Product Description
Sex. Graphic killings. Profanity. Adultery. Flip on the television, head for the movie theater, or open a newspaper and you can t get away from it. How do you raise a family in a world supersaturated with media extolling toxic values that are not your own? Media critic Dr. Ted Baehr and legendary entertainer Pat Boone draw from their own extensive experiences and interviews with experts to help readers understand the power of the media and its influence on families. They also examine the ongoing threats to family values by those in the media who promote a humanistic worldview. Media consumers are challenged to understand their own worldviews, make wise choices and are given the information they need to do so. Baehr and Boone also look at the progress that has been made in family values programming in Hollywood, and offer hope for the future.
Customer Reviews:
A valuable tool in our spiritual battle.......2007-10-10
I have to agree with a previous poster who stated that the book was not cohesive. It seemed that the author jumped around and there didn't always seem to be a logical progression, especially within individual chapters.
That said, I appreciate the general message of the book...our children are watching entirely too much television/videos, and we need to be more careful that what they watch is in line with our Christian worldview and our biblical values.
Overall, I most appreciated chapter 10, titled "Who Stole Our Culture?", authored by William S. Lind. Lind gives the history behind the shift from Judeo-Christian values to politically-correct, cultural Marxist values. He explains that the number one goal of cultural Marxism has been the destruction of Western culture and the Christian religion (including the family) and shows how this has been put into action through gaining access to our institutions - the schools (ie...public education), the media, the churches and every other institution that could influence the culture.
I also thought that chapter 11, "Where Are We Going?", tied together the secular humanism of cultural Marxism with the Muslim advance, especially in Europe. Will the Muslim advance fill the void left in the wake of cultural Marxism? This is certainly a relevant question.
All in all, I would recommend this book to parents (and grandparents!) trying to better understand the pervasiveness of mass media, the dangers to our children, and the evil of the "politically-correct" culture we live in.
Doesn't stay on topic.......2007-09-29
For those of us who work with teenagers, we are aware of the vast influence of mass media in their lives. Most teenagers spend hours a day listening to music, watching television, or surfing the internet. Disturbingly, the messages that stream across the airwaves, through fiber-optic cable, and over Wi-Fi networks often seem to be in contradiction with the values, standards, and norms we are trying to instill into our Christian young people. How should we deal with this?
Ted Baehr and Pat Boone (along with other guest authors) try to answer this question in The Culture-Wise Family: Upholding Christian Values in a Mass Media World. The authors come from the premise that America was founded as a Christian nation (Chapter 4) and that Christians must win the "cultural battle" (157). Ever since the removal of prayer from school, America's social problems and illnesses have grown exponentially (156). Statistics charting the changes in America's cultural landscape from the 1960s to 1990s help support this claim (21). In attempting to turn the tide, Christians who want to "apply biblical principles to all areas of life, and Christ's authority over all things" are left with no choice but to say, "Our goal is nothing less than a Christian civilization" (162). This is the approach the authors take in regard to culture.
The authors assert that the proper interaction of Christians with our culture is to avoid any form of media that does not conform fully to a biblical, Christian worldview. Books and movies like The Da Vinci Code and Harry Potter should be off-limits for Christians. In reference to the media we consume, Christians must always remember that "Jesus, who sits at the right hand of our Father in Heaven and sees all, is watching us, and God is taking down our names" (154). By voting with our pocketbook, those who control the media will be forced to begin producing works that are in line with a Christian worldview.
One of the most helpful chapters in the book is chapter 5, which explains the different ways that children interact with media according to their age and development. It is important for parents and youth workers to realize that children and teenagers do not process media in the same ways as adults because of their mental development.
Perhaps the compilation of authors hurt the book's cohesiveness. The chapters seem to suffer from a lack of flow and obvious thought-pattern. Even within a chapter it is sometimes difficult to see the relevance of some of the author's stories and examples. Additionally, although it is not an academic work, more documentation of sources would be helpful to support some of the claims made in the book.
