Are Most ‘Preachers’ Daughters’ Hot-to-Trot Lolitas?

March 12, 2013 By 1 Comment
EVANGELIST NIKITA KOLOFF AND DAUGHTER KOLBY APPEAR IN NEW LIFETIME TV REALITY SHOW.

EVANGELIST NIKITA KOLOFF AND 16-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER KOLBY APPEAR IN NEW LIFETIME TV REALITY SHOW.

So I was looking over the wife’s shoulder while she was watching “Project Runway” on Lifetime TV. During a commercial break, Lifetime aired a promo for a new show that debuts tonight. 

The promo begins with the familiar Aretha Franklin tune, “I Say a Little Prayer,” playing in the background.

A young woman, looking like she works for some sort of escort service, is getting dressed. She oh-so-sexily applies her lipstick and mascara before teasingly stroking her hair.

She surveys a rack of clothes before deciding upon a dress that looks very much like lingerie. She puts on a pair of suede high heeled pumps then walks down a flight of stairs (in slow motion, of course).

I thought the promo was for some spin-off of “The Client List,” the Lifetime series starring Jennifer Love Hewitt as a lovable housewife-next-door turned high-priced escort.

But, in fact, it was for a new Lifetime reality show – “Preachers’ Daughters” – that most Christians, I suspect, will find offensive. Not the least because it promises viewers that the series will “raise some hell.”

“Preachers’ Daughters” features three families, headed by pastors, with teen-age daughters. Each episode, according to Lifetime, offers “a hard-hitting but often humorous look at the lives of these pastors’ daughters as they balance the temptations every teen-ager faces with their parents’ strict expectations and code of conduct as influenced by their faith.”

Of course, the problem with putative “reality” shows is that they present a decidedly distorted picture of reality. And so it is with “Preachers’ Daughters.”

Olivia, the 18-year-old daughter of Mark Perry, pastor of Everyday Church in Oceano, California, spent her high school years partying hard, abusing drugs and alcohol. She got pregnant and, so promiscuous was she, she didn’t even know who her baby’s father was.

Taylor, the teen-aged daughter of Ken Coleman, pastor of City of Refuge Pentecostal Church in Lockport, Illinois, rebels against the rules set down by her dad, sneaking out of the house, kissing boys and yielding to temptation. Taylor says “my alter ego kind of wants to be a porn star.”

Then there’s Kolby, the 16-year-old daughter of Nikita Koloff, a former professional wrestler who makes the family’s home in Spring Hill, Tennessee but is now a traveling evangelist. Kolby’s mom Victoria, who is divorced from her dad Nikita, happens to be a preacher herself, hosting a faith-based radio program. Teen-aged Kolby complains that before every guy she dates, “my mom has to interrogate him.”

“God made the world in seven days,” says Lifetime’s promo for “Preachers’ Daughters.” “Moses parted the Red Sea. But if these preachers can control their teen-age daughters, it would really be a miracle.”

Well, I know that there are some teen-aged pastor’s daughters that drink, that abuse drugs, that are unwed moms. I imagine there are a few here and there that get caught up in the sex business, perhaps even becoming porn stars. And I accept that there may be a few reared in broken homes, where dad and mom, both pastors, are divorced.

But that’s not the reality of most preachers’ daughters. In fact, most are well-adjusted. Most are respectful of their parents. And most take seriously their Christian walk.

I know this not only from following the activities of Christian youth, including PKs (preachers’ kids), but also from first-hand experience. Because I grew up with two God-loving, self-respecting sisters who are preachers’ daughters.

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Hollywood Christian Couple Brings “The Bible” to TV

March 3, 2013 By 1 Comment
MARK BURNETT AND ROMA DOWNEY VISITED SADDLEBACK CHURCH YESTERDAY WHERE THEY PREVIEWED THEIR NEW MINISERIES, 'THE BIBLE.'

MARK BURNETT AND ROMA DOWNEY VISITED SADDLEBACK CHURCH YESTERDAY WHERE THEY PREVIEWED THEIR NEW MINISERIES, ‘THE BIBLE.’

