuss this problem in this way. In fact, it’s actually a partial fulfillment of what the Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4:8,9:

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

This is also why Movieguide tries to both expose “the fruitless deeds of darkness” (Ephesians 5:11) and “commend those who do right” (1 Peter 2:14) in its reviews.

All these things are just part of the fulfillment of Christ’s command in Matthew 28:18-20 to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” But, they are a vital part.

The United Arab Emirates is partially funding Matt Damon’s and John Krasinski’s upcoming anti-natural gas fracking movie, “Promised Land,” through its wholly owned subsidiary Image Media Abu Dhabi.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) contains the world’s fifth-largest natural gas reserves and ranks ninth in liquefied natural gas exports.

You wouldn’t let strangers dump garbage in your home. Let MOVIEGUIDE® help you protect the eyes of your family’s innocence

UAE’s decision to fund a movie with an agenda against U.S. domestic natural gas exploration and production is wise considering the recent push by U.S.-based producers to begin exporting more natural gas to countries like Japan, where 90 percent of the UAE’s liquefied natural gas is exported.

“Promised Land” takes place in rural Pennsylvania, home to the Marcellus Shale, a natural gas field containing 262 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas. according to the United States Department of Energy.

Just that one field could supply Japan’s natural gas import requirements for the next 63 years!

It’s no wonder financing for this movie came from the United Arab Emirates.

Ted Baehr’s “How to Succeed in Hollywood” will show Christians how to use their faith to change the Hollywood culture.

Unlike the UAE, citizens of the United States own the oil and gas underneath their feet in what are known as “mineral rights.” Thousands of Pennsylvania mineral rights owners receive royalty payments thanks to the natural gas exploration and production on their properties. Even more importantly, perhaps, U.S citizens benefit from low energy prices thanks to the very hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technologies the makers of “Promised Land” wish to ban.

As recently as four years ago, energy experts said that the U.S. would need to import liquefied natural gas to meet the energy demand of the nation. However, with the invention of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” the U.S. is now producing large reserves of domestic natural gas in the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale and other shale basins.

With the boom in domestic natural gas production, prices are near record lows at $3.95 an MCF, almost half the price they were in 2008. Because of these low prices, several U.S.-based companies want to export more natural gas to countries like Japan that will pay close to $13 an MCF.

The United States has the infrastructure for exporting natural gas, including a liquefication terminal built 30 years ago in Kenai, Alaska, able to export 68 billion cubic feet per year to Japan.

Sadly, the Hollywood elite funded by Big Foreign Oil would rather put an end to the domestic natural gas boom.

“Promised Land” is nothing more than a propaganda piece funded by Middle East oil to destroy America’s energy independence.

The reason for the box office malaise is pretty simple. Some of the entertainment-industry filmmakers have forgotten that it’s better to sell four tickets to a family than one ticket to a horror-film fan who wants to see “The Possession” or the latest boring version of “Resident Evil.”

When Hollywood brings out good movies like “The Avengers,” moviegoers flock to it. When they bring out a family movie like an “Ice Age” sequel, it becomes one of the biggest movies of the summer.

Financial analysts keep saying that the old-time movie studio heads, who loved movies, have been replaced by people from television and elsewhere who know nothing about movies. If that’s the case, then they all should read “How to Succeed in Hollywood (Without Losing Your Soul)” and our Report to the Entertainment Industry, and then take our filmmaking class to find out what audiences really want.

Ultimately, the answer to the box office crisis is to make movies that people, especially families, want to see. Failing that, Hollywood is headed for even more box office nightmares.

The recent shooting massacres in Colorado and Wisconsin have again focused attention on the hundreds of thousands of studies on the links between violence in the media to acts of violence in society. The results have overwhelmingly showed that violence in media does influence people’s attitudes and behavior, even more so if it’s children and adolescents exposed to heavy violence in media.

Even so, this posits another question: Can the same thing be said for sexuality in movies?

Sexuality outside of marriage is not only common in America, but is celebrated and encouraged among society’s youth. This has caused increases in pornography, sexually transmitted diseases, abortion and high divorce rates that are actively hurting families. Is this a result of media indoctrination? Does the sexuality in movies really have that much to do with the increase in sexual behavior in adolescents?