While there is some value to be gained from this book in regard to interacting with culture, the book suffers from too much sprawl related to issues that have little to nothing to do with helping Christians interact with culture. The book could stand some significant editing or a new title. Too much space is spent hearkening back to the 1950s and waging war against liberals. Readers hoping to find a robust, systematic, and cohesive approach to interacting with culture should look elsewhere.
Few good points, but too long and too complicated a read.......2007-09-28
While there were some good nuggets of valuable information and insight in this book, overall I wasn't too impressed. The book was too long and it seemed like many of the authors writing sections of this book for Baehr were more interested in showing how much they know about a subject and far less interested in passing along anything of value to the reader. Plus, the connection with Pat Boone and what he added to the book told me that the target audience for this book is a much older audience than I would have anticipated - I would think that young parents with younger children would be the primary focus, not grandparents. This book really missed the mark on communicating a clear, concise and consistent message.
However, after saying all that, the book did raise some very good points along the way. The first point made is that children watch way too much TV and are exposed to far too much sexual activity and violence along the way. Parents need to be more discerning and there really isn't any excuse for not knowing what children are watching and listening to these days except for pure apathy. The next point that Baehr does drive home is that parents need to be biblically literate and understand the concept of the Christian worldview as they train their children to be discerning participants instead of mindless consumers of media. Finally, Baehr does communicate that Christians should not retreat from the culture, but prepare to engage.
Overall the book was too long and too complicated for the average parent looking for a resource that will better equip and prepare them to help their children make better decisions regarding media consumption. A much better book that deals with this subject is Leal Arrington's Worldproofing Your Kids.
Insightful and inspiring - highly recommended.......2007-09-26
The Culture-Wise Famiy is an insightful and inspiring reading on the powerful impact media has on our society. This book enlightens us on how Hollywood has desensatized our culture with rampant immorality in its quest to "entertain," the resulting negative effects, and what we can do to stand strong against the downward spiral - by upholding the Christian values our nation was founded upon. An excellent read and reference resource.
Worth reading! Twice!!.......2007-09-21
Before taking in new entertainment, and to reflect on past experiences, this golden resource imparts wisdom regarding the messages media might send. The world-wide statistics and data present thought-provoking insights for discernment to avoid being dumbed down by messages in mass media. Careful guidance prompts meaningful conversations with family members of all ages and friends regarding the values presented through the media. The compilation of articles provides a necessary and powerful means to influence the entertainment industry by making wise choices that impact what will be produced in the future through sales.
Book Description
Dr. Ted Baehr, publisher of MOVIEGUIDE, will not tell you to throw your entertainment center or computer away. He will
• challenge you to examine how you and your children use television, movies and multimedia.
• help you understand how your children learn and what effect entertainment has on them at different stages of growth.
• show you how to redeem the values of the media and use discernment in selecting your family's entertainment.
Dr. Ted Baehr, an award-winning producer, writer, and director, is the head of the Christian Film & Television Commission, a non-profit organization committed to educating the entertainment industry and the public about the mediaÆs impact. The Baehrs put The Media-Wise Family principles into practice at home with their four children. They live in Southern California.
Customer Reviews:
Great Resource.......1998-12-18
Very helpful in assisting Christian parents how to become, and teach their children how to become, good consumers of the various media. Also listened to Dr. Baehr on Focus on the Family last night and was very impressed. A must for every Christian family with children (or grandchildren for that matter)!
A "Christian" View of Media Influences in Family Lives.......1998-09-26
The Media-Wise Family offers ideas for understanding the media through a very Christian lens. I found the book limited in its scope due to its ties to specifics of the Bible. It hardly served my purposes as a teacher of many children, both Christians and non-Christians who need to have media literacy skills integrated into their lives. Disappointing.