My wife and I enjoyed a special blessing yesterday. We sat in the front row at Saddleback Church in SoCal where Pastor Rick Warren played host to Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, husband and wife producers of the new ten-part miniseries, “The Bible,” which premiers tonight on the History Channel.

Mark has brought such well-known reality shows to television as “Survivor,” “Celebrity Apprentice,” “The Voice,” “The Job” and “Shark Tank.” Roma is best known for her role as Monica, on the popular television series “Touched by an Angel.”

Many, I imagine, had an inkling that Roma might be a Christian. After all, she played an angel – lovingly and joyfully so – for the better part of a decade. But hardly anyone suspected Mark of being a Christ follower. I know I didn’t.

Mark and Roma told the Saddleback faithful yesterday that they believe they were called by the Lord to bring “The Bible” to the small screen. To shine a light in dark places, said Mark. To share the Good News of Jesus Christ, said Roma.

Pastor Rick is convinced that the miniseries, two parts of which will air every Sunday between now and Easter, will prove as epic as “Roots,” the eight-part miniseries that aired in 1977, that won nine Emmy Awards and remains today the third-highest rated television program in U.S. history.

“The Bible” is, arguably, the most ambitious cinematic adoption of the Good Book in Hollywood history.

More so than “The Ten Commandments,” Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 retelling of the book of Exodus, in which the estimable Charlton Heston starred as Moses (and also happened to provide the voice of the Burning Bush).

More than “Ben Hur,” the 1959 epic directed by William Wyler and also starring Charlton Heston, which won a record 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture (an achievement unmatched until “Titanic” in 2007).

More than “King of Kings,” “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” “Jesus of Nazareth” and “The Passion of the Christ,” all of  which painted, in their own way, powerful cinematic portraits of the Messiah.

That’s because Mark and Roma’s labor of love does not cover a single period of Bible history, but brings to the small screen the stories of both the Old Testament and New Testament, from Genesis to Revelation.

The husband and wife producers do not retell all 66 books of the Bible. (I’m sure they would lose much of their audience if they devoted, say, an hour to the retelling of the book of Numbers).

Instead, their narrative was driven by the stories of the Bible’s major figures, showing how the arc of Biblical history ultimately led to the arrival of Christ the Lord, whose life, death and resurrection gave meaning to everything that came before Him and everything that has followed.

Mark and Roma caution that their miniseries is not a documentary. It takes some artistic license. For instance, it refers to Simon Peter simply as Peter. And to Saul of Tarsus as Paul, before his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.

Those minor details in no way detract from “The Bible.” In fact, it probably makes the ten-parter more accessible to those who do as yet count themselves as Christians, who are not intimately familiar with Scripture.

Among the many stories Mark and Roma shared yesterday about the making of “The Bible,” the one that filled me with the Spirit concerned their filming of a scene involving the actors playing Jesus and Nicodemus. It occurred on a still night in the Morocco desert, without a breath of wind.

Jesus, played by actor Diego Morgado, explains to Nicodemus, played by actor Simon Kunz, that he must be “born again.” By that, says Jesus, He is not speaking of physical rebirth, but spiritual. And he likens the Holy Spirit to the wind. It blows where it pleases. No one knows where it comes from or where it is going.

At that very moment in the filming, a sustained wind blue through the set, as if on cue. Mark and Roma felt it was supernatural.

Roma said that it brought to mind some of the occurrences that took place during the nine seasons she appeared on “Touched by an Angel.” She and her fellow cast members used to say “Coincidences are God’s way of staying anonymous.”

Well, I think it no coincidence that Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, Hollywood’s leading Christian couple, have brought “The Bible” to television. I believe God chose them for this Kingdom building work for such a time as this.

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Who Knew ‘Les Misérables’ Had a Christian Message?

December 30, 2012 By 1 Comment
PORTRAIT OF ‘COSETTE,’ FROM THE ORIGINAL EDITION OF VICTOR HUGO’S 1862 MASTERPIECE ‘LES MISÉRABLES.'