Some studies in the past have strongly suggested that, yes, sexuality in the media does shape hearts, minds and behaviors. Dartmouth College recently conducted a large survey to examine the influence of movie sexual exposure, or MSE, on youths before the age of 16 and how it affects them in adulthood. The college started by researching the amount of sexuality that popular movies contain. The study revealed that 84 percent of movies released between 1950 and 2006 had some form of sexual content.

“A content analysis revealed that 70% of the sexual acts depicted in movies released from 1983 to 2003 occurred between newly acquainted partners, 98% included no reference to contraception and 89% resulted in no consequences,” the study said (Gunasekera, Chapman, & Campbell, 2005).

The study continued, “Adolescents who watch popular movies, therefore, are exposed to a great deal of sex, most of which is portrayed in an unrealistic and/or risk-promoting manner.”

Armed with this information, the Dartmouth researchers surveyed more than 6,000 adolescents from 2007 to 2012. The research team asked youth between the ages of 10 and 14 which movies from a random list of 50 they had seen. Approximately five to seven years later, the same individuals were asked at what age they became sexually active and how many partners they had. After calculating the amount of sexual content in the top 684 movies, they had some results.

The survey results, as predicted, showed that higher MSE before the age of 16 resulted in a “higher number of lifetime sexual partners and more casual sex” (e.g., Brown et al., 2006). Evidence also suggests that sexual behavior among adolescents is influenced more by movies over other forms of media (television, music videos, etc.). The study also revealed that males with MSE are more susceptible than females to risky sexual behavior. Many participants even admitted to copying love scenes depicted in movies in real life (The Telegraph, July 8, 2012).

All of this stems from a Hollywood view of love and sex that is both unrealistic and unbiblical. The risky sexual behavior in movies is mostly shown without consequences, but in reality, sexual irresponsibility leads to STDs and unwanted pregnancies. Most adolescents don’t consider the real consequences because they only see what movies tell them.

So what do researchers suggest as a solution? In their conclusion, they said, “Our results suggest that restricting adolescents’ MSE would delay their sexual debut and also reduce their engagement in risky sexual behaviors later in life. This strategy could attenuate the direct influence of media on adolescents’ sexual behavior by limiting the acquisition of risky sexual scripts and/or reducing their likelihood activation” (Wright, 2011).

The study’s conclusion continues:

“One promising approach would involve incorporating media literacy training into sexual education. A recent intervention showed that a peer-led sexual-media-literacy curriculum increased ninth-grade students’ self-efficacy in resisting peer pressure with regard to sexual behavior, reduced their perception of normative prevalence of sexual activity during adolescence, and improved their attitudes toward abstinence” (Pinkleton, Austin, Cohen, Chen, & Fitzgerald, 2008).

These two steps are what Movieguide has been promoting for years.

The first step is teaching media literacy and media wisdom to children. Having media literacy and media wisdom means that we analyze, interpret, build discernment and create. Analysis is understanding and comprehending the medium of film making and storytelling. If we understand how Hollywood communicates its message, it will help us interpret what that message is. Interpreting is many times the hardest part because it requires that we understand the definitions of a biblical worldview versus a non-biblical or humanist worldview, and then discover what is the movie or television program’s attitude toward those worldviews. Finally, media wisdom requires teaching children how to discern good from evil. If children aren’t taught from a young age how to discern between good and evil by their parents and other role models, they will likely learn and repeat the lies from the media and the world around them.

The second step is to teach children to create. Being made in God’s image, we are called to create things that reflect all glory to God. Now, not everyone is called to be a filmmaker or a writer, but everyone uses his or her creative imagination to some degree. Creativity helps children analyze and interpret the media because it helps them understand communication through art. These tools will not only help children discern the media but also discern the world around them. For more information on media literacy and media wisdom, you can read Movieguide founder and publisher Dr. Ted Baehr’s and legendary entertainer Pat Boone’s book, “The Culture-Wise Family,” and Dr. Baehr’s book, “The Media-Wise Family.”

The third and final step to protecting your family from the influence of the media is avoiding movies that have explicit violent or sexual content. We see enough sin and immorality in the world, so there’s absolutely no need for it to be brought into the family living room. Movies should be wholesome and uplifting, but many times they are filled with sexuality, violence, offensive language and anti-Christian values.

Movieguide is here to help you and your family make good decisions about movies, television and multimedia. For the latest movie reviews, and to separate the wheat from the chaff, please consult our website.

