reality tv

duck dynasty, GQ, homosexuality, phil robertson, reality tv

Phil Robertson, Duck Dynasty, A&E, and GLAAD: see what Dunamis power does in a dying culture!

Posted on December 19, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Phil Robertson

A&E, the cable television station Arts and Entertainment, began producing a reality tv show two years ago called Duck Dynasty. The show centers on the real-life family of the Robertsons. Phil Robertson, the patriarch, is the former CEO of the company he began in 1973 with the famous Duck Commander duck call. The company grew and grew. Eventually, Phil Robertson handed the business to his third son Willie, who “used his business degree from University of Louisiana Monroe to take Duck Commander from a family business to a multi-million dollar empire.” (source).

Because of the shortened rotations of cable television, the Duck Dynasty show began two and a half years ago but is entering its fifth season this January. As each season concluded, the show grew in ratings. The family is overtly Christian, but they are entertaining, intelligent, and just strangely backwoods enough to the NY and Hollywood producers to have kept them on. The show portrays the family in their work and in play, hunting, during holidays and just sitting around goofing. The show always ends with the family around the dinner table, and Phil praying the blessing. There was a minor controversy back along when people wondered why the name of Jesus was rarely mentioned in prayer, and patriarch Phil revealed that he always prays in Jesus name, but the producers and editors always cut it out.

Subsequently, there was some push-back from the Robertsons (as they had gained leverage and negotiating power) and from Christian Americans who watch the show. After that, there were more mentions of Jesus, a show where Phil and his wife Kay renewed their vows and eldest son, a pastor, officiated in Jesus name, and the show grew even more popular.

Their popularity perplexed the brass. They could not figure out why or how this family held such an attraction to so many millions of viewers, especially in the 18-40 year old range (the sweet spot for advertisers). But grow in popularity it did, and as long as ratings held and the money flowed in, the producers let it slide.

Many Christians were happy to see a show which reflected their values: God, family, and country. It was a cultural anomaly, but one that was appreciated by those who enjoy clean entertainment and their own values reflected back at them through the usually evil vehicle of television programs, scripted or unscripted.

That was then.

Phil Robertson was interviewed in the January 2014 issue of GQ, which was released this week. The GQ intro to their story goes like this (and don’t you find it hilarious that camo wearing, plain-speaking, bearded Phil Robertson is in Gentleman’s Quarterly?)

How in the world did a family of squirrel-eating, Bible-thumping, catchphrase-spouting duck hunters become the biggest TV stars in America? And what will they do now that they have 14 million fervent disciples?

In the interview, Robertson spoke about sin. He said, “Everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong… Sin becomes fine. Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men.” Robertson then paraphrased 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 from the Bible: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”

Phil went on to unhelpfully and crudely describe how and why homosexuality is illogical, naming body parts. He also correctly included homosexuality in the list of sins which also included terrorists and drunkards. Secular folks of course took issue with gays being included with terrorists, but remember, Christian, homosexuals are cultural terrorists. See below regarding GLAAD.

Immediately upon the magazine’s release and Phil’s comments were published, GLAAD erupted in an explosively vitriolic screed sent to A&E and released to the general public. According to GLAAD’s website their history began in 1985, “In response to the New York Post’s grossly defamatory and sensationalized HIV/AIDS coverage, GLAAD is formed with its original name “Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation” to put pressure on media organizations to end homophobic reporting.”

Make no mistake. GLAAD is a lobby dedicated to “changing culture by working directly with news media, entertainment media, cultural institutions and social media.” Keep that in mind.

GLAAD’s statement:

“Phil and his family claim to be Christian, but Phil’s lies about an entire community fly in the face of what true Christians believe,” GLAAD spokesperson Wilson Cruz said. “He clearly knows nothing about gay people or the majority of Louisianans — and Americans — who support legal recognition for loving and committed gay and lesbian couples. Phil’s decision to push vile and extreme stereotypes is a stain on A&E and his sponsors, who now need to re-examine their ties to someone with such public disdain for LGBT people and families.“

On the same day, A&E suspended Phil from the show.