PORTRAIT OF ‘COSETTE,’ FROM THE ORIGINAL EDITION OF VICTOR HUGO’S 1862 MASTERPIECE ‘LES MISÉRABLES.’

I first caught the musical “Les Misérables” back in 1987, when it made its U.S. debut on Broadway. My lasting memory of the Tony Award winning production, which enjoyed the third-longest run on the Great White Way after “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera,” is that much of the audience wept through Act II.

As “Les Miserables” appears this holiday season on movie screens throughout the country, featuring the vocal talents of actors Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried, among others, I now think the musical decidedly spiritual entertainment.

It’s not that “Les Miz” has changed since it moved from stage to screen; that the storyline, which is based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel, has been reworked to appeal to Christian evangelicals, in a crass Hollywood attempt to capture the movie-going audience that made Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ” a box office sensation.

No, what has changed in the 25 years since I saw “Les Miz” on Broadway is that I am today a “re-born” again Christian. Indeed, in my young adult years, I ventured away from the faith life of my childhood and early adolescence. But after getting married just before the turn of the millennium, I restarted my walk with the Lord.

I see in the story of Jean Valjean, the hero of “Les Miz,” a journey of redemption with which all of us can identify who have strayed from The Way, only to be rescued from our sin-sick lives by Christ, our Savior.

After his parole from prison, to which he originally was sentenced for stealing bread for his starving sister and her family, Valjean is provided food and shelter by a kindly bishop. The ex-con returns the kindness by stealing the bishop’s silver.

Valjean is caught by the authorities and brought before the bishop. But rather than confirm the ex-con’s theft, the bishop tells the authorities he gifted the silver to Valjean.

That act of Christ-like grace persuades Valjean to become an upright man. So he changes his identity and starts a new life, eventually building a successful business and even ascending to mayor of the town in which he leads an exceedingly abundant life.

But that is not the end of the story. Valjean does not live happily after. As every Christ follower knows, just because we are born – or re-born – again does not mean there will not be times that try our souls.

In Valjean’s case, when he changed his identity, when he began his life anew, he violated his parole. He was hunted through the years by a determined police inspector, Javert, who vowed to find and re-imprison Valjean.

As it happens, Valjean learns that a man believed to be him has been arrested. It presents an opportunity to “M’sieur le Mayor” to be free of Javert once and for all. It is the kind of snare Satan often sets before us to get us to fall away from our Christian principles.

Valjean struggles with what to do.

“Who am I?” he asks himself, in one of the best-known musical numbers from “Les Miz.” “Can I condemn this man to slavery? Pretend I do no feel his agony? … Must I lie? How can I ever face my fellow men?  How can I ever face myself again?”

In the end, Valjean makes the hard choice; the right choice.

“My soul,” he sings, “belongs to God, I know. I made that bargain long ago. He gave me hope when hope was gone. He gave me strength to carry on.”

So what else could he do? Valjean revealed his true identity, saving an innocent man from wrongful imprisonment.

Valjean’s act of self-sacrifice was extraordinary. But to those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, the extraordinary is made ordinary.

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PSY’s Lyrics Spit on the Graves of America’s War Dead

December 8, 2012 By 1 Comment
KOREAN POP STAR’S APOLOGY FOR ANTI-AMERICAN LYRICS RINGS HOLLOW.

KOREAN POP STAR’S APOLOGY FOR ANTI-AMERICAN LYRICS RINGS HOLLOW.

My son has been deployed overseas the past two years. My wife and I pray every day for his safety and for the safety of all of America’s sons and daughters serving in the nation’s military.

That’s why I find offensive the music video in which Korean pop star PSY appeared in which he wished death upon our men and women in uniform. Like my 23-year-old son, the only child with which my wife and I have been blessed.

It’s also why I am angry that PSY has not been disinvited to an upcoming Christmas concert for President Obama, whom, I have repeatedly reminded my son, must be respected – notwithstanding his policies – because he is the nation’s duly-elected commander-in-chief.