Movieguide is the best tool families have in protecting themselves from the media terrorism of graphic content running rampant in the entertainment industry.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

– Romans 12:2

– The Communist Manifesto, Chapter 2, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

The political battle over homosexual marriage heated up this month when President Obama told ABC, “I think that same-sex couples should be able to get married,” immediately after North Carolina became the 32nd state, on May 8, to vote against same-sex marriage. The public has been given a voice 32 times, and voted it down every time.

MSNBC and the other undereducated, misinformed and politicized news media praised the president and condemned the voters of North Carolina and by inference the majority of voters in 32 states. Of course, this is the same group of fellow travelers and useful idiots who misapply the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution to the respective states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” to deny Christians and soon Jews the freedom of worship, when the clause plainly recognizes the inalienable freedom of worship.

Either of these distortions of real Truth is more of the same Marxist doublespeak. Neither the president, the Congress, the state governments nor the voters have the authority to legalize homosexual marriage, whether they are conscious of the Marxist thrust of their illegal actions or just useful idiots in the advance of Marx’s goal to destroy the family.

Pages could be, have been and should be written about the progressive Marxist destruction of the American constitutional republic; and, pages could be, have been and should be written about the destructive nature of the homosexualization of the culture. With regard to the president, it is more important to understand clearly that the civil government has no authority in area of the free exercise of religion such as marriage. If it has no authority and tries to exercise power not vested to it, then the government is acting illegally.

So you don’t buy the lie, this article focuses on the fact that intentionally or not, too many in the press, the mass media, the government and the education establishment have confused Americans about the institution of marriage.

First of all, as many already know, there are many forms of government. In our Western democracy, there are at least four spheres of government: individual government, family government, ecclesiastical government and civil government. In the United States of America, the civil government owes its existence to the consent of the governed, not the other way around, in the tradition of the Magna Carta. Furthermore, since the Rev. Samuel Rutherford wrote “Lex Rex,” which clarified the rule of law posited by the Magna Carta, all of these forms of government have been under God’s Law in the United Kingdom and the United States. When king or ruler is above the law, he often acts in imperious and dictatorial ways, for the very nature of power is to corrupt the powerful, unless it is restrained by God’s Law. In essence, God’s Law says to love your neighbor as yourself, and the civil government is subject to that divine law.

Thus, the Declaration of Independence made it clear that King George III acted illegally when he oppressed the American colonies, because he was under the Law of God. Countries that allowed men to rule above the law have produced tyrants such as Stalin, Hitler and Mao Zedong. Current examples include Mugabe, Castro and the military junta in Burma, among many others.

It must be emphasized that marriage between one man and one woman is a God-ordained, God-defined, biblical act. For 1,800 years in Western countries, marriage was a unique institution, initiated by God when he created the male and female, presided over by Jesus Christ when he blessed the act of marriage and stated that a man and a woman would leave their parents and join together to become one flesh, and sustained by the Holy Spirit who not only holds the marriage together but also produces the offspring that God creates.

The norm in most other religions is not monogamy, although many have borrowed the form of a Christian wedding. Moreover, the state’s involvement in Christian marriage is relatively recent.

In 1837, the Rev. Henry Norris complained that the state had usurped the authority of God in marriage. Norris railed against the passage of a law on marriage by providing a detailed look at the institution itself. He painstakingly exegeted the Scriptures in establishing his point that marriage is most importantly a religious institution, and therefore it should not be relegated to a strictly civil character:

“They took from the Clergy ‘the solemnizing of Matrimony, and put it into the hands of Justices of the Peace. …’ In the former instance of this desecration being ordained, the power to legislate had been seized by those who would be restrained in nothing that they imagined to do; and, in a day specified in their ordinance, ‘no other marriage whatsoever within the Commonwealth,’ but such as should be contracted … before a Justice of the Peace, ‘should be held or accounted a marriage according to the law of England.’ But the national principle is not yet sufficiently prostrated to make us again ripe for so arbitrary and irreligious an imposition, and therefore, by the law just come in force, you are left to form your own judgments, whether marriage is a mere civil contract, or a Divine institution ‘whether it shall be celebrated with or without any offices of religion’ whether the Church, the Conventicle, or the Register-office, shall be the place of celebration and whether the Clergyman of the Parish, the Dissenting Teacher, or the superintendent Registrar, shall officiate on the occasion.”

The Rev. Norris adds that the biblical position is that only God ordains marriage. So, in the light of history and God’s Word written, the judges in Massachusetts, California or any other state or federal court have nothing to say about Christian marriage and have no authority to define, ordain or desecrate it.