There are many good people weighing in on this. Dr. Al Mohler warned against partnering with secular culture and media and the resultant risk of public life. Denny Burk said “I predicted privately some months ago that it would only be a matter of time before the media sniffed out the views of the Duck Dynasty guys about sexuality. … It means that A&E is yet another sector of popular culture in which Christian views about sexual norms are not allowed.” He predicted that this will be the end of the show.

Dr Russell Moore angled on the view that we all have a remote control and A&E’s suspension of Mr Robertson is ridiculous. He wrote about the issue from the free speech aspect. He rightly said, “And if you don’t like his religious views on sexuality (views held also by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and evangelicals as well as by many Orthodox Jews, Muslims, and the Dalai Lama), you’re free to say why you think he’s wrong.“

I want to examine the spiritual component. Dr Moore mentioned that all those other religious adherents hold the exact same view as Phil Robertson regarding the sinfulness of homosexuality. It wasn’t long before Twitter exploded with this constantly retweeted photo exposing the illogical double standard:

Did you ever wonder why all those other religions hold to the sinfulness of homosexuality, but that it’s only when Christians who declare it get slammed? Because it is spiritual warfare.

Satan owns all the other religions. He has them already. When a Christian declares a biblical truth to a sinful culture, there is dunamis power behind the words. It is only the words of a Christan that pierce like an arrow, splitting soul and spirit, bone and marrow.

Dunamis is a Greek word. According to BibleStudyTools.org, dunamis means in part

–strength power, ability
–moral power and excellence of soul
–power consisting in or resting upon armies, forces, hosts
–inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth

Dunamis is used 121 times in the NASB and 83 of those mean power. It’s where we get our English word dynamite.

We always hear of how the word of God is powerful. It’s powerful to bring repentance in hearts, to change cultures, to wield a sword that holds back armies. This controversy about Duck Dynasty is an example of how dunamis works and why there is a double standard. When the Pope says homosexuality is a sin, there is cultural crickets and GLAAD snores, because the pope’s words have no dunamis power behind them. When Phil Robertson says homosexuality is a sin, dynamite explodes in the culture because it’s only his words that have the Spirit-piercing power carrying them along. God’s words carried by the Spirit are explosive.

A WWI soldier silhouetted against an exploding phosphorous bomb. source

Dunamis is not just any power, it is not just raw power, it is not brute power. Note the definition, “moral power and excellence of soul.” Note the definition, “inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth”. The words of the bible are true by virtue of its nature, which is God’s holy nature, and when a Christian puts the words forth, you have the power of God unleashed in a culture.

Look what happened when Paul spoke truth to the culture in Ephesus. It caused a riot. (Acts 19). Jesus speaking truth caused the Pharisees to plot to kill Him. (John 11). Stephen speaking truth caused his own death by stoning. (Acts 6).

Phil Robertson quoted the bible to support his stance, and this is dunamis power. The holy Word alone has the power of truth, because the Word is God-breathed. When Phil spoke those holy words to a sinful culture, coming out of Phil’s mouth was God’s truth, His thoughts, His very attribute of holiness. This always singes a culture and the culture reacts like the Wicked Witch of the West melting under the water. It’s the same effect as vinegar poured on baking soda.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12.In Acts 19 they rioted against Paul because they feared loss of wealth. In John 11 the Pharisees plotted to kill Jesus because they feared loss of government autonomy. In Acts 6, the synagogues of Freedmen disputed with Stephen because they were jealous of his miracles. Greed, pride, power, and jealousy- they were busy protecting their spiritual battleground, the top of which were the aforementioned sins.

Stephen preached to the Council, “When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.” (Acts 7:54, KJV)

What do you suppose cut them to the heart? It is the Spirit’s word, carried along in dunamis power! When Phil Robertson spoke biblical truth, the eruption we see is a visible manifestation of the invisible spiritual battle going on all around us. Christians, instead of tut-tutting about the double standard, instead rejoice that the power of God’s word is unleashed on sinful hearts. Rejoice that His word is living and active, and spearing souls. We don’t always see such a powerful explosion, but there is an explosion of some kind every time we speak holy truth from His word to satan’s face.