I understand that PSY has apologized for adding his voice to a supposed “protest” song, “Dear American,” which included lyrics urging: “Kill those f***ing Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives…  Kill their daughters, mother, daughters-in-law and brothers. Kill them all painfully and slowly.”

But I believe the Korean truly meant what he sang. For the Bible advises, “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Or, in the case of Mr. Gangnam Style, the mouth sings.

Meanwhile, President Obama has uttered not a word in condemnation of Psy’s anti-America rant, which sounded very much like the kind of chilling declarations heard from the late Osama bin Laden. The White House did, however, issue a statement saying that its not up to them who performs for the president and his family.

Such a cop out is a profound insult to America’s military families. Especially to the families of the more than 6,000 service men and women who died in honorable service to this country since 2004, when PSY was on a Korean stage urging that U.S. military personnel be killed.

PSY cannot walk back his remarks. He said it. He meant it. And not until the emergence of video of the Korean singing for death to the f***ing Yankees – gangnam style – did Mr. 700 million YouTube hits finally repudiate those hateful remarks.

If President Obama appears at a concert at which PSY performs, he will confirm his contempt for the men and women who every day put their lives on the line in defense of their country.

I will no longer be able to tell my military son that the nation’s commander-in-chief deserves his respect.

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Can an Adult Film Actress Truly Be Religious?

November 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

SHELLEY LUBBEN, THE FORMER PORN ACTRESS, THE BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN, FOUNDED ‘PINK CROSS.’

There have been several supposedly “scientific” studies published this year that either disparaged people of faith or insidiously mocked religion.

That includes a study, published in the journal Science, which asserted that people who believe in God are not analytical thinkers.

There also was a study, published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, which claimed that “highly religious” folk are less compassionate toward the needy than atheists.

Now comes yet another study, published this week in the Journal of Sex Research, which claims that adult film actresses are actually more religious than women who don’t get paid to have sex on camera.

“In terms of psychological characteristics,” the study’s five co-authors concluded, “porn actresses had higher levels of…spirituality compared to the matched group.”

This dubious study would be unworthy of comment except that it has gotten a lot of media coverage.  It pretends to be scholarly research. But it’s nothing more than junk science.

Indeed, for those who blindly accept its findings, it leads to the absurd conclusion that there is some sort of link between sexual depravity and religiosity.

Uncritical thinkers could come away with the cockeyed notion that, just because a woman is sexually depraved – because she is a stripper or a prostitute or a porn actress – doesn’t mean she isn’t a woman of faith. Doesn’t mean she doesn’t love the Lord.

The authors of the Journal of Sex Research study argue that their findings disprove the “damaged goods hypothesis” with respect to “female performers in the adult entertainment industry.”

But close examination of the study’s methodology reveal obvious flaws that skew its findings.

It relied on the self-reporting of 177 porn actresses who responded to an advertisement posted at a Los Angeles health clinic, which was founded by a retired porn actress, and which catered to the adult film industry (before it was shut down last year by the L.A. County Health Department).

Apparently, it did not occur to the study’s authors that self-delusional porn actresses might misrepresent themselves as well-adjusted.

Might claim to have higher self-esteem, more positive  feelings about themselves, a better support system, a more satisfying sex life and even a closer relationship with the Lord than women who don’t defile themselves for all the world to see.

The reality is that the 177 porn actresses who responded to the survey on which the study published in the Journal of Sex Research was based are indeed damaged goods.

And there is no better authority on the subject than Shelley Lubben, a former porn actress and born-again Christian. She is currently the Executive Director of the Pink Cross Foundation, a faith-based organization that reaches out to women caught up in the adult film industry.

The pornography business destroys body and soul, Lubben attests. Many porn actresses battle alcohol and drug abuse. They perform sex acts that are physically harmful and psychologically traumatizing. They contract sexually transmitted diseases.

There is a way for porn actresses to avoid that almost certain fate – give their lives to Christ. For whom the Son sets free is free indeed.

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Mila Kunis Despises Christian Republicans

October 9, 2012 By 4 Comments

ACTRESS MILA KUNIS APPEARED IN ‘THE BOOK OF ELI,’ A FILM BOASTING A DECIDED CHRISTIAN BENT.