Family time oriented book.......1998-07-01
What are your kids watching? Do you know the impact of their entertainment choices? Ted Baehr, publisher of MOVIEGUIDE won't tell you to throw out your entertainment center or computer, but he will challenge you to examine how you and your children use television, movies and multimedia. This unique book will help you understand how your children learn and what effect entertainment has on them at different stages of growth. You will learn how to redeem the values of the media and use discernment in selecting your family's entertainment. You will really use this Christian family guide to making morally and spiritually responsible decisions about movies, TV and multimedia.
Average customer rating:
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The Media-Wise Family
Manufacturer: FamilyLife Today Audio Series
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: B000IJ38GQ |
Book Description
When Hitler announced that the result of the war in Europe would be "the complete annihilation of the Jews," he did so in 1942, not only in public, but before an enormous crowd in Berlin. The Allies heard, but astonishingly, they did not listen. Why?
In 1944, Allied reconnaissance pilots, searching out industrial targets in the area, repeatedly photographed Auschwitz. The pictures, apparently overlooked by the Allies, were routinely filed in government archives and not examined until 1979. Why?
First-hand reports on the horrors of the death camps came to the West by 1944 in the person of two escaped Auschwitz prisoners. Their testimonies, and those of subsequent escapees, were either ignored or dismissed. Why?
Despite the fact that, the same year, Churchill himself had ordered feasibility studies for air strikes on Auschwitz, the RAF not only did nothing, but eventually passed the buck to the Americans, who also did nothing. Why?
Customer Reviews:
Allied inaction in the face of genocide.......2006-08-07
In this comprehensive work , Martin Gilbert analyses how the Allied governments during World War II reacted to news about the Nazi holocaust of Europe's Jewry , especially after the truth became known about the massive death factory known as Auschwitz.
He poses the questions as to why the Allies never bombed Auschwitz , and analyses Allied lack of reaction , despite ample news of the holocaust - revealing how the allies could have - but did not- act to save millions of Jews.
The prelude to the book deals with Hitler's pledge to completely anihilate the Jews of Europe , on January 20 1942.
By 1941 , the reality of the Nazi massacre of Jews had certainly reached allied governments. On 3 May 1941 the Polish Government-in-Exile sent a formal note to the governments of allied and neutral powers describing how 'tens of thousands' had been interned in concentration camps and it went on to mention four such camps: Oswiecim (Auschwitz) , Oranieburg , , Mauthausen and Dachau as camps whose names will 'mark the most horrible pages of the annals of German bestiality.' The Polish note contained more than 200 accounts of the tortures and murders commited in the camps.
But the persecution of Jews was still not thought of as a specifically important issue. On 25 July 1941 , a Ministry of Information document "had warned British policy makers that to make the Nazi danger 'credible' to the British people it should 'not be too extreme as concentration camp stories 'repel the normal mind'"...while a certain amount of horror was needed "it must deal always with the treatment of indisputably innocent people , Not with violent political opponents and not with Jews".
In 1939 the British issued their infamous White Paper severely restricting the entry of Jews into Palestine , barring their only root of escape from Nazi terror , largely in order to appease Arab opinion .
About 500 000 Jews actually attempted to enter "Palestine" after the Shoah had begun in 1942, but were brutally turned back by the British even after news of the death camps and gas chambers had filtered back to the British. Sir Harold McMichael , British High Commisioner in Palestine telegraphed to the colonial office: " The fate of these people was tragic , but the fact remains that they where national of a country at war with Britain , proceeeding directly from enemy territory. Palestine was under no obligation towards them."
In 1942 Anthony Eden , British Foreign Secretary , refused once again to relax the restriction of Jewish immigration into Palestine claiming that turning back the ships would 'in the end be more merciful.'
British MP Eleanor Rathbone hit the nail on the head when she said: "If it had not been for the restrictions placed on immigration to Palestine in pre-war years , even before the Palestinian White Paper , imposed partly for economic reasons , and partly to please the Arabs , tens of thousands of men , women and children who now lie in bloody graves would have been among their kindred in Palestine..."
