What Can A Christian Do About Disney

Disney has been a part of our lives (as a society) for decades. We view Disney as a family-friendly company and have watched Sunday night’s Wonderful World of Disney. We have also shared magical moments on rides such as “it’s a small world.” Walt believed that families should have a safe place to visit and share fun times with their families. But it appears that safe place is coming to an end for many with the adoption of Disney’s Woke agenda.

Walt Disney himself was involved in the advancement of many forward-thinking ideas, from the promotion of the space program pre-Nasa era, the furthering of Alexander P. de Seversky Victory Through Air Power which promoted the Air Force which literally helped to win World War II, and he even helped with relationships between the US and other countries. However, Walt Disney never embraced anything that would erode family values. I don’t believe Disney needs to embrace Christianity. However, I don’t think they need to further an anti-Christian worldview, and from the latest movie releases and “leaked videos” from Disney, it appears that Disney’s woke agenda has declared a culture war on Christian families. I will detail what is happening, and how our family feels called to respond.

Disney’s Woke Agenda Started Years Ago

A couple of years ago, I looked my husband in the eye and said, “Disney is going down a path that we can’t follow.” We saw the writing on the wall. Nothing that has transpired over the last few years and culminating in the last month or so has surprised us. In fact, we are shocked it took them this long to put everything in place.

Quite frankly, the pandemic helped propel the Disney woke agenda. It gave Disney plenty of time to let go of long-time cast members, and replace them with younger more “forward-thinking employees.” The shake-up of staff and the introduction of cast members who don’t feel they have a voice in the company paved the way for what we are currently seeing.

Don’t Say Gay Bill versus the Parental Rights in Education Bill

The Florida Legislature introduced a bill entitled, Parental Rights in Education Bill. This bill requires educators to notify student’s parents of specified information and prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, and “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate” in older grades.

Quickly, the LGBTQIA community labeled it the “Don’t Say Gay Bill.” This helped fuel the fire to organize. Critics of the legislation called for Disney cast members to put pressure on Disney CEO Bob Chapek who was relatively silent about the bill.

Chapek waited until after the bill was already waiting for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign the bill before he acted. Chapek called DeSantis to urge him to not sign it. DeSantis wants to protect Florida’s parental rights. He wants to ensure that children can learn in a safe environment without indoctrination. I watched one press conference where Florida Governor Ron Desantis was taking questions from reporters (this was before the bill was signed). The reporter was asking about “The Don’t Say Gay Bill.” Desantis asked if he had read the bill. The reporter ignored the Governor and continued on with his question. DeSantis then shot back and told the reporter to read the bill.

What is the Current Disney Woke Agenda?

While Bob Chapek doubled down and assured Disney employees that they were doing everything they could to stop this bill, Governor DeSantis signed the bill. Currently, Disney has a pretty sweet deal in Florida with the Reedy Creek Improvement Act which Florida has threatened to remove. If you are unsure of what the Reedy Creek Improvement District is, it basically gives Disney control over construction zoning, building codes, water, fire department, and more. If this act is appealed, Disney will have to get approval for new construction and would not be able to operate as they have in the past.

Disney’s Leaked Video Call

In the last week of March 2022, Disney had an internal call with employees. Journalist Christopher F. Rufo leaked portions of that call on Twitter. One of the speakers was Disney Corporate President Karey Burke, “a mother of two queer children, one transgender child, and one pansexual child.” She committed to having more “gay characters” and “gay stories.” in their programming.

Additionally, Disney diversity and inclusion manager Vivian Ware talked about how the company has already eliminated the gender greetings such as ladies and gentlemen and boys and girls in the Disney theme parks openings. They now say, “dreamers of all ages.” Furthermore, there is training for cast members to make things magical for all which means your child will not be called princess or prince anymore.

SCOOP: Disney corporate president Karey Burke says, "as the mother [of] one transgender child and one pansexual child," she supports having "many, many, many LGBTQIA characters in our stories" and wants a minimum of 50 percent of characters to be LGBTQIA and racial minorities. pic.twitter.com/oFRUiuu9JG

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022

Another speaker, Disney production coordinator Allen March, says his team is committed to exploring queer stories and promoting trans, bisexual, and gender-nonconforming characters.

