Customer Reviews

Lies That Go Unchallenged in Popular Culture (How Now)

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

Charles Colson tackles the deceptions of contemporary society in Lies That Go Unchallenged in Popular Culture. Using sound biblical truth and concise examples of individual situations, Colson helps us uncover and dispel the lies proclaimed in today's popular culture. Readers gain a full understanding of underlying motives, events, and repercussions of the lies our culture is feeding us.

Back Cover Copy:

"No one has a monopoly on truth."
"You can be who you want and do what you want."
"Marriage isn't for forever."

Truths? Lies? Somewhere in between?

These and other statements float through our society-on television and radio, in print media, political speeches, and classrooms. Often these assertions are left unchallenged because they sound good on the surface, yet they embody ideals that fundamentally oppose truth. How can we understand and respond to worldviews that appear to embrace acceptance, tolerance, and peace, but in fact threaten to drown out the truth about our society?

In Lies That Go Unchallenged in Popular Culture, Charles Colson examines seven lies that affect our contemporary society, and he brings clarity to various events and trends over the past decade.

Rights of the Individual
Lie #1: We have the freedom of choice to be who we want and to do what we want.

Marriage and the Family
Lie #2: Marriage can be between any two people, and it lasts only as long as both are happy.

Society and Toleration
Lie #3: We'll live in harmony if we tolerate the beliefs of others.

The Arts
Lie #4: Art should break traditional norms and challenge outworn beliefs.

Christians in Culture
Lie #5: Christian beliefs are a private matter.

The Media
Lie #6: Entertainment is a vehicle to help us fulfill personal desires.

Spirituality in Culture
Lie #7: God accepts us as we are, and there are many ways to him.

Useful for individual or group study, Charles Colson's insightful observations and practical applications will help you answer effectively widely accepted misconceptions in popular culture.

Charles Colson is a leading Christian commentator and apologist. His daily radio commentary, Breakpoint, provides short, punchy and pithy observations on the current scene, be it social, political, moral or cultural.

His incisive commentary is fully informed by a thoroughly biblical world view. Thus he offers a good counter-balance to the relativistic, politically correct and postmodern mindset. Those who may have missed these radio commentaries (or simply prefer the printed word) will be grateful to see many of the better and more recent broadcasts collected into a single volume.

The commentaries are broken own into seven sections: individualism and rights; marriage and family; tolerance and society; the arts; Christianity and culture; the media; and spirituality in culture. Each section contains around a dozen of the short, but meaty, commentaries.

Taken together, the 90 or so pieces cover many of the current events and social issues being discussed today. With so much uninformed commentary, and/or viewpoints representing every perspective but that of biblical Christianity, it is good to see a decidedly Christian version of events.

In an age where truth is in short supply, where morality is hard to come by, and everyone seems to be doing what is right in their own eyes, the words of reason, wisdom and truth found here make for refreshing reading.

The trouble is, it is not just secularists who are so much in need of biblical truth. Many who call themselves Christians are also desperately in need. Too many believers have slavishly followed the trends of the world, instead of setting counter-cultural trends of their own.

This book will help believers to get back to where they should be, and will also help non-believers to rethink many of their currently held positions. It is time to challenge the lies that are so prevalent and pervasive in contemporary culture, and this volume offers a great place to start with in such an important task.

To be honest, i love these sort of books. Challenging conventional thinking, particularly from a Christian perspective. Although it has an American slant (talking about American legislation, courts, states and so on) i believe that this is a useful book for general moral principles.

I particularly liked how each topic was very brief, no more than 3 pages, which meant that you didnt get lost if you had to drop the book for an hour or so.

I didnt give it 5 stars, only cause i dont agree with the views on Islam (a peacefull religion we are told in the book) stated in the book.

Otherwise, very good for group talks, i feel.

Chuck Colson is one of the smartest men on the planet, but this book is really not a great read. It is a series of short essays, with lots of useful information, and true historical facts. However, the book never gets into the detail of the other books. This would be a great book for discussion by groups both sympathetic and opposed to the Christian view.

If you are looking for a book that provides quick snippets of no-holds barred intellectual analyses on a variety of controversial issues plaguing most Christians (some of which I have never even thought about before!)...this is it folks.

Quick, easy read and the chapter names will draw you in immediately because they are funny. I loved the whole book. Plus, the author is fairly conservative and yet doesn't take himself too seriously and isn't quagmired in ignoramous politics. There isn't the normal line drawn of Republicans versus Dems and the mudslinging accompanying it. His approach to these hot topics is moderate, level-headed and sensible, which I deeply appreciated. I particularly dislike polarizing bias adopted as the traditional Christian mindset. The author took pains to thoroughly research as evidenced by the extraordinary amount of references for each short chapter.

You will be left to wonder how we were led so far astray. Good for teenagers entering a complicated world full of mixed messages. This book reconciles Christian faith with real-life issues and makes sense of them :)

P.S. Read this book one chapter/day...good to meditate on instead of reading it all at once. It is more effective that way.

A Christian perspective of our world today and how even we are desensitized by the constant bombardment of the media etc. controlled by the secular world.

Oh, Colson really lays it on the line! He declares truths that the Progressive/Secular (ala O'Reilly) Liberals unfailingly deny. I don't expect any of the Libs will change, but it'd be nice if they would. They're too sure that they're right. Such a crock! What a wonderful new world we'd have!

Purchased to read this winter. I feel sure it will be excellent as all his books are. Sandra

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT SPEND ONE CENT OF YOUR MONEY ON THIS BOOK IT IS JUST SO BAD JUST GO THE OTHER WAY.Charles Calson and James Bell Jr ARE SICK PEOPLE.

Colson's definition of "lie" is simple and pernicious. Any belief he does not share is a lie, and anyone who believes something he doesn't is a liar. It is perfectly fine to reject the beliefs he calls "lies," it's not in the least bit okay to impugn the honor of those who disagree with him.

And, of course, a logical analysis of the relevant evidence will reveal that most of the beliefs he calls "lies" are in fact true, and the rest are at least arguable.

A civilized society requires civilized discourse. A society where the beliefs of others are routinely characterized as lies is not a civilized society.