Wow! I didn't know this!
"In recent years, evangelical Christians, disillusioned by what they consider to be the "sinning" of Hollywood, have created a more than $4 billion a year religious entertainment industry, including amusement parks, music, books, movies, wrestling matches and rock concerts.
With nearly 87 percent of Americans identifying themselves as Christians, experts said, religion has become a lucrative part of American popular culture.
The influence of evangelicals is everywhere in today's society, says Alan Wolfe, a sociologist at Boston College, but that is because evangelicals are being influenced by popular culture, not the other way around.
"Evangelicals don't want to reject the world, they want to persuade others to the way of Jesus and engage other people in their religion," he says. "Embracing popular culture has allowed them to do that."
The trend is driven by what evangelicals see as a desperate need for values-based entertainment, particularly for youth whom evangelicals said are being lured away from religious value. Nearly three-quarters of white evangelicals said in a recent survey for PBS that the media are hostile to their values. As a result, they are creating their own alternatives to secular entertainment, which offer a Christian message."
I'm sort of speechless at this. I knew there was certain movies or themes that are offensive to Christians or visa versa, but I had no idea they were so powerful.
But then add to the fray the Salvation Army turning down this 4000 action figures for Christmas:
"Toys for Tots is a charitable organization run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve that collects toys from October to December each year to provide Christmas gifts for underprivileged kids.
Seems like the most unlikely thing in the world to generate controversy, right? But trouble came to the program this year when a Los Angeles-based company called one2believe tried to donate 4,000 brand new talking action figures to Toys for Tots, and were turned down.
Why would such a gift be turned down, you might wonder. Could it be that the dolls were too scary, or too "adult"? Did the little figures say things that were too off-color to be heard by tender young ears? Were they unsafe, with sharp edges or pointy surfaces that might injure a little nipper?
No, no, and no. The generous donation was refused because the dolls were a likeness of Jesus Christ that quoted Bible verses at the touch of a button.
Let that sink in for a minute. It was deemed inappropriate for Toys for Tots to give out Jesus action figures as gifts during a holiday that celebrates his birth."
It helps explain why there's more Christian media outlets than any political outlet. It also explains their large political strength from such things as focus on the family, etc.
But when "mainstream" people like Britney and Lindsay go "commando" is it any wonder that the two extremes are at war?
with everything we celebrate, diversity, religion plays a big part
n/t