Why do wealthy cultural conservatives, particularly Christian ones, donate to political parties? This is a question that troubles me.
For instance, if you have donated to the Conservative party in the last decade or so then it is clear that you have been merely throwing good money after bad. In return for your donations the Conservatives have failed to deliver on Brexit, passed gay marriage, and before the ink is even dry on that bad boy they have turned their hand to pushing through the transgender agenda. They have relentlessly interfered with businesses in a futile attempt to close the gender pay gap, oh and they want to grab your organs without your consent. On any measure, that is a poor return for your money.
Politics runs downstream from culture, not the other way around. The Leftist stranglehold on television and Hollywood as well as the academy and the education system is the greatest threat to society right now. As such, spending thousands if not millions on dragging whatever useless Conservative politician over the line every five years is pretty pointless if you are a social conservative. Of course, if you are a libertarian donor and just want the City protected or more cheap labour in the form of immigration then it is money well spent. But if you want something more, put your wallet away.
If I had a few quid spare I would find some documentary writer or film maker and fund them to write some very basic Christian stories for children. Niall Ferguson has already explained the disaster in the universities because conservatives didn’t mentor their own kind through the system. Soon the entire country will look like one big Leftist university campus and who sits in Downing Street will matter not at all.
It is true that we have the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the C S Lewis Narnia books and films, but we need much more of them. Take the DreamWorks film Prince of Egypt (1998) which I have watched not once but twice with the kids. It is re-telling the story of Exodus and I can confirm that it is a very good way to explain Exodus to your kids – and trust me that if they don’t know their Hebrew Bible they will not understand their New Testament either.
The characters are wonderful and the music is inspiring, in particular When you Believe. The protagonists of this ballad recall tough times that have them questioning their faith: they have prayed for many nights to God but those prayers seem to remain unanswered, and they wonder if they are wasting their time. Nevertheless, they realise that although times may be difficult, ‘there can be miracles when you believe’ in God.
DreamWorks also made Joseph, King of Dreams in 2000 but then seem to have stopped their animated biblical musical drama films, which is a pity because I reckon there is a big audience for them. We need more of this – an entire series of non-naff takes on the parables would be a good start. Truly I tell you it is difficult to get TV series, films or books for children these days that have an honourable value system. It is all vampires, witches, wizards and goblins. That is fine up to a point but we need much more if we want to have any impact on the culture.
