This page exists to help parents in their duties of raising up children to follow Jesus. As we come across articles or events that we think might help you in your most important job we'll post them here. Should you find something that you believe would be helpful to be put on this page please email Bob Hollinger. We may not be able to put all the suggestions here, but if it's helpful we'll certainly try.

Here is some information from the Center for Parent Youth Understanding on the new

movie The Golden Compass which was just released in early December.

His Dark Materials is a fantasy trilogy by British novelist Phillip Pullman. The first book, The Golden Compass, is now a major motion picture starring Nicole Kidman and has been met with tremendous controversy. The books are known for their antireligious messages. As one author has put it, “Pullman’s books create a universe in which the church is the enemy and God is the master villain.” Many Christians are concerned that the popular novels and film could have a negative impact on young
people. How should we respond?

Cultural analyst John Seel is the author of Parenting Without Perfection: Being a Kingdom Influence in a Toxic World. Heavily involved in the release of the movie Amazing Grace, Dr. Seel understands the way media, for better or worse, influences kids. What follows are a few of his thoughts concerning The Golden Compass and the remarkable opportunity the movie provides for the Christian community:

One senses a tipping point, assertive atheism has found its voice. Several
years ago Dartmouth University professor Walter Sinnot-Armstrong wrote an
article in their alumni magazine entitled, "Can You Believe It?" in which he
called for atheists to breakout of their self-imposed silence and to take up the
mantle of "evangelistic" atheism. He wrote, "Outside the classes, most
atheists feel little to be gained by broadcasting their beliefs. Theists won't
listen, and atheists don't need to listen. This defeatist attitude means that
evangelicals get away with spouting harmful nonsense." Many have risen to
his challenge. The bookstores and magazines are filled with anti-God and
anti-religion diatribes.

It was only a matter of time before imaginative literature aimed at children
took up this theme. The film, The Golden Compass, opened in December and
is based on the first book in Philip Pullman's trilogy, His Dark Materials. In an
interview in the Washington Post, Pullman candidly remarked, "I'm trying to
undermine the basis of Christian belief.” Pullman has also been outspoken
about his desire to undercut The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.
The most powerful aspect of culture is the way it shapes our moral
imagination. As Einstein observed, "Imagination is more important than
knowledge." Books and films such as The Golden Compass are opportunities
for important discussions with our children about truth and the nature of
reality. We need not be defensive or judgmental. God's truth will prevail. All
that is at risk is casual Christianity and unreflective belief. Assertive atheism
can be a good thing, if it encourages us to become serious seekers of truth.
Many will simply use such films to justify their rebellious attitudes toward
authority. That shouldn’t surprise us. More important than blaming atheists
for what they think and write is to acknowledge the failure of Christian
believers to provide a thoughtful, winsome, and life-affirming alternative in
our culture. This is the challenge of our time.

It would be easy for us to not meet this challenge head-on and simply flee from or
protest the books and film. Sadly, many Christians have taken such an alarmist
approach. But anger and protest often communicates insecurity. A biblical response
calls us to go much deeper. Our posture needs to be as Dr. Seel suggests: Seize the
opportunity to provide a thoughtful and winsome response.

To help us better understand the books and the challenges Philip Pullman presents,
CPYU friend, Byron Borger of Hearts & Minds Bookstore, suggests the following
resources (be sure to subscribe to his BookNotes Blog at
www.heartsandmindsbooks.com):

Dark Matter: Shedding Light on Philip Pullman’s Trilogy His Dark Materials by
Tony Watkins (InterVarsity Press). This is probably the best book for Engage
readers. It is thoughtful, fair, and engages the Trilogy from a solid Christian
worldview.

Shedding Light on His Dark Materials: Exploring Hidden Spiritual Themes in
Philip Pullman’s Popular Series by Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware (SaltRiver). This
smaller hardback is ideal for high school readers. The authors do a very good job of
introducing main themes, worldviews and values within the novels. Interestingly,
they show how, even against Pullman's own intentions, his spiritual insights witness
to the God he intended to discredit.

This article will be featured in the Winter 2007 issue of ENGAGE: The
Journal of Youth Culture from CPYU. For information on how to subscribe,
visit the website of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding at
www.cpyu.org.

Hannah Montana: Cyberporn queen?

Aug 10, 2007, 06:00 AM | by Gary Susman

Hannah_l Disney's squeaky-clean tween queen may be helping your kids download porn or worse. The virus and spyware experts at McAfee did some research to find the pop-culture search-engine queries whose results are most likely to lead unwitting users to the most infectious pages, and they found, for instance, that the most dangerous search query among currently popular songs is for "Life's What You Make It" by Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus, pictured.) Kids who type that into their search engine in the hope of finding downloadable music, photos, and ringtones are most likely to wind up infecting their PCs with redirects to porn sites or data-stealing spyware that enables identity theft.

McAfee research analyst Shane Keats tells PopWatch that scammers closely follow popular culture in order to target kids and other naive and inexperienced Web surfers. "When they first get to an offer for a Hannah Montana screensaver, they just click yes. Three or four clicks later, they've got a single image of Hannah Montana that may or may not be legal, and they're also going to give themselves porno pop-up ads." Of the scammers, Keats says, "You've really got to wonder how they sleep at night. It's one thing to do that to a grown-up, another to do it to a kid who just wants to show their love for their favorite singer." He says he won't let his own kids, ages 5 and 8, surf the 'Net. "There's just too much chance that they'll see an image that they'll never forget."

Other dangerous pop culture searches, Keats says, include rap tracks (Three 6 Mafia attracts some of the worst, he says; guess it's hard out here for a datapimp.) Less risky are country acts like Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, or Kenny Chesney (Keats says he doesn't know why that is, given how popular they are) or celebrity couples (such as TomKat, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, or Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner).

To protect your computer from pop-culture parasites, Keats suggests three tips: First, stick with the official sites; it's safe to visit Disney's pages if you're looking for Hannah Montanabilia. Outside of the official sites, any free offer that sounds too good to be true probably is. Second, among search results, the engine-generated links tend to be safer than the sponsored links placed there by advertisers. Third, get some good security software; naturally, Keats recommends McAfee's free browser plug-in SiteAdvisor, but he says the competition's products are worthwhile, too. "Otherwise," Keats says, "it's like surfing naked."