Customer Reviews

The Culture-Wise Family: Upholding Christian Values in a Mass-Media World

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As one who is concerned about the family, I couldn't help but embrace this book. Dr. Baehr convincingly articulates the words I've tried to say for years: We can change the direction of the family by changing the direction of the culture--whether for good or for evil. With detailed research and documented statistics, the author reveals the influence the media and the culture have, not only on the young minds of children, but on our minds as well. A must-read for every Christian who wants to make a difference at home, and in the world.

Readers will either love this book and think it a godsend--or they will hate it and describe it as narrow, biased, etc. The turning point will be the reader's view of the world and how it's supposed to work.

The authors have a biblical world view that says that the purpose of man is to know, love, and serve God. Therefore anything that moves someone closer to that end is good. If it does not--it is not good. It is that simple.

This would explain why Pat Boone would lead his family out of a viewing of the movie, "Paint Your Wagon" in the early seventies. Why? Because the premise of the movie was that the town would be a better place if there were more woman of a certain type--a prostitute. And much of the movie focused on how to get these women to town.

Many people would say that this is simply entertainment, point to the number of awards the movie garnered, and say that Pat Boone was narrow-minded and out of touch with the times. Pat Boone's response would be that the movie did not cause people to know, love, and serve God--and therefore should be avoided.

This book is much more than opinion. The authors share carefully documented research that shows the real impact of media on our behavior and attitudes. They argue that as parents and grandparents we have the moral obligation to teach our children and grandchildren how to look at, evaluate, and think critically about what they media presents to us--whether it be entertainment, news, or education.

Any reader will be challenged to examine the personal impact media has had on their own thinking and actions. I recommend this book.

Armchair Interviews says: A critical look at media and family today.

I have to agree with a previous poster who stated that the book was not cohesive. It seemed that the author jumped around and there didn't always seem to be a logical progression, especially within individual chapters.

That said, I appreciate the general message of the book...our children are watching entirely too much television/videos, and we need to be more careful that what they watch is in line with our Christian worldview and our biblical values.

Overall, I most appreciated chapter 10, titled "Who Stole Our Culture?", authored by William S. Lind. Lind gives the history behind the shift from Judeo-Christian values to politically-correct, cultural Marxist values. He explains that the number one goal of cultural Marxism has been the destruction of Western culture and the Christian religion (including the family) and shows how this has been put into action through gaining access to our institutions - the schools (ie...public education), the media, the churches and every other institution that could influence the culture.

I also thought that chapter 11, "Where Are We Going?", tied together the secular humanism of cultural Marxism with the Muslim advance, especially in Europe. Will the Muslim advance fill the void left in the wake of cultural Marxism? This is certainly a relevant question.

All in all, I would recommend this book to parents (and grandparents!) trying to better understand the pervasiveness of mass media, the dangers to our children, and the evil of the "politically-correct" culture we live in.

The task of raising a Christian family in today's culture is daunting, especially considering the impact of the mass media.

Movie industry expert Ted Baehr has teamed up with entertainer Pat Boone in this much-needed guide that offers practical tools to protect families and children from toxic cultural messages.

The authors examine the ongoing threats to family values by those in the media who promote a humanistic worldview. Yet the book's positive tone encourages parents to find hope through making wise choices that reflect a biblical worldview.

Because of the media's powerful influence, every home and church library should have a copy of this inspiring book.

For ongoing help, Ted Baeher's Movieguide organization is a "ministry dedicated to redeeming the values of the mass media according to biblical principles, by influencing entertainment industry executives and helping families make wise media choices."

--Reviewed for Christian Women Online Book Buzz

The Culture-Wise Family is an eye-opening expose of the ubiquitous influence of mass media and the entertainment industry in the contemporary world. It exposes the phenomenal reach of a toxic culture which envelops everyone, with pernicious effects in particular on youth. Hollywood rules, but this is not an occasion for jubilation. Typical Hollywood productions featuring excessive nudity, vulgarity, sex, and violence now reach across the globe via electronic technology, providing a distorted image of the West, especially the U.S., as the purveyor of filth, moral decadence, sexual perversion, materialism, atheism, and moral-ethical relativism, broadcast via satellites, the Internet, DVDs, movies, MTV, podcasts, etc. into even remote villages in the Third World.

The book's contributors ably dissect the multilayered aspects of today's mass production and mass consumption culture, and offer practical advice to both youth and parents who need to become media-wise and discern what is good from what is tolerable and what is bad by drawing on the resources of a renewed and renewing Christian faith. Parents could use all the help they can get in bringing up children to become responsible, upright, productive citizens. All of us are indebted to the volume's editors-Ted Baehr and Pat Boone-for practical and worldview advice on how to navigate in a world which is not only interconnected but also drenched in cultural artifacts of dubious provenance. Dr. Baehr is well-known for his tireless ministry of raising the level of culture in the entertainment and media industries via his Christian Film and Television Commission and its unique Movieguide. In fact, the book includes a sample Movieguide review of the popular film, Amazing Grace, about the nineteenth-century British abolitionist and reformer, William Wilberforce. For background regarding the movie, there is a fascinating historical-pictorial guide, The Amazing Grace of Freedom: The Inspiring Faith of William Wilberforce, compiled by Dr. Baehr and the film's producers, Susan and Ken Wales.

