Soon after the news came out, I watched as columnists, bloggers and religious leaders picked up their pitchforks and torches in a virtual reality witch hunt that looked a lot like the famous scene in the movie, when Gaston leads the villagers to charge the castle and kill the beast.

The beast, in this case, was Disney.

Disney, the same company that fed my children’s fantasies and dreams for many years. The parent company of the “happiest place on earth.” The same place where tears of joy filled my eyes, while watching my little girls twirl around with Cinderella, Snow White, and yes, even Belle and the Beast.

I watched the news, confused, trying to understand why Disney would do such thing. Considering the articles, I figured that Gaston and LeFou, his sidekick, would share a French kiss or something.

Something that would indeed make me keep my children at home.

I waited to read the review of the movie on a website that I trust. I read the extensive article and, after prayer and consideration, I talked to my girls, explaining that we would watch the movie and draw our own conclusions.

With a bucket full of popcorn and a giant cup with my favorite soft drink in hand, I was ready.

A Disney junkie, I braced to witness my beloved Disney “attack children’s innocence” and kill the integrity of the original story, just to take a political and social stand.

To my utter surprise, I spent two hours and 19 minutes in fantasy heaven. That’s the total length of the movie, by the way.

I know not everyone loves fantasy and children’s movies. But in a world where violence, promiscuity and hate have become rampant, I am still one to need a fantasy and purity fix every so often.

And I certainly got that, and more, with “Beauty and the Beast.”

At the end of the movie, when the credits started rolling, I was angry. Outraged, even. Truly disgusted by the roaring criticism Disney had received.

The “gay” scene lasted 2 seconds and it really wasn’t a gay scene at all. My children would not even had noticed it, were it not for all the hoopla raised by the beast hunters before the movie came out.

What was surely noticed in this movie, however, was its pure message of love.

It’s the message that is needed by that young girl who looks at her changing body and starves herself sick, in an attempt to feel beautiful and loved. It’s the message that reaches down to that wheelchair, where a teenage boy wonders if anyone will ever see beyond his handicap, and into his heart. It’s the message that touches the heart of that overweight boy or girl, who suffer every day with the weight of their struggle. It’s the message that redeems those who are trapped in the pain of their past, and long for someone who will offer them a future.

It’s a message of redemptive love — one that sees past our sins, forgives, and gives us a second chance.

To me, it sounds like God’s message to mankind.

This movie and everything around it gave me a renewed commitment to choose to speak love instead of hate, and to focus on the one issue that really matters and grieves God’s heart: Our world is hurting, and needs his redemptive love.

This article was published on Patricia’s column for the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Saturday – April 1, 2017.

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The debate has earned national attention as multi-billion dollar companies rallied against the bill. Walt Disney Co. and Marvel Studios warned they would take their business elsewhere if Deal signed HB 757 into law. NFL’s spokesman Brian McCarthy said that Atlanta, scheduled to open the new Falcons stadium in 2017, would not be allowed to host the Super Bowl should the bill be signed into law. LGBT group Human Rights Campaign called on all studios and production companies to boycott Georgia if the bill passed. A number of Hollywood industry leaders signed their names in a letter sent to the governor.

The list of companies promising to harm Georgia’s economy if the bill passed is long: AMC Networks, Intel, Dow Chemical, Salesforce, Time Warner, 21st Century Fox, Sony, to name a few. Twitter buzzed with criticism of the bill. And as Georgia coffers trembled with the prospective financial impact in a state which has been attracting huge interest from studios, car manufacturers and other industries, our governor stood by his earlier comments and told us to “recognize that the world is changing around us.”

I smile at the comment, because it doesn’t take much intelligence for one to recognize the changes in our society. His comment reminds me of the “coexist” stickers that I see in cars everywhere. They always make me chuckle. To me, it’s belaboring the obvious. Can we help but coexist? Likewise, can we help but recognize that the world is changing? Indeed, we must acknowledge the changes in society and we must coexist. In a democratic, free society, there must be a place for every faith and every lifestyle. But I don’t believe that the changes in a free society should ever force people of any faith to go against their core beliefs in their religious practices. Isn’t that inflicting discrimination against the free exercise of our faith? Does that sound like America at all?

Our religious liberties have been protected by the First Amendment for centuries, and I believe that bills such as these have been written with the mere objective to protect people of faith, not because of discrimination against individual’s choices, but because, although the world is indeed changing, some of us still believe that God does not, and that his statutes remain the same.

As a person involved in ministry, I try to stay away from political debates as much as I can. In this case, however, I must use my voice to stand up, not only for Christians, but other people of faith. As a Christian, I believe I am to love everyone. I do. I believe Jesus indeed called all people to himself, regardless of their lifestyle. However, it’s also true that he preached righteousness as much as he preached grace.

I have read the bill, and vetoing it will definitely help Georgia’s economy, but I am afraid it has also opened Pandora’s box, giving everyone but people of faith the opportunity to stand by what they believe. People should have the right to live as they wish in America, just as religious institutions should have the right to object to doing anything that stands against their core beliefs. My prayer is that this liberty is never taken away from our pastors, rabbis and other religious leaders, and that we are not the only ones left without liberties in America’s future.

Patricia Holbrook is a Christian author, blogger and national speaker. Her Book Twelve Inches is on sale at Barnes & Nobles, Amazon and retailers worldwide. Visit her website www.soaringwithHim.com. Email
pholbrook@soaringwithHim.com. 

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