The Rev. Norris brilliantly continues in his sermon:

“[B]y the ‘state of matrimony the spiritual marriage that is betwixt Christ and His Church is signified and represented. …’

“But that ‘the fruitful vine’ … is not procurable by a civil contract, it cometh only of the Lord.”

His reasoning is impeccable, but many have forgotten that marriage belongs to the church. In fact, a few are very uncomfortable with that concept because of the abuse of power by some ecclesiastical authorities. Two wrongs don’t make a right, however. And they certainly don’t make a civil right to same-sex “marriage.”

With regard to the abuse of power, it must be noted that civil government is good, although there can be bad presidents, governors, judges and other authorities. Family government is good, although there can be bad fathers and mothers. Ecclesiastical government is good, though there can be bad clergymen. The rules and the laws of the exception do not make the rule. In other words, a bad father does not give us the license to call for the abolishment of fatherhood, etc. What it does do is to give us the opportunity for checks and balances, which until recently were most perfectly expressed in our constitutional government.

The church has to reclaim marriage as its unique institution. Whatever anyone wants to do outside of the church may be their business, but it is not sanctioned by God’s Law. The state has the right to regulate only what the Constitution allows it to regulate, because there is no liberty for license. But, the state does not have the right to tell the biblical, believing, Trinitarian, Christian church that any couple outside of the faith is married.

We need to stand for God’s Law in the face of the power grab by those in civil authority, who know no restraints.

The increasingly socialized federal government does not have the right nor the authority to violate God’s Law. Federal officials have also violated their own Constitution and the will of the governed. When they do that, they are just like King George. They have abdicated their moral and legal authority and are subject to indictment, trial and just punishment.

Now, all those who freely exercise their inalienable right to religious faith must stop acting like useful idiots and fellow travelers by going along to get along, and instead stand for their God-given rights by proclaiming loud and clear that these government servants have crossed the line into illegal activity that has no authority.

Often, the people of faith and values do not stand up because they have been slowly boiled in the brine of socialism and so give the states powers they have no authority to use. Often the state or federal government creates the problem by violating our individual right to property, estates, income, etc. through the Marxist device of illicit taxation – and then argues from the problem the state created that the state needs to govern marriage to alleviate the tax burdens the state created so it can encourage marriage. Such circular and dishonest reasoning has almost deceived the very electorate.

Now, the people of faith and values must throw off the stupor of Marxist doublespeak and return to the basic principles that made them free to live at peace in the American republic that recognizes “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The power to tax is the power to destroy. Do not let it destroy godly marriage and families!

Movieguide always has urged people of faith and values to get into the entertainment industry. At the same time, we have warned people about the pitfalls and tried to educate people and equip them to deal with the unique situation of show business. In this regard, the Los Angeles Times has published a series of articles on all the brilliant outsiders like Howard Hughes and William Randolph Hearst (to invoke some ancient examples that are common knowledge), who came to Hollywood and got fleeced.

The good news is that more Christians are getting involved in the entertainment industry. The bad news is that many of the deals they are doing just don’t make sense, and these brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ are getting fleeced.

Savvy distributors, who we like, are asking little independent movies produced by Christians to put up $5 to $10 million in distribution fees. Like self-publishing fees, these fees may disappear into the Hollywood overhead of the distributor.

There are two problems with believing you can rent a distribution system at these prices. One is that if a distributor is releasing a movie it produced and financed at the same time it is releasing an independent movie that has bought its distribution system, the distributor will naturally lean toward promoting its own movie, for very obvious reasons. When a Christian reporter said to me this was shocking, I said that if you had to meet with a studio head and they told you that you could pitch only one script but you had your script as well as a friend’s, which one would you pitch?

At the box office, a movie has to gross at least two-and-a-half times its production budget to break even.

Why?

Well, let’s go through the mathematics quickly. Theaters will take 50 percent to 90 percent of the ticket price. Let’s say they take a conservative 50 percent. That leaves 50 percent to be divided between the Christian producers and the distributor. If the distributor takes between 50 percent to 90 percent, that leaves at most 50 percent of 50 percent of the ticket price, or 25 percent. Thus, if the movie grosses $10 million (which is highly unlikely for an independent movie in the best of all circumstances), the theater will take $5 million, the distributor will take $2.5 million, and the producer may get only $2.5 million. Of course, this is very optimistic, because of the large upfront costs for distribution.

