Thriving in a decadent culture: in The Culture-Wise Family, authors Ted Baehr and Pat Boone explain how to hold on to Christian values despite outside influences.

The Culture-Wise Family: Upholding Christian Values in a Mass Media World, by Ted Baehr and Pat Boone, Ventura, California: Regal Books, 2007, 270 pages, hardcover. (For ordering information, see the ad on page six.)

If there ever was any doubt that Western culture had reached a crisis, Jacques Barzun, one of the modern era's greatest scholars, put an end to it in 2000 with the release of his densely packed and immensely erudite book, From Dawn to Decadence. The title gives away the theme of the book--Western culture has been on the downward slope for some time and with the end of the Millennium, according to Barzun, "in the West the culture of the last 500 years is ending." The death throes of the West, he says, are all around: "Dozens of cults have latterly arisen in the Christian West: Buddhism, Islam, Yoga, Transcendental Meditation, Dr. Moon's Unification Church, and a large collection of others, some dedicated to group suicide." Meanwhile, he argues, "to secular minds, the old ideals look outworn or hopeless and practical aims are made into creeds sustained by violent acts." A pessimistic outlook to be sure, but even if it is not quite as bad as Barzun implies, veterans of the culture wars have to admit he was on to something.

Despite the swirling maelstrom of decay that everywhere seems to threaten the fabric of society, hope remains. Families yet endure, doing their best to raise their children in loving and caring homes despite the challenges presented by the world at large. It can be a solitary--at times--and often difficult challenge. What is needed is a cultural user guide that not only teaches how to survive the present maelstrom, but also provides a plan for eventually stopping and even reversing our cultural decline. In The Culture-Wise Family, Christian film critic Ted Baehr and recording artist and music legend Pat Boone have penned a book that aims to serve as this guide to surviving and saving the culture.

Shocking Statistics

Like it or not--and many on the political left (and even some purportedly on the right) do not like it at all--Western Culture is predominantly Judeo-Christian at its roots. While Christendom may no longer exist as a semi-unified theological-political synthesis in the West, what is recognized as Western Culture still survives because its Christian roots, despite suffering various ravages over time, have not yet been destroyed. But take them away, and the entire edifice of Western civilization will collapse.

Proof of this can be found in the experience of the movie industry, as Baehr and Boone observe. As they point out, from 1933 to 1966--a period of 33 years--every Hollywood script was read and reviewed by representatives from the Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Church, and the Protestant Film Office. "The job of these individuals was to evaluate a movie in terms of the Motion Picture code," the authors write. "If the film passed the Code, it received the Motion Picture Code Seal and was distributed. If it did not pass, theaters would not screen it."

The reviewers made sure that the script did not contain material that was subversive in any one of a number of ways. For instance, the Motion Picture Code ensured that scripts upheld the value of human life, that sin and wrongdoing were not justified, that brutality, indecent exposure, and sexual relationships would not violate standards of common decency. During this time Hollywood experienced a great "golden age" that saw the production of such legendary films as Ben Hur (1959), Casablanca (1942), Gone with the Wind (1939), It's a Wonderful Life (1946), and many other incomparable cinematic and artistic achievements.

In 1966, though, according to Baehr and Boone, the churches withdrew from the entertainment industry and all manner of misfortune followed. Absent the wholesome and inspiring influence of Christianity on the culture of Hollywood, films began to feature ever more provocative acts of violence, sex, and inhumanity, and there has been a corresponding rise of the same in the wider culture. "Since 1966 (the year the Church abandoned Hollywood)," Baehr and Boone note, "violent crime has increased in the United States by 560 percent, illegitimate births have increased 419 percent, divorce rates have quadrupled, the percentage of children living in single-parent homes has tripled, the teenage suicide rate has increased more than 300 percent and SAT scores have dropped by almost 80 points. Rapes, murders and gang violence have become common occurrences." While not all of this can be laid at the feet of Hollywood film studios, the authors note: "It is clear that the mass media has had a significant influence on people's behavior." What is also obvious is this: take Christianity out of the culture, and the culture collapses.

An Obvious Solution

If Western Civilization is ailing because its Christian roots have atrophied, the solution would seem to be to look to a revival of Christian belief. It seems, in fact, that such a revival has been underway. The last several decades have seen the rise of the "mega-church" movement; the home-school movement has become a major trend in education; and, in recent years, Christian-themed and theologically robust films like The Passion of the Christ, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Gospel of John found enthusiastic viewers, and lots of them, in mainstream America outside of the churches.

Yet while it would seem that Christian evangelism and other efforts are having a significant impact, it's not enough according to Baehr and Boone. "What the Church is serving," they write, "is a shallow and unsalted gospel. Although the message is being delivered with deep compassion for lost sinners and with a burden for a hurting culture, it lacks comprehensive truth to shape the minds of believers and redirect their behavior." In short, the authors believe that Christians have been too timid to really and directly confront the problems afflicting the culture, and they exhort readers to take an active stance in confronting evil as many of the martyrs did throughout church history. "Early Church converts were not martyred for believing in Jesus in their private thoughts but for challenging the secular anti-Christian authorities of their day," they write, calling on today's Christians to do the same. After all, they note, "the Word of God sends us into all the world to transform the culture."

The Culture-Wise Family serves up recommendations for encouraging the kind of courageous and activist faith that the authors argue is the way to stave off collapse. But the prescription is intermingled with a great deal of analysis of the problem, and this is where the book stumbles a bit. There are many books and articles documenting the problems facing Western Culture and America in particular. What's needed is a book that focuses more exclusively on providing solutions. There are solutions offered in The Culture-Wise Family, but the book leaves the reader wanting more.

The book appears to be written in particular with evangelical Christians foremost in mind. Those coming to the Christian tradition from other faith perspectives will possibly find some parts of the book troubling. But that shouldn't dissuade such readers. The task of rebuilding the culture is fundamentally ecumenical: it will take the hands of all those living in the Judeo-Christian tradition pulling at the oars to accomplish the transformation. And in The Culture-Wise Family, Ted Baehr and Pat Boone have provided an important addition to the arsenal of tools needed for the work at hand. The book is on the right track and should be welcomed as a useful guide to surviving, and maybe even reversing, the decline of Western Culture.