THE STORYTELLER’S MISSION WITH ZENA DELL LOWE

S2 E8 – An Example from the Christian Community of a Story that Violates a Biblical Moral Worldview

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 EPISODE DESCRIPTION – 

In this episode, Zena breaks down a story idea written by a Christian and shows how that story violates a biblical Christian worldview. Without changing any of the plot elements of the story, Zena shows how the same story could be told in a way that reflects a biblical moral worldview, and argues that Christians need to think more deeply about the nuances of their story if they hope to understand what they’re really saying with their story, because these types of violations happen all the time.

In this case, the story in question came from a potentially interesting psychological thriller about 6 friends who were all being investigated as a serial killer - all six of them were suspects because they had all been in the area where recent victims turned up, or had last contact with one or more of the victims right before they were killed.

1. The first problem was that none of the six characters were likeable. All of the characters were petty, horrible and selfish. There was nothing noble about any of them, so why should the audience care? 
2. The second problem was that since the story was an ensemble piece, there was no main character driving the action of the story. It became a very confusing plot without any real direction simply because a clear central character was lacking.
3. The third problem was that even after the writer fixed this issue and landed on one particular main character, that character was never presented as heroic or “worthy.” Indeed, she was an idiot, and when she’s killed at the end, she never saw it coming (which is cynicism).
4. But the fourth and biggest problem with this story was that it violated a clear moral worldview. The bad guy not only gets away with his crimes, but also experiences NO CONSEQUENCES WHATSOEVER for any of his sinful actions. In fact, the bad guy celebrates his deeds, and gets rewarded by the universe for perpetrating them. This violates what Christians profess to believe about the nature of sin. It’s these types of issues that we need to think through more clearly as a community. 

Using the example of Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Zena illustrates what changes would be necessary in order for the writer of this story to uphold a biblical moral worldview – and surprisingly, it doesn’t mean any of the plot points need to change – just how they impact the characters. 

WHAT'S NEXT? Next week, we'll look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe and discuss how the popularity of these films can and should give us hope.

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