Thriving in a decadent culture: in The Culture-Wise Family, authors Ted Baehr and Pat Boone explain how to hold on to Christian values despite outside influences.(The Culture-Wise Family: Upholding Christian Values in a Mass Media World)(Book review)

The Culture-Wise Family: Upholding Christian Values in a Mass Media World, by Ted Baehr and Pat Boone, Ventura, California: Regal Books, 2007, 270 pages, hardcover. (For ordering information, see the ad on page six.)

If there ever was any doubt that Western culture had reached a crisis, Jacques Barzun, one of the modern era's greatest scholars, put an end to it in 2000 with the release of his densely packed and immensely erudite book, From Dawn to Decadence. The title gives away the theme of the book--Western culture has been on the downward slope for some time and with the end of the Millennium, according to Barzun, "in the West the culture of the last 500 years is ending." The death throes of the West, he says, are all around: "Dozens of cults have latterly arisen in the Christian West: Buddhism, Islam, Yoga, Transcendental Meditation, Dr. Moon's Unification Church, and a large collection of others, some dedicated to group suicide." Meanwhile, he argues, "to secular minds, the old ideals look outworn or hopeless and practical aims are made into creeds sustained by violent acts." A pessimistic outlook to be sure, but even if it is not quite as bad as Barzun implies, veterans of the culture wars have to admit he was on to something.

Despite the swirling maelstrom of decay that everywhere seems to threaten the fabric of society, hope remains. Families yet endure, doing their best to raise their children in loving and caring homes despite the challenges presented by the world at large. It can be a solitary--at times--and often difficult challenge. What is needed is a cultural user guide that not only teaches how to survive the present maelstrom, but also provides a plan for eventually stopping and even reversing our cultural decline. In The Culture-Wise Family, Christian film critic Ted Baehr and recording artist and music legend Pat Boone have penned a book that aims to serve as this guide to surviving and saving the culture.

Shocking Statistics

Like it or not--and many on the political left (and even some purportedly on the right) do not like it at all--Western Culture is predominantly Judeo-Christian at its roots. While Christendom may no longer exist as a semi-unified theological-political synthesis in the West, what is recognized as Western Culture still survives because its Christian roots, despite suffering various ravages over time, have not yet been destroyed. But take them away, and the entire edifice of Western civilization will collapse.

Proof of this can be found in the experience of the movie industry, as Baehr and Boone observe. As they point out, from 1933 to 1966--a period of 33 years--every Hollywood script was read and reviewed by representatives from the Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Church, and the Protestant Film Office. "The job of these individuals was to evaluate a movie in terms of the Motion Picture code," the authors write. "If the film passed the Code, it received the Motion Picture Code Seal and was distributed. If it did not pass, theaters would not screen it."

The reviewers made sure that the script did not contain material that was subversive in any one of a number of ways. For instance, the Motion Picture Code ensured that scripts upheld the value of human life, that sin and wrongdoing were not justified, that brutality, indecent exposure, and sexual relationships would not violate standards of common decency. During this time Hollywood experienced a great "golden age" that saw the production of such legendary films as Ben Hur (1959), Casablanca (1942), Gone with the Wind (1939), It's a Wonderful Life (1946), and many other incomparable cinematic and artistic achievements.