Realistically, therefore, to make your money back on a $10 million investment, the movie has to gross more than $40 million. If you go to BoxOfficeMojo.com or any other movie website, you will see right away that very few movies make that much box office.

Producers who tell investors they’re going to make their money back under these circumstances need to be challenged about their projections.

For example, I heard of one wealthy individual being asked to put up $7 million to distribute a documentary that may be popular among conservatives. In the 117 years of movie history, however, only about three documentaries have ever made more than $50 million, according to Box Office Mojo: “Fahrenheit 9/11″ at $119.19 million, “Justin Bieber” at $73.01 million and “March of the Penguins” at $77.44 million.

Of course, as P.T. Barnum said, there’s a sucker born every minute. Regrettably, history has shown that some of the brightest financial minds have been conned by the Hollywood community.

If you’d like to know all of the different pitfalls, tricks and opportunities to succeed in Hollywood, please get a copy of “How to Succeed in Hollywood (Without Losing Your Soul),” which shows you how to use your God-given and God-ordained gifts and talents to make significant creative contributions to the entertainment world. The book helps readers learn from industry professionals – the brightest and best people of faith in the entertainment industry – how they developed their screenwriting, acting, directing, producing and behind-the-scenes interests to make Hollywood and the world a better place.
The contributors you will read exclusively in “How to Succeed in Hollywood (Without Losing Your Soul)”include:

• Richard Cook, former chairman of Walt Disney Studios;

• Peter Engel, producer of “Last Comic Standing,” “All About Us,” “Malibu, CA,” “City Guys,” “USA High,” “Hang Time” and the famous “Saved By the Bell”;

• Bill Ewing, former executive vice president of Columbia Pictures;

• Bill Fay, executive producer of many movies, including “Independence Day” and “The Patriot”;

• Penelope Foster, co-producer of many movies, including “Operation Dumbo,” “Free Willy” and “Rosewood”;

• Don Hahn, producer of many movies, including “The Lion King,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”;

• Brenda Hampton, writer of many television programs, including “Love Boat,” “Safe Harbor” and “7th Heaven” (creator and executive producer);

• Bruce Johnson, president of Porchlight Entertainment;

• Dave, Gary and Joan Johnson, writers and producers of many television programs, including “Against the Grain,”Doc” and “Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye”;

• Al Kasha, Academy Award-winning songwriter and composer for many movies and television programs, including “The Poseiden Adventure,” “The Towering Inferno” and “The Rugrats Go Wild!”;

• Ron Maxwell, writer and director of many movies, including “Parent Trap II,” “Little Darlings,” “Gettysburg” and “Gods and Generals”;

• Brad Moore, president of Hallmark Hall of Fame;

• Bud Paxson, owner of PaxTV;

• John Ratzenberger, voiced every Pixar movie, star of hit TV show “Cheers” and producer of “Made in America”;

• Barry Reardon, former president of distribution for Warner Bros.;

• Phil Roman, executive producer of “Garfield,” “Tom and Jerry” and “The Simpsons”;

• Andrew Stanton, the scriptwriter for “Toy Story,” “Toy Story II,” “A Bug’s Life,” “Monster’s Inc.” and “Finding Nemo” (which he also directed and produced);

• Chuck Viane, president of Walt Disney Company’s Buena Vista Film Distribution Group;

• Randall Wallace, the writer of many movies, including “Braveheart,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Secretariat” and “We Were Soldiers” (which he also directed and produced);

• Frank Yablans, former president of Paramount Pictures.

As Stephen Collins, star of 7th Heaven, said:

“How to Succeed in Hollywood (Without Losing Your Soul)” is full of wonderful interviews, tips and research that anyone can put to work. … Written with real-world practicality, here’s a primer on how to break into the movie business while hanging on to your soul.”

On an unrelated but important note, WND (formerly WorldNetDaily) – celebrating its 15th anniversary this week – just may be the very best news and commentary website on the Internet. We consult it at least daily, and often more than that! We also refer our readers to many of its news items, information, commentary, books and videos.

WND has also been tremendously important to the growth of our ministry at the Christian Film & Television Commission, Movieguide and The Culture Watch. With their help and God’s gracious blessing, we have grown by leaps and bounds. We urge all Christians, conservatives and traditionalists to support WND as well as make full use its excellent unique and vital services.

