Using Pop Culture to Teach Discernment

Final Scene of The Truman Show• What is happening in this scene?

• Could this be an allegory?

• How does it apply to life?

• Faith?

• What does it suggest about our relationship to the entertainment industry?

ImagineImagine there’s no heaven It’s easy if you tryNo hell below us Above us only skyImagine all the people Living for today…Imagine there’s no countries It isn’t hard to doNothing to kill or die for And no religion tooImagine all the people Living life in peace…You may say I’m a dreamer But I’m not the only oneI hope someday you’ll join us And the world will be

as oneImagine no possessions I wonder if you canNo need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people Sharing all the world…© Lenono Music

Our Culture: What a Mess!

History

Ways That Humans Have Viewed the World

Greeks• Idealist______________

• Realist______________

Christians

Western Historians

___X________________________________________ 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000

The Western WorldPre 1500’s Post 1500’s• Greeks and

Romans• Medieval Period• Feudalism• The Magna Carta

• The Renaissance• The Reformation• The development

of the arts and sciences

• The Industrial Revolution

• Secularization• Information

Explosion

Art Through the Ages

Medieval

Rennaissance

Classical

Impressionism

Cubism

A Word On Some Current Ideas:

• Secularism

• Materialism

• Humanism

• Existentialism

• Radical Individualism

• Hedonism

• Anarchy

• New-Age Mysticism

Overview

Ways That Humans Have Viewed the World

Greeks

• Idealist Meaning Without Verification

• Realist Verification Without Meaning

Historic View

Based on Modernity

Pre-Modernity0-1600

Modernity1600’s-1800’s

Post-Modernity1900-Present

Popular Philosophic

Based on American Popular

Existentialism

Pre-ExistentialThrough 1950’s

Existential1960’s and 70’s

Post-Existential80’s to Present

Breathe• Breathe, breathe in the air.

Don’t be afraid to care.Leave, but don’t leave me.Look around and choose your own ground.For long you live and high you fly.

• And smiles you give and tears you’ll cry.• And all you touch and all you see is all your life will

ever be.• Run rabbit run.• Dig that hole, forget the sun,• And when at last the work is done• Don’t sit down it’s time to start another one.• For long you live and high you fly But only if you

ride the tide• And balanced on the biggest wave You race toward

an early grave.

The Process• Introduce examples to get students’

attention• Discuss symbolism and how it often

reveals a person’s philosophy.• Use samples from various media

which reveal a philosophical statement or leaning.

• Have students present and discuss samples of their own (see ground rules)

• Discuss the biblical basis for discernment

The Unit• About Three Weeks Long

• You model discerning meaning out of the barrage of messages

• Students bring in examples of current thought from various media

• You challenge them to develop a real biblical worldview and to be discerning in what they hear, read, etc.

The Project

• They create a portfolio of examples– Snippits of current ideas– 6 snippits, 4 media, 4 ideas– They write a brief explanation of each

idea and how it compares/ contrasts with a Christian worldview

Ground Rules• Must be philosophical

• Must be edited– I will help you edit if you need it.

• Must reveal several current ideas

• Must be from different mediaFilm Music

Art Advertising

TV Radio– Books (You’ve heard of them, right?)

The Biblical Basis for Discernment

• Romans 12

• 2 Tim. 3:1-7

• Eph 4:17-22, 5:1-17

How We Engage the World• Fran Sciacca– Resident– Tourist– Alien

• Bill Brown– Enjoy and Participate– Recoil and Pull Back– Grieve and Engage