“But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he’d want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally, across this great nation of ours. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, God, for giving us Harvey Milk.”
-Homosexual Activist Dustin Lance Black Accepting the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Milk.
The distinction between Hollywood’s toxic culture of death and the burgeoning Christian film movement of life was highlighted in bold this weekend.
Millions of viewers tuned into the 81st Academy Awards where they watched Sean Penn receive the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of homosexual activist Harvey Milk, and Kate Winslet receive the Best Female Actor Oscar for her performance in The Reader, a pornographic story about a female Nazi war criminal seducing a 15-year-old boy. They also watched award-winners use their platform to push homosexual political activism and to encourage teenagers to pursue a homosexual lifestyle.
But just over twenty-four hours earlier, National Public Radio broadcast a seven-minute feature on a very different type of film movement and awards ceremony to a listening audience of more than six million.
“As Hollywood crowns its favorite movies and actors at the Oscars on Sunday, another group is trying to create a rival movie industry. Fed up with sex and violence in mainstream entertainment, conservative Christians are turning out their own films. And they’ve made surprising inroads.”
NPR Religion correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty reported on the 2009 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival in her feature report “Christian Filmmakers Creating an Industry of Faith.” She began her story with this telling question:
“What was the biggest grossing independent film in 2008? No, not Slumdog Millionaire. Not Milk. It was a movie you’ve probably never heard of...” Click here to listen to the report which includes interviews with Kirk Cameron, Steven Kendrick and some of the more than 2,400 people in attendance at the event.
-taken from Vision Forum website written by Doug Phillips
I saw that speech by the man who won the Oscar for Milk. What saddened me the most was that he said that churches are telling people that God does not love them if they are sinning. I have never, nor would I ever attend a church that preaches God does not love a sinner. The Gospel is the ultimate love for all sinners!!!! What saddened me even more was that I could just envision all these people shaking their heads in agreement to what he was saying and getting angered by the comment that churches propagate hate among people. This specific issue is heavy on my heart as I will be heading up north for a trip to visit family and have an opportunity to visit with some old high school friends. One has embraced the homosexual lifestyle and she is currently "married" to another woman. My first reaction was to avoid her altogether, but she has made an effort (without hostility) to want to see me, and I feel God calling me to respond. My trip is at the end of April. I will keep you posted!
ReplyDeleteMuch Love,
Denise