Faith Escape: Stars Flee Sinking Hollywood

Last month we commemorated the eighth anniversary of Bleeding Fool, and one of the virtues of its longevity is that it allows us to see the rise and looming fall of wokism in a very accessible format.  

As early as last May, I was wondering if we were seeing the turning of the tide in the culture war, and in fact we were.  While much has been made of how important Donald Trump’s election victory was in the battle against elemental evil, I believe that was a lagging indicator of the larger spiritual shift.  Yes, I know it’s early in the column, but if we for a moment put on our They Live spirit shades, we can recall that Trump’s accounts were actually posting Marian devotions and the St. Michael the Archangel prayer during the campaign.

It was quite unexpected, and it worked.  Catholic voters, who for historic reasons tend to favor Democrats (a practice dating to when Republicans were primarily Yankee Protestants), decisively shifted to Trump.  While Hollywood continues to double down on woke, individual stars seem to know what time it is, and are acting accordingly.

Enjoy Advent with…Gwen Stefani?

This past week marks the beginning of a new liturgical new year in the Catholic Church, a period known as Advent.  It is a time of preparation, traditionally marked by renewed devotions, deeper prayer, perhaps some fasting, and culminates in the celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord.  It is sometimes known as a “little Lent” because people will give up certain foods.

All very inside baseball for a lot of Christians, but what is interesting is that some stars are getting with the season, specifically Chris Pratt and Gwen Stefani, who will be joining the Hallow prayer app:

On Fridays, actor Chris Pratt of Guardians of the Galaxy and Parks and Recreation fame will read from The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.

Singer Gwen Stefani will be joined by Byzantine Catholic religious sister Mother Natalia and will discuss the lives of the saints and how they focused on “being still.” Fr. John Burns, a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, said Hallow, “will guide listeners through sessions of imaginative prayer.”

Liam Neeson has already joined Hallow, and one can say a Rosary with him (I’m holding out for him reading The Apocalypse of John in his most ominous Taken voice).

Anyone with any knowledge of Hollywood’s history knows that while it’s always been a pit of depravity, it was also very happy to take Christian money by making faith-based films.  While it seems institutionally incapable of reform, there’s no reason why individual celebrities have to go down with the ship, and the once who hit the lifeboats first, are going to reap the biggest benefits.

Rebuilding A Culture of Morality

Cynics might question the sincerity of this and other ostensible displays of religion, such as Shia LeBoeuf’s  conversion to Catholicism.  Barring some public display of bad faith, I think it is best to simply take things at face value, because even if it is opportunistic, the direction is what is important.

Hollywood has always been packed with hypocrites, but in the old days the people running it were smart enough to keep it quiet.  The same is true of society at large.  When Christian values were universal, even non-believers realized the smart play was to go along with the flow.

This happy arrangement collapsed because the degenerates demanded their “freedom” to sell porn and groom children, and that hasn’t worked out very well.  It’s interesting to note how many former evangelical atheists have come to realize that their dream of throat-punching Christians into silence and banishing faith to the fringe of society created quite a nightmare.  Nature abhors a vacuum, so if you wreck one morality, you’re going to get a different one that may not be so kind.

Turns out that those “oppressive patriarchal Christians” may have been prudish and censorial, but they didn’t run rape gangs and stab women to death on the subway.  Maybe the comfort of knowing you can leave your house unlocked and not worry about a carjacking on your way to work will offset your fear of someone wishing you “Merry Christmas.”

All of which is to say that most people go with the flow, and when the prevailing winds were woke, they adjusted their sails accordingly.  That has now changed, and while some of these newly public Christians may be faking it, making expressions of Christian faith the norm rather than the exception is a good thing.

A Message from the Other 1990s

As much as the 1990s was the tipping point of the larger culture, and a time when degeneracy became more public, it was also the last hurrah of public morality, particularly in youth culture.  

Over at First Things, Tristan Wax reminds us that there were countervailing currents, including a flowering of Christian music and entertainment, which included Veggie Tales, whose tunes my adult children still happily sing and whose DVDs my grandkids absolutely adore.

My experience of 1990’s Evangelical culture was quite limited.  I spent my sophomore year in college hanging with the Campus Crusade for Christ crowd, (kind of a fraught name today, don’t you think?), but when push came to shove, I went with St. Augustine (“Lord, make me chaste, but not just yet!”).

Even irreligious Gen Xers remember those days fondly, and Evangelical cultural re-engagement is necessary to restore public morality.

And just to be clear, simply winding the clock back to 1995 won’t suffice.  While it may not be possible to reimpose the Hayes Code from a legal perspective, getting something like it in practice due to societal pressure is essential.  We much call out the freakish perverts for what they are, and restore once universally accepted rules of conduct.

Peer Pressure Works

The rapid onset and just as swift collapse of the transgender phenomenon underlines how powerful peer pressure can be, especially when backed up by alleged educators and medical professionals (and the coercive power of the state).  One of horrors of this inhuman experiment was the emotional blackmail used to make parents comply with what was clearly a purely psychological issue strongly correlated with the destructive (and completely medically ineffective) pandemic lockdowns.  “Do you want a live son, or a dead daughter?” was their catchphrase, and when spoken by an agent of the state, it was hard to resist.  The children of those who had the courage defy this pressure are happily recovering and transgender identification is collapsing as a result.

Some may credit this to better research, or more long-term data, but that was always out there if one wanted to look for it.  It was axiomatic that one does not legitimize delusional behavior.  No one suggested putting anorexia suffers on diet pills or offering emetics to bulemics.  Indeed, in many jurisdictions, the wokes are doubling and tripling down, succumbing to what can only be described as a demonic race to drug or mutilate as many children as they can before reason and compassion at last prevail.

Peer pressure in this instance is crucial, because once the status gain from the announcement is lost, the incentive almost entirely disappears.  Men who insist on forcing themselves into women’s restrooms are sex offenders, not gender-confused.  

In Hollywood, they are always looking for the hot new thing, and it may well turn out to be God.  It will be interesting to see how many of yesterday’s sinners reinvent themselves as saints.  

Hopefully, some of it will be sincere.

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