{"id":91,"date":"2010-10-19T10:12:44","date_gmt":"2010-10-19T10:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2010\/10\/how-the-media-can-build-an-optimistic-culture-and-why-it-should.html"},"modified":"2010-10-19T10:12:44","modified_gmt":"2010-10-19T10:12:44","slug":"how-the-media-can-build-an-optimistic-culture-and-why-it-should","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2010\/10\/how-the-media-can-build-an-optimistic-culture-and-why-it-should.html","title":{"rendered":"How the media can build an optimistic culture — and why it should"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to my good friend Doktor Luther<\/a>, I came upon this<\/a>.<\/p>\n

J.E. Dyer’s blog The Optimistic Christian<\/a> <\/i>speaks about the role of unflinching, yet realistic, Christian optimism in leading individuals and communities toward balance and peace.<\/p>\n

Dyer defines optimistic Christianity as “an attitude of trust about the promises of God for our lives: a certainty that
\nHe asks only what is possible and rewards what He says He will. It’s a belief
\nthat we can live as if these things are true. We don’t need to accept defeat,
\nfailure, a smaller future than we hoped for, a downward spiral for those we
\nlove, a permanently impoverished style or scope of life. The natural world can’t
\ndictate any of these things to us as inevitable. It can’t enforce them on us.”<\/i> <\/p>\n

Further adding “If we will do things God’s way, blessings follow. There are no caveats or
\nexceptions. I believe most people find the first and greatest blessing to be
\npeace of mind and heart: a balance we can’t be knocked off of. This doesn’t mean
\nwe’re never alarmed or worried, but it means that we know what to do with those
\ndisruptive emotions. We can invoke Philippians 4:6-7<\/a> and find our equilibrium
\nrestored. We are guaranteed the fruits of the Spirit outlined in Galatians
\n5:22-23<\/a>: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
\ngentleness, and self-control. [All citations NIV]”<\/i><\/p>\n

As someone who has spent years working in the media, I’d like to build on those thoughts and suggest that those of us lucky enough to communicate for a living endeavor to work to put forth optimistic ideas that reject the disturbing media trend that too often seems to confuse cynicism, edginess, snarkiness and, sometimes, atheism with sophistication. They’re not.     <\/p>\n

Instead let’s choose to create entertaining and intelligent movies, TV shows, videos, books, music, radio, theater and internet sites that promote positive attitudes which develop and nurture those fruits of the Spirit listed two paragraphs above.<\/p>\n

And, while I’m on the subject, when it comes to the art of storytelling, every story told need not hit people over the head with a heavy-handed moral and\/or recitation of Bible verses. The best writing, in my view, will usually allow a reflection of truth to organically emerge for audiences (and, often, writers) to stumble upon and figure out for themselves. If the Bible is directly quoted it should flow from the story naturally. And no genre or subject matter should be really off limits to positive storytelling. If presented with an attitude of optimistic faith, my Christian faith tells me that God will allow His truth to (sometimes subtly) shine through.<\/p>\n

The media is a powerful tool that can be used to encourage and empower us all or misused to bring us down with messages of degradation and defeat. The ideas we choose to communicate through media both reflect and shape our culture.<\/p>\n

Let’s choose wisely.<\/p>\n

  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to my good friend Doktor Luther, I came upon this. J.E. Dyer’s blog The Optimistic Christian speaks about the role of unflinching, yet realistic, Christian optimism in leading individuals and communities toward balance and peace. 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Kennedy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/d80\/d801bc09698c0995d9ae402b4b55ab61x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/d80\/d801bc09698c0995d9ae402b4b55ab61x96.jpg","caption":"John W. Kennedy"},"description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media & Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations & Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. 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