I would not list Mila Kunis among my all-time favorite actresses. But I did like her work in “the Book of Eli.”

Her character, Solara, accompanies the title character, played by Denzel Washington, on a purpose-driven trek across post-apocalyptic America until they reach the West Coast.

They arrive at an old prison that has been converted into the world’s last book repository. There Eli, who turns out be blind, recites by heart the King James Bible to a scribe, thereby preserving God’s Word.

I know Kunis is a Ukranian-born Jew.  But, after watching “The Book of Eli,” with its decidedly Christian bent, I assumed she must have a favorable view of Christ followers.

I realize now I was sadly mistaken.

In the October issue of Esquire, for which the 29-year-old actress appears on the cover, Kunis hates on Republicans in general, Christians in particular.

“The way they talk about religion is offensive,” said Kunis, slandering Republicans of faith. “Why we gotta be talking about Jesus is all the time?”

I guess Kunis, who has proven herself an all-too-typical young Hollywood lefty, would be more comfortable if we were talking all the time about Muhammed or Buddha or Xenu.

Just so she knows, the reason we gotta be talking about Jesus is because this nation was founded by Christians. And for  much of its history, America’s leaders governed according to Judeo-Christian values that Kunis and her friends in Hollywood – the latter day Babylon – find “offensive.”

In her Esquire interview, Kunis whined “Some people don’t like to hear celebrities talk about politics.” But that shouldn’t apply to her, she said. “I don’t think I’m a celebrity. I’m a working actress. I think there’s a difference.”

Kunis doesn’t get it. It’s not that people don’t like to hear celebs talk politics. They just don’t like to hear celebs talk politics – whether they are working or non-working actresses – if the don’t know what they’re talking about.

Indeed, Kunis is no more qualified to comment on politics than Ann Romney is to act in some Hollywood movie. But while the future first lady knows she is no thespian, Kunis deludes herself that her simpleminded political views have value in the great marketplace of ideas.

I can forgive the actress her fantasy that her political views somehow matter to the mass of Americans who live outside of that cultural wasteland known as Hollywood.

But what I think out of bounds is her sneering contempt for Christians who happen to be Republicans; her disrespect for our Lord and Savior.

My hope is that Kunis will one day be born again in Christ. Otherwise, she will condemn her soul to the Lake of Fire the “Book of Eli” mentions.

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Who Knew Stephen Colbert Was a Faithful Christian?

September 17, 2012 By 3 Comments

THE JOY OF THE LORD, SAID THE COMEDIAN, IS THE ‘INFALLIBLE SIGN OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD.’

I’ve never really cared much for Stephen Colbert, whose cartoonish portrayal of a conservative political pundit has earned his Comedy Central show, “The Colbert Report,” three Emmy nominations from his politically liberal Hollywood peers.

But I discovered this past weekend that there is more to the comedian than I previously thought; something that even regular viewers of his satirical “news” show would find surprising.

Colbert is a man of faith.

A lifelong Catholic, the funnyman told an audience of some 3,000 students at FordhamUniversity, a Jesuit institution in the Bronx, New York, “I love my church – warts and all.”

I found particularly interesting a remark by Colbert that alluded to the familiar Scripture, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

The church, said Colbert, teaches joy. And joy, he said, is the “infallible sign of the presence of God.”

Colbert, a family man, a faithful churchgoer (who even teaches Sunday school at his New Jersey parish when his schedule permits) appeared at Fordham alongside New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. They teamed up for a panel on humor and spirituality.

“If Jesus doesn’t have sense of humor,” Colbert joked, “I am in huge trouble.”

Yet, for all his seeming irreverence, both on and off air, the comedian takes his faith seriously. That is a testament to the Christian values his mother imparted to him at a very young age.

“She taught me,” Colbert told The New York Times earlier this year, “to be grateful for my life regardless of what that entailed, and that’s directly related to the image of Christ on the cross and the example of sacrifice that He gave us.”