So that’s why the double standard. There is spiritual power behind the words of God, and there is no power behind satan’s word. His agents speak nothing but empty philosophies to a deluded world. It is why we’re urged to hide God’s word in our heart, so that if a moment comes when we can speak bible verse to the culture, His sword of the spirit will carry them to stopped ears, hard hearts, dead souls.

Rejoice that He has given us opportunity to speak these truths. Do not be surprised at the reaction. If they rioted against Paul when he spoke truth, if they stoned Stephen, if they killed Messiah, they will do the same to us, either killing our reputation, or slaying our very flesh.

Hamburger Hill, Viet Nam war, 1969.

Satan wants to protect his unholy hill of homosexuality because it is the last stage before a culture dies. (Romans 1:27-32). When an unholy person who does not have the Spirit speaks truth, there is no reaction because there is no power. Did you ever wonder why the culture didn’t react negatively to Billy Graham’s pronouncements of homosexuality as a sin?

Rejoice, I say, rejoice when you see rage from the unholy ones aimed at Christians. It is because the power of the holy Word is active. Active!

It is well that Mr Robertson is set financially and his suspension isn’t one that will ruin him. It will be interesting to see which sin A&E will chose: money or homosexuality. It seems they are tending to homosexuality, but time will tell.

As for us, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” (1 Peter 3:15-16)

In other words,

quote, ~Maggie Kuhn. photo source

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Famous for being famous, some live unreal life on reality tv

Posted on June 5, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I like reality tv cooking competitions. I don’t watch cooking shows, because I don’t really want to improve my cooking. I need to, but since I live alone, I can easily silence the critic. What I like about these kind of competitions is that I enjoy watching how people behave. The various competitions on other channels incite behavior that is too lustful or vicious. But on a cooking contest on Food Network, you have to be somewhat appealing anyway, if you are to get your own cooking show or have people buy your cookbook, or eat in your restaurant.

For some years now I’ve been watching Masterchef and Next Food Network Star and Chopped. I like that there is no swearing and very little of the worst parts of the culture (though it is creeping in now with many chefs praising their same-sex partner, or seeing the plethora of tattoos…).

But even in these innocuous shows there has been a recent and precipitous downward slide. I noticed this most starkly on the show that premiered this week, “The Next Food Network Star.” (TNFNS). It is season nine of this venerable competition. The premise is, the multi-week competition is a vetting process to unearth raw talent, and the last one standing gets their own show on the network. Who doesn’t like the story of the starlet sitting at a stool at the local drugstore in Hollywood and being discovered? Who doesn’t like the notion overall of discovering treasure? Of turning over a geode to discover the gem inside?

The thought that someone like me could find fulfillment in their dream of sharing their talent with the world is one that is universally shared, I think. The vetting process of TNFNS is one that transforms the roughness of the person into a talent that will yield something worthwhile- good food and time well spent with a nice person (on tv).

I was disappointed this week when the show premiered to see that there was a contestant that had already appeared on Chopped. Danushka Lysek. This seemed somehow…cheating. Then in researching further, I found out that MOST of the contestants on TNFNS had already appeared in other cooking shows, reality competitions, and/or television shows on other networks.

Chris Hodgson was on the Great Food Truck Race.
Viet Pham was on Extreme Chef.
Stacy Poon-Kinney was on Restaurant Impossible.
Connie “Lovely” Jackson was on season 6 of Gordon Ramsay’s H-ll’s Kitchen.
Russell Jackson was on Iron Chef America.
Nikki Dinki is a food blogger and youtuber but has appeared on The Sopranos as Bibi in the episode Johnny Cakes.
Rodney Henry was on Paula Deen, Down Home with the Neelys, Throwdown with Bobby Flay and Chopped.
Danushka Lysek, was on 24-Hour Restaurant Battle, Chopped, The Bachelor, Models Edition Fear Factor VH1’s Supergroup, Fear Factor and now on TNFNS. (source & source)

So the upshot is, 66% of the contestants have had time on television, and 58% of them on previous cooking reality shows on the same network. Ugh. This is not seeking raw talent for a new show, it is recycling, regifting, and reusing. By any stretch of the imagination, this is bait & switch.

