ReasonForOurHope

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

New Evangelizers Post: Catholic Pop Culture 2013



I have another article up at NewEvangalizers.com

There are many vulgar and immoral things in today’s popular culture.  As a good friend of mine said, “Television today is a moral cesspool.”  I therefore understand the impulse and reaction of many who choose not to spend their free time sullying their minds and souls with immoral dreck.

But while we don’t have to indulge in pop culture, we ignore it at our own peril.  We must be engaged with the popular culture or risk losing a foothold on the minds and imaginations of the people.  By knowing what immorality is espoused by the popular culture can give us an advantage in combating it.

But that is not the focus of today’s article.  Instead, I would like to focus on the most Catholic moments in pop culture from the past year.  As a teacher, I have found that using the language of modern television, movies, and the like can be very effective at illustrating all manner of theological truths.
St. Augustine tended to be of the mindset that things which are not explicitly religious should be avoided.  However, the tradition we inherit from St. Thomas Aquinas holds that we should embrace what is good and can be used to delight or illuminate.

It should be noted that any mention of positive examples from movies or television shows below is not an endorsement of the entire of the entire project.  Some stories have mixed messages.  Or some may be too explicit or violent.  This is merely a touchstone to highlight any good moments that came out of pop culture in 2013.  And feel free to disagree.  But here are some points that I intend to use in the classroom.

Beware, in order to discuss the Catholicity of the movies and television shows below, SPOILERS may be introduced.

You can read the whole thing here.

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