The future comedian’s mom also prepared him for the vicissitudes of life faced by believers and non-believers alike. “The deliverance God offers you from pain,” she told him, “is not no pain. It’s that the pain is actually a gift. What’s the option? God doesn’t really give you another choice.”

That’s rather profound thinking for a guy who tells jokes for a living; whom I dismissed as a typical Hollywood liberal hostile to political conservatives, contemptuous of faithful Christians.

I’m glad I was wrong about Colbert (at least with respect to his views on faith). I might  even find time to tune in to his show.

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NBC’S ‘The New Normal’ is Anything But

September 11, 2012 By 9 Comments

AGENDA-DRIVEN TV CRITICS HOPE GAY-THEMED SITCOM FURTHERS MAINSTREAMING OF HOMOSEXUALITY.

So I tuned in last night to a preview of the new NBC sitcom, “The New Normal,” which officially debuts tonight. I wanted to see why USA Today TV critic Robert Bianco was so giddy about the show that he gave it not one, but two fawning reviews in the space of four days.

Well it’s not because “The New Normal” is destined to go down in TV history as one of the all time greatest sitcoms, alongside, say, “Seinfeld” or “M.A.S.H” or “All in the Family” or “The Honeymooners.”

No, the only reason it is generating favorable buzz is because of Bianco and other “progressive,” agenda-driven TV critics who hope the gay-themed show furthers the mainstreaming of homosexuality.

“The New Normal’s” main characters are two gay men who want to have a baby, who hire a single mom (who already has a daughter of her own) to be their surrogate. The gays, the surrogate, the daughter are all so sweet. The show’s baddy is the surrogate’s “outspoken, bigoted mom,” as Bianco describes her, played by actress Ellen Barkin.

At least one NBC affiliate – KSL-TV in Salt Lake City – didn’t think “The New Normal” appropriate for its audience. It was something about two men lying in bed, kissing, and whispering sweet nothings to each other.

Of course, Bianco and other TV critics, along with gay “rights” groups accused the station of homophobia.

But the same station previously decided that it wouldn’t air the NBC’s “The Playboy Club.” Yet neither Bianco or his fellow TV critics accused the station’s management of being bunnyphobic.

NBC learned last year that the mass of Americans really didn’t want to see a show on primetime network television that was, in the words of the conservative Parents Television Council, “so inherently linked to a pornographic brand that denigrates and sexualizes women.”

Indeed, the “The Playboy Club” premiered to low ratings, which steadily declined over its next three episodes before NBC finally pulled the plug.

“The New Normal” probably won’t suffer as quick an exit as “The Playboy Club” because of all the hype the show has gotten from Bianco and other TV critics who are determined that “The New Normal” will be the homosexual version of “The Cosby Show.”

But while any and every family with traditional values could identify with “the Cosby Show,” only a small percentage can identify with “The New Normal’s” gay couple who want to bring an innocent child into their ungodly lives.

That may be “normal” at 30 Rock, where NBC execs green-lighted the gay-themed sitcom. But it’s still decidedly abnormal to most Americans.

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Jeff Foxworthy Hosts New Bible-Themed Game Show

August 24, 2012 By 1 Comment

CHRIST-FOLLOWING COMEDIAN HOSTS ‘AMERICAN BIBLE CHALLENGE’ ON GAME SHOW NETWORK.

I’ve never cared much for TV game shows. Sure, I’ve caught Pat Sajak on “Wheel of Fortune” and Alex Trebek on “Jeopardy” and Howie Mandel on “Deal or No Deal.” But neither those, nor any other such game shows, were must-see TV for me.

Then, last night, while flipping through channels, I happened upon “The American Bible Challenge,” which made its debut on GSN, the Game Show Network.

Hosted by popular comedian Jeff Foxworthy – whom I didn’t know was such a devoted Christ follower – the show pits three teams of three persons each in a competition in which the team that answers the most Bible trivia is the victor.

It’s exciting, said Foxworthy, “to be hosting a show about the best-selling book of all time.”

His new Bible-themed game show has great production values, with a set and lighting and dramatic background music on a par with such shows as “Deal of No Deal” and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.”

