As a Christian mom, I am not going to be watching the remake of Disney's Beauty and the Beast despite the fact that the original movie was my FAVORITE movie as a child. I watched and re-watched that movie, faithfully. My grandmother actually has two of the VHS tapes because we lost one for a short while. However, all the warm and fuzzy childhood memories do not make up for the fact that this movie supports and condones a LGBT lifestyle. I cannot in good conscience sit through a movie (and thereby financially support) something that is fundamentally contradictory to my faith.
The next statement that I usually get is, "But Morgan, it isn't that bad! It is just hints that only adults will get. Can't you watch it and ignore the parts that you don't like?" The answer is NO, and here is why: I filter what I read, watch, listen to, and participate in through Philippians 4:8 which says, " Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things."
This movie doesn't fit my personal Christian standard, period.
But what about the Christians that are seeing the movie anyway? How does that work? Well, as far as I can tell the Christians that are seeing the movie anyways fall in two different groups.
Group One: it doesn't matter at all, Christians should just ignore the subtle gay moments and just enjoy the movie
Group Two: Christians should use it for a teaching moment.
Let me address the second group first. I strongly disagree with the idea that Christians should watch the movie because "this is the culture that God appointed us to live in" or that we can use it to "find the good". I think that is just conforming to the society rather than standing up for what you believe, and yet many people are doing exactly that! You wouldn't say that Christians should go see the new 50 Shades of Grey movie, and yet that is part of this culture too. (Also, just because something is "good" doesn't mean it is "God". Ghandi was a "good" man, but if you believe the Bible then you believe that he went to hell, despite his "good".)
As for group one, this is where most of the Christian viewers seem to fall. I was incredibly disappointed to see one of my favorite Christian authors, Eric Metaxas even write that,
"...the much-ballyhooed "exclusively gay moment" which "Beauty and the Beast" director Bill Condon referred to turned out to be two or three suggestive moments, plus an "in-your-face" transgender moment involving a man dressed in drag and loving it. As a Christian dad, that bugged me. But as a fan of good stories, I found it far sadder that LGBT propaganda was the most original thing about the new "Beauty and the Beast."As Christians, who cares if it is a good story if it doesn't glorify Christ? I think a huge part of why Christians are willing to go see this movie (and therefore tacitly support the agenda) is because they are afraid of being called a bigot or old fashioned. But here is the thing, I don't care what I am called, because ultimately I am called a child of God (Galatians 3:26) and that is what matters. It shouldn't just bug you, it should break your heart that this culture is so incredibly far removed from God that sexuality has found its way into children's movies. It should light your heart on fire to know that there are broken and hurting people out there that need the welcoming arms of Christ. I want my boys to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this culture is NOT the end all be all.
It isn't enough to just ignore the scenes.
It is time to step up and say no, I will not participate.
This is not my fairytale, this is not my happy ending.
I know how the story really ends, and this beast isn't even close to our Prince of Peace.
I don't want "good", I want God.
It is so nice to find someone who feels the way we do about the movie. We have not watched it for the same reasons you listed above, though we have looked forward to watching it for 2 years; had it on our calendar, even! But how could we watch something promoting something God hates and just ignore it? We couldn't. And we were so disappointed by all the flack we received from fellow Christians who ridiculed us for not watching it. It has really opened my eyes and saddened me to the way the church will compromise. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteDebra Henderson
Good for you for standing up for your belief in God's Word and not giving in to peer pressure!
ReplyDeleteThank you for such a firm and Biblical and /sensible/ post! I find it puzzling and saddening the way so many Christians don't seem to see the "poison in the sugar plum" in many, if not all, recent Disney movies, instead having some strange sort of faith in them just because "it's Disney."
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