As the April 15 tax deadline approaches, you have good reason to thank Hollywood for higher taxes.

Consider the federal budget. A large portion of that budget is for means-tested welfare programs. A high percentage of the people on means-tested welfare programs are there because they’ve abandoned the traditional values the major Hollywood studios once guarded.

When Hollywood had standards

Few Americans today know that the major movie studios used to voluntarily abide by a strong moral code when writing scripts and producing movies. It wasn’t censorship imposed by the government. It was a social contract with the American people. This set of standards was called The Motion Picture Production Code. Movies that complied with it got a seal of approval, and the church advised the Production Code, through the Catholic Legion of Decency and the Protestant Film Office. These were the standards stipulated by the short form of the Code:

1. The basic dignity and value of human life shall be respected and upheld.

2. Restraint shall be exercised in portraying the taking of life.
3. Evil, sin, crime and wrongdoing shall not be justified.
4. Detailed and protracted acts of brutality, cruelty, physical violence, torture, and abuse, shall not be presented.
5. Indecent or undue exposure of the human body shall not be presented.
6. Illicit sex relationships shall not be justified. Intimate sex scenes violating common standards of decency shall not be portrayed. Restraint and care shall be exercised in presentations dealing with sex aberrations.
7. Obscene speech, gestures or movements shall not be presented. Undue profanity shall not be presented.
8. Religion shall not be demeaned.
9. Words or symbols contemptuous of racial, religious or national groups, shall not be used so as to incite bigotry or hatred.
10. Excessive cruelty to animals shall not be portrayed and animals shall not be treated inhumanely.

This was the Association of Motion Picture Producers’ explanation of why the code existed:

“Mankind has always recognized the importance of entertainment and its value in rebuilding the bodies and souls of human beings.

“But, it has always recognized that entertainment can be either HELPFUL or HARMFUL to the human race, and in consequence has clearly distinguished between:

“a. Entertainment which tends to improve the race, or at least to re-create and rebuild human beings exhausted with the realities of life; and

“b. Entertainment which tends to degrade human beings, or to lower their standards of life and living.

“Hence the MORAL IMPORTANCE of entertainment is something which has been universally recognized. It enters intimately into the lives of men and women and affects them closely; it occupies their minds and affections during leisure hours; and ultimately touches the whole of their lives. A man may be judged by his standard of entertainment as easily as by the standard of his work.

“So, correct entertainment raises the whole standard of a nation.

“Wrong entertainment lowers the whole living conditions and moral ideals of a race.”

Can you imagine today’s movie executives, producers and directors signing their names in agreement to such a statement?

Obviously, if the Motion Picture Production Code were in place now, many of today’s movies would never get made. Those that did would contain far less offensive content. Hollywood would actually make more money because their movies would be less offensive worldwide. But, the point of discussing The Motion Picture Production Code in this column is to reveal the impact of its demise on taxpayers.

When Hollywood lost its standards

In the late 1950s, the Catholic Church pulled back from its enforcement of the Code. Then, in 1966, lack of funding and support forced the Protestant Film Office to close its doors.

Immediately, the Code was revised to include a rating “suggested for mature audiences.” Two years later, on Nov. 1, 1968, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) instituted a new ratings system for movies (G, GP, R and X). After some revisions, the ratings are now G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17.

These ratings offer moviegoers no production standards. You are free to make anything and see what rating you get. In an R-rated movie, you can blatantly violate all the standards of the old code.

Movies came pouring out of Hollywood promoting sex outside of marriage, ridiculing religion, containing heavy doses of obscenities and profanity and generally promoting a radical cultural revolution. The revolution occurred. There was a huge increase in births out of wedlock, abortion, divorce, single parenthood, welfare, taxes and public debt. As our $16 trillion national debt shows, the government simply can’t keep up with the rising cost of a culture with lower moral standards.

Hopeless politicians

Neither Republicans nor Democrats can devise government programs to reverse cultural decline. Public schools are actually increasing the problem by acting as if a supposed requirement to separate church and state is a requirement to promote immorality and disbelief in God. Money poured into a “war on poverty” only increases poverty when people perceive that they can be receive more government benefits if they abandon traditional morality.

The problem is in our media. Children grow up in a virtual flood of media telling girls they need to compete as sex objects and telling boys they must have sex as soon and as often as possible. The concept of love has shifted from a commitment to unselfish behavior to the temporary thrill of infatuation. The “love the one you’re with” generation views sex as something akin to going to a restaurant. You don’t eat the same meal every night, so why sleep with the same partner?

