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Episode 231: How Entertainment Shapes Our Beliefs. Plus, Netflix’s Testament: The Story of Moses

LISTEN TO THE PLUGGED IN SHOW, EPISODE 231

When people ask what drew me to Plugged In, I have one answer at the ready. I just love counting swear words. But if I had to give another answer, it’d be simply this: Entertainment is important. It influences how we feel, how we think and even what we believe.

For me, the intersection between entertainment and faith is one of my job’s most interesting wrinkles. I’ve written, and talked, a lot about how secular movies can sometimes echo spiritual, even Christian themes. They can obviously teach plenty of other belief systems and worldviews, too (concepts that I’ve been exploring for Focus on the Family’s website). My cohort, Kennedy Unthank, dives deep into spiritual issues in his excellent “Theology of” series on our blog, as well.

So perhaps it’s not a huge surprise that we both wrote about how faith and entertainment intersect in different chapters of Plugged In’s book, Becoming a Screen-Savvy Family.

Kennedy and I hang out with host Adam Holz to talk about the book, belief and how the latter influences—and is influenced by—entertainment and technology. I had fun talking about these issues, and I hope you’ll have fun listening.

And speaking of faith and entertainment, we examine a very specific example of both when Kennedy talks about the Netflix show Testament: The Story of Moses. Does it stick to the biblical script? Or does it get lost in the desert? We’ll tell you.

But no conversation we have is complete without input from you. How has entertainment impacted your own beliefs? How have your beliefs impacted how you see entertainment? Have you watched Netflix’s take on Moses? Do you want to? Let us know on Facebook or Instagram. Or by sending us an email. Or by leaving a voicemail on The Plugged In Show homepage. We’re all ears.

And then get ready for next week’s episode, when we talk about JoJo Siwa’s latest song and Prime Video’s new TV series Fallout.

paul-asay
Paul Asay

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

2 Responses

  1. Good article. One of the best things both Christian and nonbelieving viewers can do is to be careful what they’re placing in their minds, because what we watch, read, play and listen to helps shape our worldview and what we believe in.

  2. Whether you are a Christian or not, it’s always very important to use discernment in your entertainment choices, because what we watch, play, read and listen to will help determine our worldview.

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