But unlike “Deal” and “Millionaire,” and every other game show I’ve every seen, the contestants on “American Bible Challenge” compete not to enrich themselves personally, but to win cash for their designated faith-based charity.

There are other ways in which “ABC” – as I choose to refer to my favorite new game show – does things differently than garden-variety game shows.

Like going to each commercial break with praise and worship music, performed by a live choir. And like giving the competing teams 10-minutes of Bible study on the the topic of the  “Final Revelation” round (last night, it was “Women of the Bible”), after which the victorious team is crowned.

I frankly don’t expect “ABC” – “Great Fun With the Good Book, it promises viewers” – to find much of an audience among those who don’t have a faith-life. They’ll continue to catch Sajak, and the still-lovely Vanna White. Or Mandel, and his bevy of suitcase-toting models.

But that’s okay. Because there are nearly 250 million Christians out there in viewerland – 43 percent of whom regularly attend church, according to a Gallup poll – who represent a huge potential audience for Foxworthy and “The American Bible Challenge.”

I’m praying that the new Bible-based game show proves successful. For it would further prove to TV executives that there is profit in producing positive, Godly programming.

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Does Hollywood Bear Any Blame For Violence?

July 26, 2012 By 3 Comments

SPREE KILLER JAMES HOLMES WAS INSPIRED BY FLATTERING MOVIE PORTRAYAL OF EVIL-DOING ‘JOKER.’

Peter Bogdanovich, the legendary director, has broken ranks with his Hollywood brethren. He may never eat lunch in that godless town again.

In a disarmingly-honest first-person jeremiad appearing in the August 3 issue of the Hollywood Reporter, the auteur known for such films as “The Last Picture Show,” “Paper Moon” and “Mask” indicts the motion picture industry for playing a role in last week’s massacre in Colorado.

“People go to a movie to have a good time,” said Bogdanovich, “and they get killed.”

“At first,” he noted, some of those watching the massacre unfold inside the theater, “thought it was a part of the movie. That’s very telling.”

The director lamented, “Violence on the screen has increased ten-fold. It’s almost pornographic… It’s all out of control. I can see where it could drive someone crazy.”

Bogdanovich wasn’t  just ranting in the wake of tragedy. He was speaking truth.

Indeed, Ameirca’s youth are inured to violence through saturation exposure to violence-laden movies, like “The Dark Knight Rises,” as well as television shows and video games.

Before the average American child even finishes elementary school, he or she will view 100,000 acts of violence just on TV, including some 8,000 murders. And when they become old enough to go to the movies without their parental units, they’ll see even more ersatz violence.

Of course, most of Bogdanovich’s Hollywood brethren (and sistren) will strenuously object to suggestions that the violence and mayhem they are putting on the screen has any effect whatsoever on mass murderers like 24-year-old James Holmes.

But there is prima facie evidence of the influence Hollywood has on the hoi polloi.

All the way back in 1934, Columbia Pictures released “It Happened One Night,” a romantic comedy starring Clarke Gable and Claudia Colbert. In one memorable scene, Gable took of his shirt and revealed his bare chest.

In so doing, the actor inspired millions of American men to abandon their undershirts, temporarily devastating the nation’s T-shirt manufacturers.

More recently, there was the 1982 science fiction movie, “E.T.,” starring young Henry Thomas and a very young Drew Barrymore. In one noteworthy scene, the character played by Thomas lures an extraterrestrial out of hiding by dropping Reese’s pieces on the ground.

For months, Reese’s pieces were the most popular candy in America.

Warner Bros., the movie studio that released “Dark Knight Rises,” did not cause the bloodshed in Colorado last week. I still maintain that young man Holmes was operating under demonic influence.

But Warner’s certainly contributed.

In the previous installment of its Batman franchise, the most compelling character was not Batman, the good guy, but the Joker, who delighted in murder and mayhem.

That clearly was an inspiration to Holmes, who went so far before his real world killing spree as to dye his hair red in worshipful tribute to Warner’s evil-doing character.

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