No government program can stop the destructive results of such thinking. All politicians can do is try to pay for the disasters that result.

The real solution

The media that have for years pushed “love the one you’re with” can be used to show the benefits of true love. Movies like “Fireproof” and “Courageous” tackle these issues and show the benefits of holding traditional values. Without a major outcry from the American public, Hollywood will not return to a Motion Picture Production Code. Until then, however, it’s possible to show Hollywood that family-friendly movies make lots more money than offensive movies.

When you purchase a ticket to a movie, you are voting for the kinds of movies that will be made in the future. The major studios once thought audiences wanted sex and nudity. They provided a lot of both. With the help of detailed box office analysis by the Christian Film & Television Commission® and Movieguide®, they’ve learned sex and nudity have a very limited audience. The majority of moviegoers want less sex, nudity and vulgarity.

The major studios see that year after year animated family movies rank among the top 10 in domestic and foreign box office as well as DVD sales. The movie “The Passion of the Christ” showed that there’s a huge audience for strong Christian content. Back in the 1950s the biggest budget movies made by the major studios were often openly Christian or biblical. Christian, biblical movies like “Quo Vadis,” Ben Hur” and “The Ten Commandments” each cost a fortune and made a fortune.

The real America

The average American doesn’t appreciate the vulgarity that’s infiltrated the culture. Many, if not most, are concerned about what they consider moral decline. Virtually all who pay taxes see the rapidly growing national debt as a curse on future generations. Any logical American can see that when 41 percent of babies are born out of wedlock, it represents a catastrophe for taxpayers.

Lax moral values prevalent in Hollywood are being heavily promoted around the world, but most Americans know that the “love the one you’re with” philosophy is unhealthy. Beyond its adverse impact on physical and spiritual health, it’s become a recipe for economic and political disaster.

President John Adams said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” America will not survive without a large number of taxpayers who choose to live by high moral standards. That includes being willing to pay more for government than they demand from government in benefits.

Investing in America

On April 15 you’ll make a large “investment” in government programs created to help the “victims” of America’s moral collapse. The deeper the cultural declines get, the more you’ll be required to “invest.”

On the other hand, you can invest in reversing the decline. You can buy tickets exclusively to good movies. You can choose to watch only wholesome television programming. You can help support the Christian Film & Television Commission® and Movieguide®.

Redeeming the media is not a project that can be completed overnight. It requires long-term commitment and patience. It requires a lot of prayer and work, but it can be done.

Ask yourself: What is a civilized society? What kind of society would you like to leave your grandchildren?

Would you prefer more vulgarity or less? Would you prefer the promotion of faithful traditional marriage or more marriage-free sexual relationships? Would you prefer your grandchildren grow up in a traditional family or a “modern” family? Would you rather experience more of heaven on earth or more hell on earth?

God’s standards are literally heavenly. The world’s standards are hellish. As a human being, you should want to see American culture move in the direction of the heavenly. As a taxpayer, you’d be wise to voluntarily invest in redeeming the media before the lame-brain, lying, lewd liberal leftist loons in your government demand even more from you to pay for hell on earth the mass media have created.

From here to eternity

There is Good News in Hollywood.

Since we were called by God to redeem the values of the mass media of entertainment, we have seen more and more of the results of our strategic efforts to clean the screens because 1) the number of pro-Christian movies has increased dramatically; 2) Hollywood studios have developed working relationships with us; and 3) more and more top Hollywood executives and creative talent have joined with us to produce better movies and entertainment.

Furthermore, most of the six major studios,and some of the biggest independent studios in Hollywood have developed separate divisions making and releasing movies and videos for the Christian and faith audience in the last few years, such as “Fireproof,” “The Blind Side,” “Amazing Grace,” “The Grace Card,” “Soul Surfer,” “Courageous” and Tyler Perry’s movies and television programs.

Also, more and more Christians in the entertainment industry have made their beliefs a matter of record; more key media executives accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior; Movieguide® has reached more industry leaders who have accepted responsibility for their productions; and more teenagers and moral adults became serious about the impact of the mass media of entertainment on their lives and sought our help in choosing the good and rejecting the bad and in developing the skills necessary to use (without being abused by) the mass media of entertainment.

Consequently, there are now more family movies and more movies with positive Christian content and positive Christian worldviews than since the end of the Golden Age of Hollywood in 1966.

