‘THE GENESIS CODE’ Morality at movies: If you film it, they will come

By Steve Scheffler

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What's a Christian family to do at the movies these days? Parents, staring up at the theater's marquee, can run down the list and dismiss each movie one by one, “Too violent. Too adult. Too pointless. Glorifies divorce and infidelity. Vilifies religion.”

While the excess of violence, sexuality and profanity in modern film turns away many families, the problem with the movies is more than that sort of added spice. What so many Christians object to is that so many of the lessons that are learned at the cinema simply are not true. We're preached to about the horrible intolerance of anyone who objects to a homosexual lifestyle, or the utter ridiculousness of believing in an absolute truth. Authority is to be flaunted and tradition is to be destroyed. Sexual love should be chased outside of marriage, provided that it's perceived to be “true” love.

Conservatives are clamoring for movies that remind us of the wisdom of our parents, the necessity of the humility we learn from our faith. Tell us, Hollywood, the stories that we want and need to hear. Bring to life the wonders of faith, family and country, and you will have sold-out theaters across America. We can both win here: We want to pay for quality family entertainment. But family entertainment seems to always amount to 90 minutes of animated animals parroting catchphrases until they all learn to “be true to your heart.”

Because of this gap in the film market, Christian conservatives - and anyone looking for a family-friendly movie - will be pleasantly surprised by “The Genesis Code.” Tired of the same old garbage coming out of Hollywood, a group of industry professionals and Christian conservatives banded together. Their company, American Epic Entertainment, produced “The Genesis Code” as their first release.

The movie follows two college kids on their search for truth. Kerry Wells, an evangelical Christian, struggles against prejudice in the science department and seeks to show the veracity of her faith by proving how scientific research and the Book of Genesis agree on the origin of the universe. Blake Truman, an agnostic hockey star, fights to save his comatose mother from his grandparents' reluctant mercy killing.

Their intellectual journeys will leave audiences spellbound, and perhaps re-evaluating their own beliefs on some controversial issues of our time.

Anyone who has ever complained about the lack of quality family films would do well to vote with dollars and send a message to the entertainment industry: We want meaningful, beautiful movies - and we're willing to pay for them.

Steve Scheffler is the president of the Iowa Christian Alliance Education Fund and is an Iowa Republican national committeeman. Comments: slscheffler@iowachristian.com