What We Are Teaching Our Children Through Television

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.

Proverbs 3:5-8

Yesterday, someone posted a quote on facebook, so I looked it up to see where it came from. Lo and behold, it was from Pocahontas—the Disney version, of course. That caused me to stumble upon another YouTube video of Pocahontas which caused me to think seriously about something. What are we as a nation teaching our children through television?

Before I go any further, please take the time to watch the video so you will be able to better understand what I am talking about.

 

 I stopped supporting Disney a few years ago. However, what I discovered in this short YouTube video gives me a whole new reason for doing so. Disney knows how to influence children, and they knew how to do it in a way that is so subtle that very few people will ever question it. I believe that this particular scene in Pocahontas was designed to teach children two very specific things. It teaches children to worship the creation rather than the Creator and it teaches them to trust in their own human intuition rather than trusting in God.

Grandmother Willow in and of herself is a symbol. Grandmother Willow was the wisest “person” around. In reality, however, she was not a person at all; she was a tree. Whenever Pocahontas was in trouble or did not understand something, she ran to Mother Earth instead of Father God. Grandmother Willow is nothing less than an attempt to convince children to deify nature and forget about God.

Just look at the holidays that people celebrate nowadays. Instead of Easter, they celebrate Earth Day. Instead of Christmas, they celebrate the winter solstice. This is exactly why Grandmother Willow existed in the Disney movie Pocahontas. She was designed to promote the idea of worshiping the creation rather than the Creator.

This entire scene is about trusting one’s own heart. However, this is far from biblical. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (emphasis added). And if we look further into Scripture, we will find even more reasons not to listen to our own hearts. Matthew 15:19 says, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies…” Mark 7:21 says basically the same thing, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders…” This is exactly why Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.”

As a nation, we need to be teaching our children that they are not equal with nature. Our children need to know that they were made in the image of God. Our children need to know that they do not know everything, but God does. Our children need to know of the One who is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. Our children need to know that Heaven is real, Hell is real. Most importantly, our children need to know that it is only by the blood of Jesus that they can be saved.

I believe that a nation is no greater than its future generation. Right now, I see children who are being taught to shake their fists in the face of God. As of now, I have no children of my own. However, I am begging those of you who are parents to “train up [your] child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates” (Deuteronomy 6:5-9).