What is ingenuous about The Culture-Wise Family is that it connects the cultural with the personal, and the personal with the cultural. This has far-reaching implications not only for individuals and families, but society as a whole and its varied constituencies. Among major challenges, the book counsels churches to resist the temptation of the secular culture's Siren call and instead boldly proclaim the Gospel. What may surprise some is the book's implied argument that even non-Christians should support the Christian moral-spiritual worldview as the foundation of Western civilization and its most cherished attainments of liberty, human rights, and democracy. This, in turn, confirms Alexis de Tocqueville's prophetic insight in Democracy in America that: "Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith." In brief, both youth and adults face great challenges in discerning the truth and keeping the faith in a secular world that has forgotten God. The Culture-Wise Family is thus a timely and welcome handbook on how individuals and families can redeem the culture. Reviewer: Oskar Gruenwald, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies

For those of us who work with teenagers, we are aware of the vast influence of mass media in their lives. Most teenagers spend hours a day listening to music, watching television, or surfing the internet. Disturbingly, the messages that stream across the airwaves, through fiber-optic cable, and over Wi-Fi networks often seem to be in contradiction with the values, standards, and norms we are trying to instill into our Christian young people. How should we deal with this?

Ted Baehr and Pat Boone (along with other guest authors) try to answer this question in The Culture-Wise Family: Upholding Christian Values in a Mass Media World. The authors come from the premise that America was founded as a Christian nation (Chapter 4) and that Christians must win the "cultural battle" (157). Ever since the removal of prayer from school, America's social problems and illnesses have grown exponentially (156). Statistics charting the changes in America's cultural landscape from the 1960s to 1990s help support this claim (21). In attempting to turn the tide, Christians who want to "apply biblical principles to all areas of life, and Christ's authority over all things" are left with no choice but to say, "Our goal is nothing less than a Christian civilization" (162). This is the approach the authors take in regard to culture.

The authors assert that the proper interaction of Christians with our culture is to avoid any form of media that does not conform fully to a biblical, Christian worldview. Books and movies like The Da Vinci Code and Harry Potter should be off-limits for Christians. In reference to the media we consume, Christians must always remember that "Jesus, who sits at the right hand of our Father in Heaven and sees all, is watching us, and God is taking down our names" (154). By voting with our pocketbook, those who control the media will be forced to begin producing works that are in line with a Christian worldview.

One of the most helpful chapters in the book is chapter 5, which explains the different ways that children interact with media according to their age and development. It is important for parents and youth workers to realize that children and teenagers do not process media in the same ways as adults because of their mental development.

Perhaps the compilation of authors hurt the book's cohesiveness. The chapters seem to suffer from a lack of flow and obvious thought-pattern. Even within a chapter it is sometimes difficult to see the relevance of some of the author's stories and examples. Additionally, although it is not an academic work, more documentation of sources would be helpful to support some of the claims made in the book.

While there is some value to be gained from this book in regard to interacting with culture, the book suffers from too much sprawl related to issues that have little to nothing to do with helping Christians interact with culture. The book could stand some significant editing or a new title. Too much space is spent hearkening back to the 1950s and waging war against liberals. Readers hoping to find a robust, systematic, and cohesive approach to interacting with culture should look elsewhere.

While there were some good nuggets of valuable information and insight in this book, overall I wasn't too impressed. The book was too long and it seemed like many of the authors writing sections of this book for Baehr were more interested in showing how much they know about a subject and far less interested in passing along anything of value to the reader. Plus, the connection with Pat Boone and what he added to the book told me that the target audience for this book is a much older audience than I would have anticipated - I would think that young parents with younger children would be the primary focus, not grandparents. This book really missed the mark on communicating a clear, concise and consistent message.

However, after saying all that, the book did raise some very good points along the way. The first point made is that children watch way too much TV and are exposed to far too much sexual activity and violence along the way. Parents need to be more discerning and there really isn't any excuse for not knowing what children are watching and listening to these days except for pure apathy. The next point that Baehr does drive home is that parents need to be biblically literate and understand the concept of the Christian worldview as they train their children to be discerning participants instead of mindless consumers of media. Finally, Baehr does communicate that Christians should not retreat from the culture, but prepare to engage.

Overall the book was too long and too complicated for the average parent looking for a resource that will better equip and prepare them to help their children make better decisions regarding media consumption. A much better book that deals with this subject is Leal Arrington's Worldproofing Your Kids.

The Culture-Wise Famiy is an insightful and inspiring reading on the powerful impact media has on our society. This book enlightens us on how Hollywood has desensatized our culture with rampant immorality in its quest to "entertain," the resulting negative effects, and what we can do to stand strong against the downward spiral - by upholding the Christian values our nation was founded upon. An excellent read and reference resource.

Before taking in new entertainment, and to reflect on past experiences, this golden resource imparts wisdom regarding the messages media might send. The world-wide statistics and data present thought-provoking insights for discernment to avoid being dumbed down by messages in mass media. Careful guidance prompts meaningful conversations with family members of all ages and friends regarding the values presented through the media. The compilation of articles provides a necessary and powerful means to influence the entertainment industry by making wise choices that impact what will be produced in the future through sales.

I highly recommend "The Culture-Wise Family". It is a must for every family in America for it's uplifting moral values.