Posted on 02/21/2004 11:57:27 AM PST by Mel Gibson
A Tale of Two Hollywoods by Bruce Walker
Why did Hollywood come to hate religion?
The elitist snit over The Passion has everything with anti-theism and nothing to do with anti-Semitism. Once Hollywood -- Old Hollywood -- produced films which exalted the gentle role of faith in our lives and that decried the consequence of people rejecting the principles of their faith.
Click on link to Intellectual Conservative for the rest of the article
Fiddler on the Roof is a poignant story of Jewish survival in Tsarist Russia; the villains are Christians who ignore Christian ethics by mistreating Jews for being Jews. Exodus shows how Christians ignored Christ’s injunction to care for others by their indifference to the plight of post-Holocaust Jewry. Gentleman’s Agreement is a commentary on bigoted Christians sneering at people who entered the world, like Jesus, as Jews.
Faithless Christians, not the Christian faith, are the problem in the films. Why did these films not offend Christians? Because recognition of sin and repentance of sin is a central theme of Christianity. Persecution of Jews was never a precept of Christian faith, and America -- the best replication of the diversity of Christian faith -- is the best example of Christian sympathy for Jews. The lyrics to Exodus were written by a devout Christian and a patriotic American, Pat Boone.
Jews also celebrated the goodness of faithful Christians. The studio system of Old Hollywood was dominated by Jews. These men produced films like The Bells of St. Mary, Angels in the Outfield, The Sound of Music, Going My Way and Boy’s Town. Sympathy toward good Christians was reciprocated by these and many other grateful and patriotic Jews. Honest appreciation of goodness of Christians was never considered to be a betrayal of Judaism.
Indeed, when Old Hollywood was flourishing (and when good films were being produced) Reform Judaism was being conformed into a noble attempt to reconcile the manifest goodness of both Judaism and Christianity. The greatest Jewish theologian of the last century considered Christianity to be the Judaism of non-Jews -- the best path to God for those not of the Jewish faith.
American Jews not only appreciated the decency of American Christians, when they acted like Christians, but the Old Hollywood presented Jewishness in film. One of the first talking films, The Jazz Singer, showed the tension between modernity and traditional Judaism, and showed a resolution to those conflicts. Other films, like the Benny Goodman Story, showed Jews could be as bigoted toward Christians as Christians toward Jews. These films treated faith faithfully. People made moral choices, and those choices made with the knowledge of a loving God worked out best.
These moral ideas were perfected in Chariots of Fire, the story of a brave Jew overcoming the prejudices of un-Christian Christians and of a pious Christian overcoming equally daunting obstacles of deep piety for the Glory of God in a world that, after the horror of the Great War, turned away from God. Without pulling punches, Chariots of Fire celebrates the Judeo-Christian heritage.
Why did Hollywood come to hate religion? Marx replaced God. Marxists replaced faithful people. This new and dreadful Hollywood sought to divide us from God and from our common humanity as creatures of God. Because God trumps every petty nastiness of life, He became the principal foe of New Hollywood.
New Hollywood began to produce films like Agnes of God and The Last Temptation of Christ, which mocked Christianity with the venom no different from the treatment Jews received in Nazi propaganda films. No goodness was allowed serious Christians and no accusation was too vile to make against Christianity.
New Hollywood also mocked Judaism. King David showed Richard Gere degenerating into a bitter agonistic by the end of his life, and even nice productions like The Prince of Egypt reduced God to a bit player. Nominal Jews like Woody Allen made films that were sentimental toward Jewishness, but coldly indifferent toward Judaism.
As Michael Medved, film critic and observant Jew, notes in his documentary Hollywood Hates Religion, even remakes of old classics like Cape Fear and We’re No Angels were edited to introduce anti-theistic themes which were absent from the original version or to remove God from the remake.
The Passion does not portray Jews as bad. It portrays some Jews as good and some Jews as bad. Other noble films have portrayed some Christians as good and some Christians as bad. This is consistent with both Christian and Jewish theology. Indeed, it is in many ways the salient characteristic of Judeo-Christian faith.
(Excerpt) Read more at intellectualconservative.com ...
In the 1950's, for example, Christian values and religious belief were reflected throughout mainstream popular culture, not just in movies. Popular songs with religious overtones included "Les Trois Cloches" ("The Three Bells"), "I Believe," "This Old House," "They Locked God Outside the Iron Curtain," "The Red Deck of Cards," "He," and "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands." Even Elvis Presley's 1958 hit "Hard-Headed Woman" was based on stories from the Old Testament.
Some of the hottest-selling books of the decade included A Man Called Peter, the story of Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall, by his widow Katherine Marshall (which was also made into a movie) and The Power of Positive Thinking by the influential preacher Norman Vincent Peale. And one of the biggest television stars of the decade was Fulton Sheen, a Catholic cleric.
While it is true that you can still find music, books, and television shows that emphasize religious themes and values, you have to look for them in nich markets such as Christian radio and television stations, as they have long since vanished from mainstream popular culture.
Again, it all comes back to Satan. If you don't believe that, ask yourself why every other religion in the world is okay with the left. No problem. "Respect their faith," they'd say. Not with the Judeo-Christian God, however. The merest mention of Him is enough to send many of the Godless into a manic fit. Why? Because Jehovah, Jesus, the Judeo-Christian God, is the only one Satan is scared of. And there's the whole issue in a nutshell.
MM
Except for the communists there in the 30's, 40's & 50's.
Lucille Ball was a registered commie. Supposedly she joined the CPUSA in the 30's to 'please' her grand-father - yeah, sure. And when I found out John Garfield was a commie, I quit watching any of his movies on TCM. (And why the heck did he have a girls nick name - Julie? What was that all about?!?)
As far as I'm concerned J Edgar Hoover should've arrested them ALL and shipped them to mother Russia on a tramp steamer.
Hear! Hear!
Ain't it the truth!
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