Others like Lord Cherwell also urged a Jewish homeland in Palestine as a refuge for Europe's persecuted Jews pointing out that "After the last war Arabia (as big as Western Europe) was conquered by us from the Turks and handed over to the Arabs ; it seems strange that one corner of it , the size of Wales is grudged to the Jews"
This information makes it particularly sickening to see much of the British establishment, including the British media (epitomized by the hate speech of the likes of Robert Fisk, and the BBC), politicians , academics like Tom Paulin and others, leading the international campaign to vilify and harm Israel.
They are showing the same callousness in regard to Jewish men, women and children being murdered today, as they did during the British Mandate.
Aside from the British refusal to let Jews escape to Palestine , the allies rejected taking in Jews into their own countries , claiming that they did not want to be inundated with a 'flood of refugees'.
The book documents the unceasing efforts by Zionist leaders , such as Richard Lichtheim and Chaim Weizmann , to alert the allied governments of the enormity of what was going on and to try to urge them to act to save the Jews , but they constantly fell on deaf ears.
Throughout the war the allied governments where inundated with reports of the atrocities taking place against Jews , throughout Europe but reacted with characteristic calousness such as the remark of a leading British Foreign Office official in September 1944 : "In my opinion a disproportionate amount of time of the Office is wasted on dealing with these wailing Jews..."
Eventually the report of two young Jews who had escaped Auschwitz landed on Churchill's desk and the possibility of bombing the railway lines leading to Auschwitz , and the gas chambers themselves was indeed examined . But why was the plan never carried out?
In the wake of this callous inaction , a section of the world's Jews realized that never again could their safety and survival be left up to the nations of the world alone , and that is the meaning of the State of Israel.
The survival of Israel means the prevention of any such holocaust ever happening again to the Jews.
Will the world stand by as Israel's existence is threatened by Islamic terrorists and Moslem and far-left bigots across the globe?
The indifference, the failures and the horror.......2005-10-09
This thoroughly documented and deeply disturbing book is divided into three parts. The Final Solution includes the chapters Hitler's Pledge, Warnings And Forebodings, Britain's Dilemma, Evidence And Omissions, Rescue and Refuge, Eyewitness and This Bestial Policy. Part Two: Hope And Hopelessness includes Warsaw And Bermuda, The Spread Of Nazi Power and The German Occupation Of Hungary. Part Three: Auschwitz revealed, includes inter alia, Escape From Auschwitz, Zionism At Bay, The Deportations From Hungary, The End Of Auschwitz and the Epilogue.
The book is painful to read as it chronicles the history of the Shoah from the earliest warnings of Hitler's intentions through the war, the doomed attempts of many individuals and organisations to rescue the Jews, the indifference and the excuses given by certain officials on the Allied side, and the actions, good and bad, of occupied and neutral countries. Although the book does not focus on personal experiences in the holocaust, there are some examples of unspeakable horror that the sensitive reader had best avoid.
The author ascribes the extent of the tragedy and the failure to do more as failures of imagination, of response, of intelligence, co-ordination and of sympathy. To me the most shocking revelations are those where policymakers used the excuse that they were afraid of flooding Palestine and the UK with Jewish refugees. Or maybe even worse, those who claimed that the reports coming out of Europe were exaggerated. Another incredible show of indifference was the refusal of the Allies to bomb Auschwitz, while their planes were overflying the accursed place to drop supplies on Warsaw for the Polish uprising.
Here and there one finds some glimpses of right action, for example Bulgaria, an Axis ally that nevertheless managed to protect its Jews from the worst. But overall, one is left with a feeling of utter despair at the way the events unfolded and the frustration that Zionist leaders must have endured in trying to help their doomed people. It is chilling to read how countries like Switzerland refused to accommodate refugees and how every obstacle was placed in the way of orphaned children trying to reach Israel. The world looked on and it still does. Since then, we have witnessed Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechnya and Darfur.
