FoxFaith Films: A Sign of Divisive Times?
September 19, 2006
For Immediate Release
Contact: Fred Edwords, (202) 238-9088
fedwords@americanhumanist.org
- www.americanhumanist.org
(Washington, D.C.) With the unveiling of FoxFaith by News Corp.'s Fox Filmed
Entertainment--part of Rupert Murdoch's Fox empire--we see new evidence of a
deepening religious rift in America, said the American Humanist Association
today. FoxFaith plans to produce theatrical movie releases geared
specifically for evangelical Christians. This is but the most recent example
of a nation divided.
"While Fox has every right to exploit the gigantic conservative Christian
market in the United States, this development needs to be recognized as a
sign of our times and the latest in a divisive trend," said Mel Lipman,
president of the American Humanist Association. "A growing number of
Americans are living today in separate religious enclaves, separate worlds.
And Fox, in pursuit of new markets, will now unwittingly cater to that
splintering of our national identity."
There has, in the United States, been a long tradition of individual liberty
and freedom of choice. But that has been matched by an equally long
tradition of unity out of diversity: e pluribus unum. "We have been a nation
of diverse individuals who nonetheless have come together for the meeting of
minds, for discussion, for debate, and for exchange of ideas," added Fred
Edwords, director of communications for the American Humanist Association.
"But that national dialogue, that town meeting, is rapidly disappearing as
people increasingly go only to their own schools, read only their own books,
watch only their own television channels, go only to their own sporting
events, and associate only with those like themselves."
"Will evangelical Christians soon have their own movie theaters for showing
their own movies; will they then meet outsiders only when proselytizing?"
asked Lipman. "Lack of exposure to new ideas creates an intellectual
tunnel vision. It is a recipe for failure, both personal and national. How
can one grow and prosper, and how can we as a nation compete on the world
scene, without a healthy cross-fertilization of ideas? It's time for a
national dialogue on this important question."
Humanism supports exposure to a wide range of people, ideas, influences, and
experiences as the most effective way for individuals to enjoy personal
growth and find common ground with their varied neighbors.