You play a critical role in helping us reach top opinion leaders with the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Producing the Annual Movieguide® Report costs a lot of time, money and effort, not to mention prayer! The support of our readers, donors and prayer warriors is essential.

The good news is that you and your family don’t have to see bad movies or bad television. And, Hollywood doesn’t have to make bad TV and movies in order to make good profits.

The better news is that we have the tools to help people make wise choices, and to help them teach their children how to make wise choices, such as our MEDIA-WISE FAMILY™ and CULTURE-WISE FAMILY™ resources. You can access these tools by visiting www.movieguide.org or calling 1-800-899-6684.

Real, lasting beauty delights in truth, justice and goodness. Furthermore, as our Annual Report shows, most moviegoers and entertainment consumers (as well as those who don’t watch, read or listen) want to see good conquer evil, truth triumph over falsehood, justice prevail over injustice and beauty overcome ugliness. Furthermore, most people with families like to share their leisure time with their whole family, not only their children but also their grandparents, more often.

Movieguide® and its many resources are here to help the public and entertainment industry leaders redeem the values of that industry and transform the culture, to the Eternal Glory of God and His Kingdom Come, and for the benefit of future generations – our children and grandchildren.

Together, we can accomplish this, with help and guidance from God by the Holy Spirit.

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.

– Philippians 4:8

An advertisement for ABC’s new program, “GCB,” found in a New York subway, not only is a blasphemous use of the biblical command to “Love thy neighbor,” it also blasphemes Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to save the souls of all people who have faith in Him.

Based on the book, “Good Christian Bi—-s,” by Kim Gatlin, “GCB” is about a woman named Amanda Vaughn, played by Leslie Bibb, who returns home to Dallas with her two children after facing marital and financial troubles. The trailers, ads and name suggest this series will not be family friendly or even respectful toward Christians.

According to information about the program received by Movieguide, Amanda is a former “mean girl” who has put the past behind her, while her former classmates and victims have not. They are the new mean girls who are as likely to gossip viciously about their returned rival as they are to offer up a humiliating prayer about her in church. As soon as their leader, Carlene Cockburn, played by Kristin Chenoweth, sees her arrive, she calls her friends, smugly gossiping about how Amanda’s former husband died in a car crash while having an affair with her best friend. Chenoweth’s character then halts the talk saying, “Ladies, it is not appropriate to speak of such things on the phone.” After a pause she continues, “I’ll see ya in church.” Another clip shows Carlene and her friends confronting Amanda about the moral code of their community.

The following scene shows Carlene in an office getting an invitation from a man to “do it.” Turning religious pictures face down, she crawls over the desk, as well as the man, and gives him a heavy kiss. Meanwhile, Amanda’s gun-collecting, shallow mother, played by Annie Potts says, “I feel certain that the good Lord would like me to have a new fur coat.”

Based on the trailers, Amanda Vaughn appears to be the only sane member of this community, and she doesn’t appear to be a practicing Christian. When her mother drags her and her children to church, Amanda tells her mother that she “didn’t raise the kids with any particular religion.” While we all know that there are hypocrites in every institution and every religion, “GCB” uses southern Christian women as the sole, stereotypical examples of self-indulgence, shallowness and hypocrisy.

Other scenes show young girls being encouraged to wear revealing tops. When one mother expresses concern that her daughter’s old cheerleader uniform is too tight, Chenoweth’s character tells her not to worry because “cleavage helps your cross hang straight.” Later at the game, the football team cheers when the girl’s vest pops open.

Clearly, this isn’t exactly a message Christian parents would want to send their daughters.

Although the series may prove better than its trailers and name suggest, the fact that “GCB” ridicules God, morality and Christians, who are little more than stereotypes, raises concerns for both families and Christians. In this light, everyone should remember that ridicule was a tool that Adolf Hitler used to murder six million Jews during World War II.

We urge everyone to call or write a letter complaining about this series (which begins airing tonight) to the following Disney and ABC executives:

The Walt Disney Company
Robert Iger, CEO
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521
Phone: (818) 460-7777

ABC Entertainment
Anne Sweeney, president
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521-4551
(818) 560-1000 or
(212) 456-7777
Email ABC

ABC Family Channel
Paul Lee, president
3800 West Alameda Ave.
Burbank, CA 91505
Phone: 818-560-1000
Fax: 818-560-1930
Website contact form