Let’s take a look at the contestant named Danushka, though. The fakery of reality tv is not my main point. It is this: for a large section of the population, the unreal life as presented on reality tv HAS BECOME their life.

Danushka has flitted from show to show, making a life career out of being on tv for the no good reason other than she wants to be on tv. A permanent dweller on reality TV, as it were.

Wikipedia explains this penchant, it is the phenomenon of being famous for being famous, epitomized in the model and celebrity Paris Hilton. “Critics also suggest that Hilton epitomizes the title of famous for being famous; she is an example of the modern phenomenon of the “celebutante”, the celebrity who rises to fame not because of their talent or work but because of their inherited wealth and controversial lifestyle.”

Was there such a thing as a celbutante in eras past? I believe not.

The term ‘celebutante‘ is also explained, “Famous for being famous, or famous for nothing, in popular culture terminology, refers to someone who attains celebrity status for no particular identifiable reason such as acting, music, writing, politics, or modeling, or who achieves fame through association with a true celebrity. The term is a pejorative, suggesting that the individual has no particular talents or abilities. It was coined by historian and social theorist Daniel J. Boorstin. In his book, he defined the celebrity as “a person who is known for his well-knownness”. He further argued that the graphic revolution in journalism and other forms of communication had severed fame from greatness, and that this severance hastened the decay of fame into mere notoriety. “

You’re great, (Lincoln), you’re famous, (Coco Chanel), you’re notorious, (Charles Manson), you’re celebutante (Kim Kardashian). Decay was a good term to use in the decline of whom we exalt in culture. It is actually not just a slide into decline, but is a see-saw, with today’s version of celebrity disappearing from life into into the gaping maw of reality tv.

I’ve said many times on the blog that the media in general and the news media in particular is front and center on the war for your mind. It is the theatre of ideas, and what is presented to us is absorbed into our mind, and it transforms the mind. When we repeatedly see an idea presented as truth, we begin to believe it. If you doubt this process, just think back to Genesis 3 in the garden, and satan’s persistence in introducing poisonous ideas into the mind of Eve. It’s like for many people, reality tv is more real than life, and for some of those, constantly being ON reality tv IS their life. And if they are not, they are thinking about it. They have lost their grip on reality.

“Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure; And Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend into it.” (Isaiah 5:14)

This lure of television (or movies) is so palpable that it was spoofed in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory- the 1971 version. In that movie we get Mike Teavee, a boy who does nothing but watch television and thus, whose reality has been skewed by TV to the point that he always thinks he is on tv, and finally becomes a character who lives inside one, rather than a boy living in the world. And he’s happy about it.

The old black and white show, Twilight Zone, made a statement on this theme, too. It was in an episode called, “The 16-Millimeter Shrine”. In this episode, Ida Lupino played an aging, former movie star who lives and dreams in the past, constantly watching her old movies alone in her room. At the end, she walks into the movie, to forever dwell in the made-up world of film.

She dropped the scarf on celluloid but her manager found it on the floor in front of the screen as he watched her blow a kiss and turn to go up the stairs, forever to live in a made-up world.

Advertising executives, Political campaign managers, and Hollywood spend an inordinate amount of money to change your mind. Media has an incredible pull on the mind. For those who pooh-pooh that your behavior can change over time to be transformed to whatever reality it wishes to present, then why do they spend so much money attempting to do just that? We are influenced by what we see. According to an article in the American Psychological Association, “Vance Packard’s 1957 book, ‘The Hidden Persuaders,’ revealed how advertising agencies used psychologists and other behavioral scientists to probe deep into consumers’ minds and build advertising campaigns based on what they found there.”

I think ‘the hidden persuaders’ is a terrific title. It is very apt.

