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Is Hollywood slowly turning pro-life?
I must be seeing things. No, it’s true. In the past year I’ve seen more secular movies and TV shows address the issue, not in a militant Operation Rescue fashion, but in a very real sense of simply proposing, “I think having the baby is the right thing to do!”
The current issue of Christianity Today just chimed in on this fact in this article, proposing…
In some ways, 2007 was the Year of Pro-Life Cinema. From the church-friendly Bella to the raunchy Knocked Up, film after film depicted its main character facing an unplanned pregnancy and opting not for abortion, but for carrying the unborn child to term. Sometimes the mother kept the baby (Knocked Up, Waitress), and sometimes she gave the baby up for adoption (Bella, Juno, August Rush). But in each of these films, the mother, and sometimes the father, made a critical decision that was decidedly “pro-life.”
And last weekend, NBC’s Friday Night Lights delivered one of the most powerful pro-life speeches I’ve heard in recent years. Crippled quarterback Jason Street pleads with a “one night stand” to keep their child. He goes on to describe the baby growing in her, the little hands forming… a powerful talk.
The incredible thing about all of this attention on the issue is the fact that these aren’t obscure little films. Juno is huge right now (it’s made over 109 million) and a ton of our kids are seeing it. And sadly, a ton of our kids saw the very R-rated Knocked Up (really raunchy film, with a really cool theme). The value of the life of the unborn child is being placed on kids’ minds, and this generation is always open to share their point of view on an issue.
If you’re looking for discussion starters on the subject, a few weeks ago we wrote a free MOVIE CLIP DISCUSSION on our web site using a scene from Bella that’s a great one to use.
This is a good time to have conversations with kids about the issue.
(thanks to my brotha Thom for the email and CT link)
Posted in Entertainment Media, Movies, News, Sexuality, Youth Culture | | Leave A Comment
I think that part of this trend is the increased acceptance of society for people to have children without being married. How many celebrities are only getting married after they’ve become pregnant or after the baby is born. Or not at all. Jamie Lynn Spears is keeping her baby and I have no idea if she has any intention of marrying the father.
So, if the stigma of an unwed mother or a “bastard” child is disappearing, it’s understandable that these stories will become more prevalent.
So, how should Jesus followers’ respond? Should we celebrate the choice to save a life as the most important thing at the risk of downplaying the sexual sin that led to the situation? Should we condemn those who choose to have children apart from marriage a’la Dan Quail/Murphy Brown and alienate people from the message of a loving/gracious God in the process? Is there a middle ground?
Jeff… I’ll answer one of your questions with a question. When you ask “should we condemn those who choose to have children part from marriage?” … I’ll simply ask you, “Where in the Bible does it call us as believers to condemn the unbeliever?” (or for the bonus question, how many times did we see the exact opposite out of Jesus? John 3:17, John 4, John 8, Matthew 9…)
I agree. My question was meant to be an extreme statement. The real feelings that bubble up inside a concerned Christian adult is the old “will my ignoring the sin and loving a person be a unintentional stamp of approval on their sinful choice?”
There’s always this tightrope walk especially for those of us who have been raised in the evangelical Christian culture of the late 20th century. I’m trying to embrace a new mindset that starts and ends with loving others as much as I love myself — no matter who they are and what they may have done (or are doing). It’s not up to me to judge and convict people of their sin — that’s specifically the Holy Spirit’s job. I can’t make anyone a Christian — that’s God’s job, too. All I’m instructed to do is to love. God will then step in and do what needs to be done in their lives.