The book contains 16 pages of black and white plates and 20 maps. It concludes with biographical notes and a thorough index. For more information and background on the horror and the indifference, I recommend The History Of The Jews by Paul Johnson and The Contract Of Mutual Indifference: Political Philosophy After The Holocaust by Norman Geras. For a glimpse of the future, consult Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam And The American Left by David Horowitz and The Mountains Of Israel by Norma Parrish Archbold.
Not A Unique Story .......2005-06-19
Looking into history is one of the areas that we can almost always fell we have found an absolute truth. Even if some of the facts remain hidden or just plain unknown, major events have so many other markers and road maps that historians can find the truth, even if it is narrow in scope. The truth presented in this book is that the Allies knew that Hitler's Germany was engaged in mass killings of different ethnic groups with Jews being number one on the hit list. The author spends a good deal of time detailing out his research that shows that this fact was even in the public press. What is not detailed to any great degree was what decisions lead the leaders of the Allies to prosecute the war in the manner they did. Why were these atrocities ignored or not acted on?
The author did not fully investigate this question, and to be fair it would probably be difficult given the decisions made here were by a very few people and not verbalized. The book is interesting and details a good number of facts on the topic. I did seem to pick up on a seemingly anti non Jewish bias in the book. The author examines the Allies ignoring of the mass killings, but does not try to explain what could have actually been done to stop them. Looking at the full picture of the war, there was not an easy fix for this problem if one at all. Even if air power resources would have been diverted to camps, there were many that the overall war effort would have been negatively effected. How much longer would have the overall war gone on and how many more people would have died? Even if the Allies had stopped the camps, there were still killing squads that were activity in the country side that killed almost two million people. Nothing short of a full victory would have stopped this activity.
Overall I found the book interesting but limited. If you are just coming to this discussion, this book gives the reader a nice overview of the "Allies Knew" field of study, but what it does not do is present the story with all the facts about the Allies position in the war. It also seems a bit self severing that the author seems to only care about this one section of the European population that was dieing when countless millions more died at the hands of Hitler and Stalin. This was a horrific period in our collective history and I hope that the end effect of this and other books like it, help to keep in focus our responsibility on stopping these atrocities in the future regardless of if they are Europeans, Africans or Asians that are being killed.
Interesting View..........2004-04-20
Martin Gilbert, who writes "Auschwitz and the Allies" illustrates a very colorful picture of what the mindset of the German leader Adolf Hitler and his military leaders in the period of World War One, all the way to the end of World War Two. Gilbert uses references to many primary sources, (mostly newspaper articles) to show his point. He uses these excerpts to show that his points can be backed with historical data. Gilbert also shows how the Allies played an important role in this process at Auschwitz.The rest of the book seems to show the lack of support from the Allies to the Jews. The book takes a look as to why the allies gave the cold shoulder to a horrific time in our past. Gilbert seems to think that the mass murder of the Jewish people took place before the Allies had enough information to steam ahead on a stop to this. He does, however, carry a very sarcastic tone in this book. He claims that many of the allied leaders looked at these stories of the horrific killing of the Jews as "customary Jewish exaggeration." Gilbert claims that the extermination of the Jews was well known in Europe. He says that the knowledge of where the people where headed was the information that kept people from stopping anything. Gilbert counters the "customary Jewish exaggeration" with "typical Nazi deception". The Nazi's deceived more people than the Jews exaggerated to. Gilbert ends his book with a summary. He says that there were two major victories in the war, and many failures. He throws the blame of ignorance on the allies, and gives the victories to the Nazi's, for their ability to nearly annihilate the Jews, and for deceiving the rest of the world. (please excuse the jumping around, this is a summary of a five page paper)
D. Roberts, something you left out.......2003-06-02
There is NO question that the hatred of the Jews existed everywhere in the large part of Europe (especially Poland and France) and in the United States. However, OF THE ALLIES, it seems that you've skipped two of the most DIRECT examples. First, of course, was FDR turning away the ship of refugees whose last hope was the USA. They all were sent back to Europe and were murdered. Much worse was the inaction of Eisenhower (under a cloak from FDR), that caused him to refuse the simple act of bombing RR bridges on the route to the camps. ... No study is complete without Roul Hilberg's "The Distruction of the European Jews" ... Perhaps Gilbert's book is better then his first, but there are SO many MUCH better books out.
