We have several movies depicting various Bible Stories. Some we feel are quite good. However, when it come to the children...we are reconsidering allowing them to watch Bible movies. We cut out Bible related videos with talking camels and props like that long ago. (As well Halloween and Santa and all that garbage long before we came to Torah.) Now...we have a full collection Nest Videos we were always so fond of...and other (previously considered appropriate) bible story films, animates or not....realizing - no matter how accurite films are, things MUST be left and artisitc license is taken (understandably!)...however, in the young minds of our children, it seeds images that stick. My 6 year old daughter was describing a bible story recently which contained elements from the video...not specifically The BIBLE! We can not know exactly what they grasp or process from the stories they see. Even subtle images create pictures that may be less than perfect. Now I know there is lots of room for "what things looked like" between the lines of Scripture...but because things get left out or reordered, shouldn't that be a concern to us? We were so steeped in it and ignorant before...we didn't see it...as our knowledge of Scripture continues to grow...we see things we never saw before...we may be coming to terms with the fact that WE have been unknowingly doing this to our children even after we left the evangelical. We were thinking we are providing wholesome entertainment that edifies YHVH/Yahshua and the Bible. When in fact - we may be subtly poisoning their understanding of it. I just took a HUGE load of books and DVD's to sell at a big used bookstore in Nashville, but these titles remain on my shelves...I am wondering if maybe we are not finished.....We also have a huge selection of Christian books...I continue to weed through them because they contain so many false docterines and holidays!
The picture on my banner of this blog is at our house, that is only 2 of the 9 bookshelves we have full , with another batch of shelves of kids books in the playroom. I probably have more media to weed through than most NORMAL people! ( I got rid of 5 bookshelves when we moved last winter. We turned our collection into a lending library for all who came over.) We are readers.
LAUGH BREAK>>>>>>My DH just entered the kitchen in bath towel to say..."someone took my shower curtain, any idea where that might be???". (OOPS! I didn't realize he had not yet showered and I put it in the wash! Its not something I have to do very often, but noticed it really needed it when I took my shower. He is patiently waiting for the cycle to finish its last 3 minutes, as he walks around the house in a towel. Something my husband just does not do!) OK...wiping the tears and proceeding. >>>>>
I am curious if this (the Christian media - not my husband) has been something you have considered/processed/dealt with - specifically in regards to your children. What say you?
4 comments:
I hear what you're saying. We have allowed our kids to watch some bible videos that maybe weren't the right choice, but they seemed harmless enough at the time.
One series of videos that we found right after we began to walk this path (discovering the Hebrew roots of our faith) was the Kid's Ten Commandments series. Initially, they seemed to be ok, but after seeing them, we began to realize that there were definitely things that we saw in them that we didn't really want our kids to see. I do think that how each family approaches things is going to be very personal.
For instance, our girls had experienced "Christmas". We erroneously thought that if we just celebrated it like a secular holiday (much like we celebrate Thanksgiving or the Fourth of July), then it would be okay because our girls wouldn't look at it as a religous holiday. Unfortunately, we just made things worse because when we fully understood where the Christmas celebration came from and no longer wanted to celebrate, our girls didn't understand. They are getting older now and for the past 2 years we have had a quiet Hanukkah celebration, but they still want to watch Santa movies. Each year we have allowed it to some extent, but have explained again and again why we are not celebrating Christmas anymore. So, that's an area that--for our family--is a gray area and it's our personal decision to not make a big deal out of them watching a Santa movie or two each year as we continue to reinforce what we believe and why.
Unfortunately, visual media can be a strong influence.
Right now, as a family, we are watching "Matthew" from the Visual Bible Series. It's been very good and even our little girls have enjoyed it--I think it's been far better for them than most of the animated videos, but there are a few animated videos that they do still watch. One of the animated videos that they have been positively impacted by is The Ten Commandments movie that was done in 2007. It's very similar to Prince of Egypt in many ways, but I do think it's a bit more accurate and not quite as Hollywood-ised.
Well, this has turned into a much longer comment than I intended, so please feel free to not post it--I just wanted you to know you're not alone as you are trying to make wise choices and questioning whether some of the things that you may have allowed to be watched before are things that should have been allowed.
Shalom!
Michelle
Oh this is a very interesting subject! I have come to ask that "does the video having a bible theme really mean it is biblical truth...and if it is not biblical truth then are we not therefore allowing falsehoods?" I remember when first learning the Word, Truth...I went crazy - I through out sooooo much stuff, and now we are down to a limited items, we are readers too....but that brings us to the same question..."Would not the same concept apply to what we read?"
I am very curious to read how others have handled this, because I know this is still an area we struggle in....
Shalom and Blessings!
Michelle, I do understand the struggle habits are hard to break and outside influences (loike family etc) can make it especially difficult.
I like the Visual Bible Series too. I think they are keepers. They specifically follow the text so there is less room for these types of things. Has anyone noticed anything calry in that series? ( I know I am entering into opinion land here...but that is OK!)
BTW - Its OK to comment "long" I don't mind...:-)
Andi, I agree. The tricky part is when things appear to be wonderful..than you run into those little things....the suttle mentions...the book is wonderful except for _______. And you don;t know until you actually read/watch it! Do we just take that like a grain of salt because 80-90% was wonderful or do we scrap it for the 5-15% that is off? We are in the habit of previewing movies for the kids, but we can't do that with books for the older kids, becasue we don't have enough hours in the day! I am a zeolot... all or nothin kind of gal...I wonder if that is wise or if it is too intolerant..since I am human and subject to error myself; Ever growing and changing....I trust either way...yet I am responsible either way too...that is the hard part.
Loving the conversations...keep it coming.
This is very interesting indeed! I've been seeking Yahweh about this very thing although not so much biblical movies as biblical based books or rather christian based books...most if not all biblical based books that support the belief of Yahshua come from the 'Christian Church' the church we came out of because of the abominable customs and traditions of men, now I struggle with using books that promote this lie... we (dh and I) have been discussing this for a while and he says that we are going to focus on Torah that our main curr will be Torah. He says we need to establish our girls in the ways of Yah and when they get older and grounded they will be able to pick up books read them and have the wisdom and disernment to distinguish between good and evil, as it is now so many of the biographies and christian books are based on the lie of Sunday being the Shabbat and Christmas being the day to celebrate the Messiah's birth, never mind that is has pagan roots. We have agreed that time is too short, we have a few short year to instruct our girls in the ways of Yahweh. So as we stand as a family our next year curriculum will consist of the TaNaK and Renewd Covenat, Saxon Math, a couple of zoology books and I've found some literature via google books and other free literature sites that look promising. We'll see. Please understand we in no way judge any one for reading or watching 'christian' books/movies each family has to be led of the Holy Spirit and the Word if your ok with the things we are not that is betweeen you and Yahweh, everyone is at a different level and no one has the corner market on Yahweh's word it's wonderful that he give us "grace & space"
Sorry if I'm all over the board, I tend to jump from one thought to another and often struggle just to get a thought I have into words...
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