www.pluggedinonline.com

Lindy Keffer and Steven Issac #fundie pluggedinonline.com

(complaining about how The Nightmare Before Christmas secularized the holidays)

Witches, vampires, ghosts and other residents of Halloween Town have real-world occult associations that will rightly bother Christian families. Likewise, Christmas, Halloween and other holidays that have obvious spiritual connections in our world have no such associations in Jack's. When Jack does a string of "scientific" experiments to try to ascertain the true meaning of Christmas ("In these little bric-a-brac a secret's waiting to be cracked," he sings), it's more than a little jarring that the conclusions he makes have absolutely nothing to do with the Christ of Christmas.

The Nightmare Before Christmas asks, "Where do holidays come from?" and answers quite simply, "From the towns that bear their names." Thus, Christmas is an organic event conceived by the folks of Christmas Town, not a celebration of the Savior's birth in a Bethlehem manger. Easter comes from Easter Town and is embodied by a giant pink bunny. Thanksgiving and St. Patrick's Day alike come from their respective hamlets, in totally secularized packaging.

Meredith Whitmore #fundie pluggedinonline.com

["Chesney" refers to country singer Kenny Chesney. Plugged In is a ministry of Focus on the Family that addresses "media discernment" for parents. All emphases are Meredith's.]

The first verse of "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" finds Chesney rejecting his preacher's advice to "Quit the women and whiskey/And carrying on all night." A few moments later, Chesney's sticking bribes in the church's offering plate, hoping the pastor'll put in a good word for him ("There's one for everything I did last night/And one to get me through today/Here's a ten to help you remember/Next time you got the good Lord's ear"). Near the end of this less-than-righteous toe-tapper, Kenny says he's having too much fun down here to want to go to heaven right now—and he's pretty sure he speaks for the majority of us.

Then, "Ten With a Two" really sets out to shred the ideals Chesney says he grew up with. In this unhappy romp through beer goggles and sex with complete strangers, Chesney sings, "Last night I came in at 2 with a 10/But at 10 I woke up with a 2/I got 20/20 vision when I ain't drinking/But Lord when I do I lose/I ain't never gone to bed with an ugly woman/But I sure woke up with a few." In the album's liner notes, Kenny writes of the track, "I can't count the nights ... that I've lived this song. It's a guy's anthem ... it's not a classy song, but boys—and girls—we've all been there."

Have we really, Kenny? Because I come from a small town, too, and I know not everyone has been there.

[...]

And so we're back to the fact that fun is the reason so many seem to flock around this colossal country cowboy.

Fun—defined as him holding church and family in one hand while grasping a whiskey bottle in the other as he lyrically works his way through the 2s and the 10s of the world with no thought at all for who they might be beyond what they look like. That's not the kind of fun I was hoping to find as I listened to my first Kenny Chesney song in years. That's not the kind of fun that'll make me want to ever try him out again.

Paul Asay #fundie pluggedinonline.com

(A movie review of The Ruins)

Clearly these vacationers could've used a little more time in Sunday school. I'd imagine even celebrity atheist Richard Dawkins would loft a prayer to the heavens if he was suddenly confronted by aggressive, carnivorous plants. This crew? Not a peep.