The fourth wall
November 27, 2012
Angus T. Jones, one of the stars of American sitcom Two and a Half Men, has gone online to explain that he no longer wants to participate in the show, describing its contents as "filth," as reported by the BBC.
I do not know anything much about the programme, the actor, the church, or the profession of faith, but such events as this - though minor in their own way - are, or ought to be, a trifle disconcerting.
First, I imagine that they are disconcerting for the studio executives who market their material as harmless fun, a little light entertainment. When one of your mouthpieces suddenly stands up and says it's a moral mire, it is hard to maintain that position.
But second, they ought to be a little disconcerting for Christians who are determined to believe that culture is morally neutral, that we can dabble in anything without it having an impact on us, that we can make dispassionate assessments of what are, in effect, vehicles for a certain moral vision, and that everything can be 'redeemed.' Here is a voice from the inside saying, "Don't be foolish!"
I do not know anything much about the programme, the actor, the church, or the profession of faith, but such events as this - though minor in their own way - are, or ought to be, a trifle disconcerting.
First, I imagine that they are disconcerting for the studio executives who market their material as harmless fun, a little light entertainment. When one of your mouthpieces suddenly stands up and says it's a moral mire, it is hard to maintain that position.
But second, they ought to be a little disconcerting for Christians who are determined to believe that culture is morally neutral, that we can dabble in anything without it having an impact on us, that we can make dispassionate assessments of what are, in effect, vehicles for a certain moral vision, and that everything can be 'redeemed.' Here is a voice from the inside saying, "Don't be foolish!"
