{"id":12719,"date":"2017-10-30T16:32:57","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T20:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=12719"},"modified":"2017-10-30T16:57:16","modified_gmt":"2017-10-30T20:57:16","slug":"let-light-kind-movie-america-needs-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2017\/10\/let-light-kind-movie-america-needs-right-now.html","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Let There Be Light\u2019: The Kind of Movie America Needs Right Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Let<\/a><\/p>\n

America is in crisis. Our country faces many urgent challenges. Crime. Poverty. Education. And many others. Each is important. But many leading scholars conclude that our nation\u2019s single most important problem is the weakening of marriage.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, as family values weaken, more and more children are growing up in fatherless homes. Because of such a lack of family and faith foundations in the home, many are left without biblical and moral principles to guide them in their decision-making and hope for a better future. But there is hope.<\/p>\n

The new faith-based film, \u201cLet There Be Light,\u201d takes this issue head on. Written, directed and starring husband and wife team Kevin and Sam Sorbo, the movie also features the acting debut of their sons Braeden and Shane Sorbo. The movie is executive produced by conservative commentator Sean Hannity.<\/p>\n

Sol Harkins, a world-renowned atheist and lousy father is determined to make the world come to his side of the argument. But a near death experience challenges his simplest assumptions about the world, shifting Sol\u2019s moral compass in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made the character a life-long atheist. It was just a simple distinction for me, but this is a guy who never needed faith, never looked for faith and thought faith was stupid,\u201d Sam said. \u201cHe suffered a tragedy with his wife who was Christian and went the opposite way because he couldn\u2019t understand her faith\u2026 It would take a real epiphany for him to come to faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fatherhood is a major focus in the film. One of the reasons Kevin and Sam felt fatherhood was such an important theme to touch on is because it is under attack in this country.<\/p>\n

\u201cFatherhood has been under attack for decades,\u201d Kevin said. \u201cThe number of children growing up in broken homes has exploded. The minority fatherless rate was 20 percent in the 1960s, it is 80 percent today. That is a direct reflection on the anger, violence, and all this hatred we see in society today.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tragedy for children to grow up without a father, Sam said. She knows how difficult it is to grow up without a dad because she did.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a young mother and I watched my children playing and interacting with Kevin, I started to really understand the absolute necessity of a dad,\u201d Sam said. \u201cThe dad provides a completely different role than the mom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, our entertainment too often sends the wrong messages about fathers and their roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our culture, in most sitcoms, the father is the dumb one. He\u2019s the doofus,\u201d Sam said. \u201cWe\u2019re sending the message that fathers aren\u2019t necessary. We\u2019re sending a message it\u2019s her choice so therefore the father has no role.\u201d<\/p>\n

What came as a surprise when they tested the film was the percentage of men who loved the movie. They were the biggest fans of the film.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is because we touch on those themes, we show a man in crisis, a man who is wrestling with his father in heaven, but also with his role as a father to his children,\u201d Sam said.<\/p>\n

One of the great things about this film is that it emphasizes hope at a time where there seems to be so little of it. Kevin and Sam both believe that faith-based films can help capture a strong message of hope.<\/p>\n

Christian cinema empowers and uplifts people, Kevin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus spoke through parables, because storytelling is communicating through emotions and memory,\u201d Kevin said. \u201cIt is important to tell stories that move people to be more than they thought they could be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hollywood is where stories are told and Hollywood sets the culture. But what kind of message are we receiving when everything that\u2019s coming out of Hollywood these days is so negative? But moviegoers have power.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can choose to let Hollywood set our morals and values or we can choose to support films that reflect our morals and values as Christians,\u201d Sam said.<\/p>\n

Harvey Weinstein is another expression of the degradation of our culture, and an indication of the need for the American public to once again use their voice, because they have a mighty voice when they use it, Sam said.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Moviegoers] can use the power of the purse to show up in theaters this fall and support Christian films \u2013 films that uphold worthy morals and values.\u201d<\/p>\n

The popularity of faith-based movies prove that there\u2019s an audience out there starving for these films.<\/p>\n

With all the darkness in the world, all the negative movies and TV that celebrate immorality and the praise of lawlessness, these movies are the light to expose that darkness, Kevin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople need to tell their churches and their movie theaters to support this film,\u201d Kevin said. \u201cThis will send Hollywood a message that this is the kind of movie America wants to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

If there is one thing moviegoers can take away from this film is that there is hope.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this culture, we are losing hope,” Sam said. “If Harvey Weinstein can get away with what he did for so long, where is the hope in that? If people who live here, and make a good living here, and benefit from the freedoms we enjoy here have a disdain for this country and for the people who protect our freedoms, then where is the hope in that?\u201d<\/p>\n

While there seems to be a message of anti-hope going out into our culture, this film is their way of combatting this. And it\u2019s moving.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet There Be Light\u201d is in theaters now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

America is in crisis. Our country faces many urgent challenges. Crime. Poverty. Education. And many others. Each is important. But many leading scholars conclude that our nation\u2019s single most important problem is the weakening of marriage. Unfortunately, as family values weaken, more and more children are growing up in fatherless homes. Because of such a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":565,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[849,3263,1028,2574,3512,3513,3514],"class_list":["post-12719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies","category-television","tag-atheist","tag-born-again-christian","tag-christian-films","tag-kevin-sorbo","tag-let-there-be-light","tag-let-there-be-light-film","tag-sam-sorbo"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Let There Be Light\u2019: The Kind of Movie America Needs Right Now<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2017\/10\/let-light-kind-movie-america-needs-right-now.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Let There Be Light\u2019: The Kind of Movie America Needs Right Now\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"America is in crisis. Our country faces many urgent challenges. Crime. Poverty. Education. And many others. Each is important. But many leading scholars conclude that our nation\u2019s single most important problem is the weakening of marriage. Unfortunately, as family values weaken, more and more children are growing up in fatherless homes. 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