FIFTY SHADES OF POISON

I write this as an appeal about a most serious topic that is urgently in need of your action.  To be absolutely clear about the reason for this appeal, I quote a letter from the Religious Alliance Against Pornography regarding the highly toxic movie, Fifty Shades of Grey.  The letter is signed by twenty-nine significant  leaders from Jewish, Muslim, Protestant and Catholic national faith communities whose signatures represent great concern over the movie’s toxic impact, especially on young people.

“The movie, Fifty Shades of Grey is scheduled to launch in movie theaters across the world, 10 million in the United States alone and has been translated into 52 languages.

It is considered a literary phenomenon and the books were all at or near the top of the New York Times best selling works in 2011 and 2012.  The book was written by E. L. James, a female British author.

   The focus of the books is the relationship between Christian Grey, a wealthy and successful Seattle based entrepreneur and Anastasia Steele, a recent college graduate.  The story is present as a romance novel but it is far beyond that in its content.  The theme is that bondage, dominance and sadomasochism are normal and pleasurable.  In the story the young Miss Steele is urged to sign a contract becoming a sex slave and agreeing to an abusive and degrading relationship.

    The contrast between the message of Fifty Shades of Grey and God’s design for self-giving and self-sacrificing love, marriage and sexual intimacy could not be greater.   The books and the movie undermine everything that we believe as members of the faith community.

Action:    Because of its popularity the message of Fifty Shades of Grey has become acceptable and popular in the main stream culture.  As members of the faith community we need to inform our constituencies about the destructive message of this movie and to highlight the beauty of God’s design for loving relationships between a husband and wife in the covenant of marriage.  We urge you to do the following:

1.      Inform your leadership

2.      Inform your pastors, priests, rabbis, and imams

3.      Encourage your leaders to spread the word at the grassroots level

4.      Use e-mails, newsletters, newspapers, and any other communication vehicles available to you.  Note:  It is critically important not simply to condemn the message of Fifty Shades of Grey.  It is equally important to celebrate our message about love and the blessing of sexual intimacy within the bonds of marriage.  We have a better story – lets proclaim it.

    A good friend, a member of the Religious Alliance Against Pornography, just yesterday wrote to me with concern:

     You may know that the movie, "50 Shades of Grey" will be shown in theatres across America the day before Valentine's Day.  It is based on a book trilogy by the same name which has sold 100 million copies and has been translated into a number of languages. The movie glamorizes and legitimizes violence against women through sexual violence, abuse of power, female inequality and coercion. The most disturbing thing about the movie is that although it should have been rated N17 (not legal for teens, etc.), the Motion Picture Association of America announced last week that it would be rated R.  This makes it legal for teenagers and its previews to be shown before other movies, allowing even children to be exposed to its filth.
Our Religious Alliance group has met several times to discuss this issue and do whatever we can to get the word out, especially to Christians. They should boycott this film and definitely not read the books.  I know that you often post this kind of information on Facebook so I am including some of the links that we have become aware of via Morality in Media and Charisma magazine, etc.  There are also Facebook groups.

If you feel so inclined to post information on this issue, it will be most appreciated.  The links are as follows:

http://www.charismamag.com/blogs/fire-in-my-bones/22398-let-s-call-fifty-shades-of-grey-what-it-is-perverted

http://endsexualexploitation.org/fiftyshadesgrey/

https:/www.facebook.com/groups/840849005981126/

On a positive note, there is a movie that will be shown Valentine's Day called Old Fashioned.  The link to the preview of this is:  http://www.oldfashionedmovie.com/#sthash.XVcCRSim

    My hope in this appeal is that you will think of those you long to help protect from this direct assault on Christian marriage and on the moral and spiritual strength of God's people, especially young people.  We trust that this gives you enough knowledge to move forward now, but if you have any questions be encouraged to contact key leaders at the Religious Alliance Against Pornography, Rick Schatz at 513.237.0088 or Jerry Kirk at 513.515.7700.