Charleston Southern University’s annual Values and Ethics Series took place from April 7-9. The theme of the 2008 series was “Media, Music and Christianity,” exploring how the good news of the gospel can be shared in the media culture of today.
Bob SmithouserThe first sessions were presented by Bob Smithouser of Focus on the Family. Smithouser, who edits Plugged In magazine, shared with students, faculty and staff how he and his staff review new movies, TV shows and music to advise Christians on the suitability of their content. He challenged the audience to be discerning consumers, giving support to media that support the message of the Bible and speaking to Hollywood in the language they best understand: money. His message was that Christians need not shun the modern entertainment culture, but should embrace it as an effective medium for sharing the gospel.
The speaker for the second day was Bill Hane of Bearing Fruit Communications, a company that makes films and documentaries with a strong Christian worldview (such as 2006’s “End of the Spear”). Hane spoke about the motivations that inspire his ministry, and treated students to an exclusive preview of their new documentary, “Miss HIV,” a portrayal of the threat of AIDS in today’s world, especially Africa. It showed how the efforts of the church to educate about abstinence and fidelity have, to date, been the only effective strategy in reducing the number of cases of HIV – but also how some ideologies, concerned that the church is “forcing” its morality on people, have served to stifle this progress.