Once upon a time, there was a magic kingdom of family entertainment that was loved by values consumers from sea to shining sea.<\/p>\n\n
But an evil leader entered the castle and things went amiss. Mighty were his deeds, though he was small in stature. Then a throng of angry Southern Baptists appeared at the gates waving Bibles. Some even began to have second thoughts about paying the mini-mogul to help them raise their children.<\/p>\n\n
In time the evil one fell, although people inside the gates insisted that all was well. And so it came to pass that the kingdom remained profitable, although its image was tarnished.<\/p>\n\n
That\u2019s the Rev. Richard Land\u2019s story, more or less, and he\u2019s sticking to it.<\/p>\n\n
The Hollywood establishment says the Southern Baptist Convention\u2019s eight-year boycott of the Walt Disney Co. did little or no financial damage to the media superpower. Thus, the recent vote to end the boycott was of little consequence.<\/p>\n\n
Disney never repented. Investors yawned. The end.<\/p>\n\n
But the president of the convention\u2019s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission has responded to this stark verdict with a question: Does Disney enjoy the same public trust it did eight years ago? He believes the answer is \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThere are lots of entertainment companies and I think they\u2019re all pretty much the same,\u201d said Land, who has both a soft Southern drawl and a doctorate from Oxford University. \u201cBut for most of our people, Disney used to be different. Disney was supposed to be a cut above the others. We expected better from Disney.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cToday, Disney is the same as everybody else. I think that most of our families now treat Disney no differently than they do other companies out in Hollywood. The boycott helped knock Disney down a notch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
The June 22 resolution claimed that the boycott \u201ccommunicated effectively our displeasure concerning products and policies that violate moral righteousness and traditional family values.\u201d In the future, it said, Southern Baptists must \u201cpractice continued discernment regarding all entertainment products from all sources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Boycott organizers concede that Disney continues to extend employee benefits to homosexual couples and holds \u201cgay day\u201d festivities in its theme parks. However, they say Disney has made subtle efforts to be more gracious to religious believers, such as cutting its ties to Miramax. It also helps that, in December, Disney is teaming with Walden Media to offer a movie version of \u201cThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe\u201d by C.S. Lewis, one of the most beloved works of Christian fiction ever written.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe still have concerns about Disney,\u201d stressed Land. \u201cBut Disney has done its share of listening. \u2026 Still, I don\u2019t think there was any way that the boycott would have ended without the departure of the princeling of darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
That is Land\u2019s nickname for Disney CEO Michael Eisner.<\/p>\n\n
Eisner\u2019s dramatic exit \u2014 after a no-confidence vote by disgruntled shareholders \u2014 was a crucial moment. According to Land, the infighting that haunted the final Eisner years even inspired after-hours calls to Southern Baptist headquarters in Nashville. At Disney, executives have offered no public reaction on the end of the boycott.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI have had enough off-the-record talks with some important people at Disney to know that they thought the boycott was biting them in some places that hurt,\u201d said Land. \u201cBut these people inside Disney also convinced me that the cancer in the body was Eisner and that, once he was gone, we would see more signs of improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
But for Southern Baptist leaders, said Land, the critical question is not whether the boycott affected Disney, but whether it affected life inside Christian homes. There is evidence \u2014 he cited sobering prime-time ratings and box-office statistics \u2014 that millions of Americans are having second thoughts about the media they consume.<\/p>\n\n
The bottom line is that American families have more media options, from TiVo to Podcasting, from home theaters to interactive video games. The question, said Land, is whether they will make wise choices.<\/p>\n\n
Satellites and fiber-optic cables can carry filth as well as faith.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cIf Jesus is the Lord of our lives then he is supposed to be the Lord of our entertainment lives, as well. It\u2019s easy to forget that,\u201d said Land. \u201cBut that\u2019s what I hope Southern Baptists took away from the boycott. That\u2019s what this was about.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Once upon a time, there was a magic kingdom of family entertainment that was loved by values consumers from sea to shining sea. But an evil leader entered the castle and things went amiss. Mighty were his deeds, though he was small in stature. Then a throng of angry Southern Baptists appeared at the gates […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[139,324,431,1542,813],"class_list":["post-1341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-boycotts","tag-entertainment","tag-hollywood","tag-movies","tag-southern-baptists"],"yoast_head":"\n