Product Description
Learn about and identify birds using Stan Tekiela's state-by-state field guides. The full-page, color photos are incomparable and include insets of winter plumage, color morphs and more. Plus, with the easy-to-use format, you don't need to know a bird's name or classification in order to easily find it in the book. Using this field guide is a real pleasure. It's a great way for anyone to learn about the birds in your state.
Customer Reviews:
Easy to use, informative, educational.......2007-08-04
After moving to Missouri for my husband's job, I was interested in all the colorful birds. I purchased this book and have been using it for about a year. It is easy to use and include brief descriptions and fun facts about each bird, as well as colorful photos and maps. The best thing is that the pages are color-coded so you aren't flipping through the whole book trying to find that one red bird you saw--you just flip to the red tab pages.
Great bird book for birdwatchers in MO.......2006-07-05
I just started birdwatching, and this is the first book that I bought to help me along. It is arranged by bird color, which is great for beginners like me who have no idea what to look for. I would say that this is a great book for beginners, but maybe a bit too simple for people who have been birdwatching for awhile. I am about ready for a new book myself...
Great Little Book.......2006-03-18
We really enjoy this little book, The color pictures are very good.And the list of birds in the back of the book, It is fun to check off all the birds we see on our feeders.
Excellent way to identify birds around you.......2005-07-12
Birds in the backyard is something that I seldom paid attention to, until my 4 year old daughter started observing them and asking me questions about. I had to get a book ! This book was my choice based on the reviews on Amazon. I have soon discovered that bird watching in your backyard is fun - not just for kids, but for adults too. There are at least 6 or 7 species of birds that frequent our backyard. Within a week, this book has helped us identify the American Robin, the mourning dove and the cardinals (male and female - which look different from each other). Once you get to know the type of bird, it is interesting how your whole perception about your backyard changes. It is no longer a dull backyard with all those noisy birds.
The birds in this book (one bird per spread with picture on the left and ample description on the right) are ordered by color. In some species, females look different from the males, so they are listed in different places, but have reference to each other. Also, for each bird, there is a list of other birds that they are comparable to. That really helps you in distinguishing birds that look similar.
The book itself is very compact and easy to read. I highly recommend this even to people who usually don't care about birds. Just keep it in your family room and next time a bird comes pecking on your window, try to identify it. I promise, you will enjoy it.
Great book for identifying a bird based on it's color .......2005-01-24
This book is great & simple to reference by color of bird. Info on each bird is great. What is really nice is it covers only Missouri. Highly reccommend for beginner Bird watchers.
Bought one for myself & my retired Mom. She loves the simplicity of it.
Average customer rating:
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Missouri Birds: An Introduction to Familiar Species (Pocket Naturalist)
Waterford Press
Manufacturer: Waterford Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Missouri
| States
| United States
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
Birds
| Field Guides
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Midwest
| United States
| Regional
| Field Guides
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Birdwatching
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1889903922 |
Book Description
The Pocket Naturalist card is a pocket-sized, folding card which provides simplified, easy-to-use reference to what everyone should know about familiar plants, animals, and natural history. Maps are included to highlight prominent sanctuaries and outstanding natural attractions. Every card is laminated so that it is waterproof and practical for use in the field. This card highlights over 100 of Missouri's most common breeding birds and familiar migrants.
Customer Reviews:
pamphlet.......1999-06-28
this is a fold out pamphlet. in my opinion, worth about $
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