Join Phil Vischer, Skye Jethani and Christian Taylor for this week’s episode of the Phil Vischer Podcast! They talk about Christian tomatoes, TV theme songs and gender roles in movies.
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I went to a small Jamie-Grace concert tonight, and she mentioned that she was “raised on Veggietales and DC Talk” and proceeded to sing a conglomerate of Veggietales songs. It breached a new level of awesome.
Hey Phil,
Interesting show. I gave it a listen because I saw you were going to talk about Freedom From Religion’s work with pastors who were considering atheism.
I never was a pastor, but spent a decade and a half as a committed Christian, with 4 years spent at an Evangelical college.
It was interesting to hear you musing about whether or not these guys can fake it, and I can tell you that it is quite easy to fake. I mean, I wasn’t faking at all at the beginning, but as I began to doubt and then to investigate the Christian faith, eventually I could not continue to believe the things that were paramount to me before. But it’s hard to just make a “clean cut,” especially when your job/ministry is so intwined in belief. So faking is, in my experience, almost essential for a while, until you find a way to extricate yourself from ministry with as little as devastation as possible visited upon those you love.
Also, I don’t think there is any way to mentor a person enough or “vet” a person enough so that they will not leave their faith. I never thought of myself as a faith-quitter. And I was not a shallow Christian – my faith was deep and all-encompassing.
So I suppose you’ve seen Brave by now. How do you feel about the movie now that you have seen it? More like Toy Story 2 or more like Cars 2? What about the gender role concerns?
I really like where we are with gender right now. We are all trying to figure it out. And while I appreciate the effort, we cannot do this on behalf of our kids. They will determine their own individual role models — which means we don’t have to fear Adam Sandler being exalted as our alpha male.
“Programming” is not cut and dry — it’s flexible and interactive. It’s a negotiation where the audience influences and is influenced.
I strongly appreciated Skye’s comment about drawing everyone to their calling, and seeking a vibrant relationship with the living Christ. This is the powerful place where we’re at right now. We have that unique permission, that imperative.
We have freedom and responsibility — it’s a very groovy time. 🙂
Hi Guys,
I listened to this podcast last night – way “down under” in Australia. Loved the discussion overall on the many a varied topics. I just wanted to comment on the “Brave” discussion – As a 40 something with no kids (at this stage) my hubby and I love seeing animations and are fans of Pixar too. We really enjoyed “Brave”. As Christians I think sometimes we can over spiritualise the message in movies and miss the enjoyment of just watching the movie for what it is. I agree on the mother/daughter thought but disagree that there was a message about the daughter doing her own thing!!! And I realise at the time of the podcast you hadn’t see the movie yet, and I trust you will comment after seeing it. I am now going back to catch up on all your other podcasts and look forward to following in the future. Keep it up.
Phil, sorry to hear you had to get rid of your moped when you moved to Wheaton. I think it might have been a parent or Wheaton thing, not an IL thing. I was a HS sophomore in Winfield in 1980 and had a moped which I believe we got at the Sears on Schmale. It was about as fast as jogging but for getting to work it was a bit less sweaty.
Echoing what some others have said. I am coming to this party a bit late, and I like to experience the progression of projects like this, so I have only listened to the first 6 episodes. Maybe you mention more about gender roles and “Brave” specifically later on.
Anyway . . . I come from the left of the Protestant (I know you don’t like that word) Christian spectrum. Raised in the UCC church and still there today. I enjoyed your book immensely (Me, Myself and Bob), and I have enjoyed these first few episodes of the podcast because I think the three of you, and your guests, are thoughtful conservatives.
I have to say that I could not disagree more with your statements about gender roles in films and in society in general. I am not at all surprised to hear that elderly people who are in loving partnerships are healthier than those who are not. But why did you leave out the part about the men relying on the women? Not all men need to have the role of “strong person/protector” and not all women want to feel “protected.” We can be in loving partnership and follow Jesus’ teachings and be equal partners in our marriages. My husband relies on me as much as I rely on him. We have different roles in the marriage because we are two different people, not because of our genders.
Secondly, PLEASE do not say that the story of the strong woman has been “done before” as if that’s the end of it. Many studies have been done about the media (sorry I can’t reference them here while I’m ranting) that demonstrate that the strong male character rescuing the weak female character is by far still the most common story told. I don’t believe the message in “Brave” and other films about women not choosing the husbands their parents want is about women not needing men. It’s about women having the opportunity to choose their own partner in a way that works for them. Also, women who feel they need a man to protect them are in much more danger of being victimized by men who simply want to control them. Women and girls need to know that they can walk away from dangerous situations and be okay on their own at certain times of their lives.
Thanks for letting me put in my two cents. Even though we are from different backgrounds, I believe Jesus wants us to keep thinking and talking about these issues.
Blessings to you ,
Hayden