As a matter of fact, many ads are not simply to try and change your behavior from using one brand over another, but make covert and overt promises that if you use their brand you will become like the people they show you using it. “What’s really critical is to identify the beliefs ads should target, says Dr. Fishbein, PhD,” in an article looking at psychology and the bran and how it is manipulated in advertising.” [emphasis mine]

The cultural claim to your mind is big business and has been for over a century. “There are very many advertisements that do not pay. One man has roughly estimated that seventy-five per cent of all advertisements do not pay; yet the other twenty-five per cent pay so well that there is scarcely a business man who is willing to stand idly by and allow his competitors to do the advertising,” noted Walter D. Scott, Assistant Professor of Psychology in Northwestern University, in The Atlantic– in 1904. Fishbein continued,

“The struggle has been too fierce for any but the strongest. The inefficient advertisers are gradually being eliminated, and the survival of the fittest seems to be a law of advertising as it is of everything else that develops. The leaders of the profession feel that their work has grown till it is beyond their control and comprehension. They have been successful, and hardly know how it has all come about.”

He noted the influence of psychology upon advertising, even at that early date-

“The best thought of the advertising world finds expression in the advertising journals and in the addresses delivered by various experts at gatherings of professional advertisers. In 1895 in one of the leading advertising journals appeared the following editorial: “Probably when we are a little more enlightened, the advertisement writer, like the teacher, will study psychology. For, however diverse their occupations may at first sight appear, the advertisement writer and the teacher have one great object in common—to influence the human mind. The teacher has a scientific foundation for his work in that direction, but the advertisement writer is really also a psychologist. Human nature is a great factor in advertising success; and he who writes advertisements without reference to it is apt to find that he has reckoned without his host.”

The advertising of then has morphed into the Reality TV of today- advertising a better life, better people, an entirely new world that is yours for the taking…if you but walk into the TV (metaphorically speaking).

In the magazine Publicity in 1901, we read a quote, “But the future must needs be full of better methods than these to make advertising advance with the same rapidity as it has during the latter part of the last century. And this will come through a closer knowledge of the psychological composition of the mind. The so-called ‘students of human nature’ will then be called successful psychologists, and the successful advertisers will be likewise termed psychological advertisers. The mere mention of psychological terms, habit, self, conception, discrimination, association, memory, imagination and perception, reason, emotion, instinct and will, should create a flood of new thought that should appeal to every advanced consumer of advertising space.”

Source

“…habit, self, conception, discrimination, association, memory, imagination and perception, reason, emotion, instinct and will…” pretty much covers everything, doesn’t it? This sums up an identity. The reality TV of today is branding us with a new identity, and blurring the lines of what is real and what is not.

The culture (that is to say, satan) wants to grab your mind. Jesus, once He elects you, claims your mind also. It is all about the mind. The struggle is not against flesh, but is in the mind, for your identity and youru reality.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

The mind is the key to Christian life. Rewiring of the brain the mind is the key to Christian life, therefore its corruption in the believer is what satan seeks most.

For a non-believer, things are more dire, because satan already has your brain. (Romans 1:21, Ephesians 4:17). If they absorb enough of the culture, their brain begins to accept that this is what life is. And if they absorb even more, their heart wants what the brain “knows” is real life, and soon they become a recycled person bouncing from ‘reality’ show to ‘reality’ show, thinking that you’re really doing something with your life. An empty mind (devoid of the Holy Spirit) will be filled with the things of satan and will see life through his lens. It really IS all about the mind.

For the believer, remember,

–We capture every thought (2 Corinthians 10:5)
–We have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16)
–And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)
–Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 2:2)
“…to be made new in the attitude of your minds;” (Ephesians 4:23)

God is busy renewing the believers’ mind. He rewires it! He re-knits the synapses of our mind into His likeness, to be conformed to Him and away from the dark wiring of satan’s futility, but each time we allow something gross from the culture into it, we are untying the wires He knit together. Or at least polluting them so they work less efficiently.

It is so sad to see the pull of satan suck people into his vortex through the unreality of reality tv and other false media presentations. It is evident that some people live there permanently now. But that is what happens to the Gentiles who walk in futility of the mind. But the reality is Christ. (Colossians 2:17, Hebrews 11:1)