By Brittney Hensman (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: March 12, 2014
So here’s the scoop. People are up in arms about the invasion of Christian films that will be flooding the cinema screens in 2014. Hollywood has created and is in the process of issuing more than six films this year entirely composed of Biblical content. So, why is this a big deal?
Well, Christianity is being shoved down our throats. Is it? Do you feel the urge to convert to Christianity after viewing a trailer about the story of Noah?
If you ask me, Hollywood is smart in targeting the Christian audience with their “new” Biblical thematic content. Christians will most definitely drop $12 to see a depiction of their beloved stories in theatres — not to mention the many people who are tired of seeing the same love storyline over and over again. As much as people enjoy to “get away from the real world,” Hollywood’s current stable of romantic, horror, and action movies are overdone and are really nothing new. As much as people love a thrill, they are also drawn to aspects of life they can relate to — what is real, what their morals align with.
The Bible is in no way a “boring book.” It’s full of juicy stories and episodes of love, hate, murder, scandal, heroes, lust, tragedy, joy, “the supernatural,” the unthinkable — one man building a giant boat because God told him there was going to be a world-wide flood? What!? Crazy, right? Hollywood has made movies out of this material before, is doing it again, and probably will yet again a couple decades from now.
Everyone has a worldview and comes to his or her own conclusions and thoughts on all types of issues. Getting worked up over an issue like this one is not worth it — hey, if anyone is to be upset I’d think it should be the Christian — Hollywood is using your book of faith to make a heap of money off you!
The beef is not with Christian films, or even Hollywood for that matter; I think the problem lies with many people who simply have a bad taste in their mouths toward Christianity.
Unfortunately a lot of Christians have done a bad job representing ideas in the Bible — what Jesus said — and the reason is, Christians are no better than anyone else. Christians are not perfect, Christians make mistakes all the time, Christians are failures, liars, hypocrites, and selfish — the only difference between the “Christian” and the “non-believer” is that Christians believe despite their failures that the consequences of those mistakes have been taken on by someone else — Jesus Christ. It’s not because they are special, it’s simply because they believe He did that for everyone who acknowledges Him.
Though Christianity has a bad reputation, it’s important to realize the danger in stereotyping people for their faith. People in university especially are always passionately debating over issues in regards to equality, human rights, anti-segregation, and the right to have a voice — yet it always amazes me how hostile everyone can be towards each other about what they believe. My stance is, if you find yourself feeling upset about controversial issues, find out why. There is a reason humans have emotions, they indicate something is going on deeper inside.
So if those trailers are giving you a hard time, find out why and look for answers.
