Movies & TV exert ‘evil’ influence

Movies and television programs have become purveyors of immorality, blasphemy, and rebellion and influenced too many viewers to mimic the evil they see on the screen.

The destructive power of the mass media was highlighted by the 1988 television remake of the famous movie “Inherit the Wind,” which dramatically retold the story of the famous Scopes “monkey” trial. Although the Christians won the trial, they lost the battle in the media. William Jennings Bryan defeated Clarence Darrow in court, but he was defeated by the venomous anti-Christian reporting of H. L. Mencken. As in many cases since then, the Christians won the skirmish but lost the battle to the manipulations of the mass media.

Christians should never forget the lesson of the Scopes trial: it is futile to win the trial only to lose the battle to the power of media. In the Scopes trial, the press controlled the language and communicated a strong anti-Christian bias. Society adopted that bias and moved against the Christians even though the Christians had the law on their side.

Like the Christians involved in the Scopes trial, we often forget that there is a war raging around us. This war is not taking place on the usual battlefield; it’s being fought inside men’s minds. It is a spiritual war for the souls of those who constitute our civilization, and it uses the most effective weapon ever conceived: communications.

No matter how much we condemn the mass media for influencing the behavior of our children, we must admit that there are several accomplices in this tragedy. They include churches that don’t teach parents how to teach their children discernment; parents who allow their children to watch television, go to movies, or surf the Internet without adequate supervision or training in the necessary discernment skills; and the creative people in the entertainment industry who do not care about protecting people.

Jesus was the master of communications. His parables are as pertinent today as they were 2,000 years ago. He knew the power of communications and how ideas shape civilizations. His Word toppled one of the most powerful civilizations in history, the Roman Empire, and continues to transform the world today.

Though the tools of communications have changed, the words remain the same. The warfare of ideas has exploded through the use of movies and television, revolutionizing our way of thinking. We are fighting against an enemy that is using every possible tactic to control our minds: materialism, secularism, humanism, Marxism—all the “isms” that conflict with Christianity.

[Material adapted with permission from Ted Baehr’s latest book, So You Want to be in Pictures: A Christian Resource for “Making It” in Hollywood, published by Broadman & Holman Publishers.]

Ted Baehr is founder and publisher of MovieGuide® and chairman of The Christian Film & Television Commission. For more information on Mr. Baehr and the CFTC, visit www.mediawisefamily.com.