Disney’s activism partner Nadine Smith of Quality Florida told LGBTQ employees that Gov. Desantis wants to erase you, criminalize your existence and take your kids.

Obviously, those at Disney companies believe they are providing for the safety of LGBTQ individuals, but it does appear Disney’s woke agenda is an all-out assault on the traditional family.

Did Disney Ever Really Represent Family Values?

Why would Disney push so hard to try to indoctrinate young children? Disney executives have said their programming will represent racial minorities, progressive employees, and the LBGTQIA community.

While I will agree that Walt Disney was a family man, most of the Disney movies were devoid of any “religious themes under his watch.” Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs did show Snow White praying before bed to “God.” It could be argued that this was the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible, but today people watching it would probably just assume that it was the Christian God that was implied. But apart from that movies and shows depicting Christians were far and few between.

However, Walt Disney did represent family values. Granted most of his movies had one or more parents dying, but being kind to one another, good versus evil, and good triumphing were themes in many movies. Most times there were consequences for bad behavior or for doing the wrong things.

The Departure of Good Versus Evil

When Disney started to make movies portraying the villain or evil as a likable character, that was a defining moment in how Disney made movies. No longer was Maleficient that evil character she portrayed. She was simply misunderstood. Additionally, instead of remaining neutral in a spiritual sense, they began to throw in other religious systems.

In the past several decades Disney movies have portrayed a wide range of belief systems from Mulan praying to the ancestors, Pocahontas worship of nature, Moana, and other movies and shorts hinting at or outright showing the worship of other religions. It has only been in the last few years that Disney movies have just smacked you in the face with religious culture. In Turning Red, the rituals and praying to ancestors were a central theme of the movie.

Imagine Turning Red, but Mei (the main character) is a Christian. A priest is called in, and they perform an exorcism. No sane parent would say they want their young child watching that. However, because it is a religion that many are not familiar with, a shaman, and “exorcising” a giant red panda and not a “demon,” most parents see little harm in having a young child watching that movie.

Is the Walt Disney Company Interested in Representation of All Groups?

Disney has never made a movie that I could say, “that is me, on the screen.” There has never been a movie that features a brown-haired, green-eyed Slovak girl growing up in the Midwest, eating pierogies, haluski, and halupki, and who has big hips. There has not been a Disney princess who looks like me. The closest character that represents me is Winnie the Pooh.

There is no audience for a Christian girl who prays, wants to do the right thing, and works at her dad’s gas station. However, I have never said I need to see a movie about my life or anyone who looks like me, but I keep hearing from everyone else that “representation matters.” And because Disney believes representation only matters for some groups, they have left me and so many others in the dust as a Christian.

Are Christian Conservatives Safe at Disney?

In an article from March 2022, an “anonymous group of Disney employees is urging the Mouse House to keep its business “politically neutral” – despite mounting pressure from activists who have blasted the company’s muted initial response to a Florida bill that would ban teaching on matters of sexual orientation and gender identity until after the third grade.” Read the entire letter here!

The article goes on to state, “The Walt Disney Company has come to be an increasingly uncomfortable place to work for those of us whose political and religious views are not explicitly progressive,” the letter said. “We watch quietly as our beliefs come under attack from our own employer, and we frequently see those who share our opinions condemned as villains by our own leadership.”

Furthermore, as a blogger who has created Disney content, I have seen how Disney quietly removes and disassociates themselves from bloggers and content creators. Anyone with an opinion that differs from the Disney woke agenda is pushed aside. Additionally, they have hired content creators that speak the gay agenda. This is far more than ensuring the safety of the LGBTQ community. It is an intentional elimination of anyone with political and/or social thoughts that line up with traditional gender roles or the values of Christian parents.

What Can You Do as A Christian?

People have taken to social media and Twitter to share their views. Many are calling for a boycott of Disney and all their brands, which is extensive. Proponents of the boycott include both those who are against the “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” and those who are for protecting parental rights and family values.

Co-Founder and CEO Jeremy Boreing of the Daily Wire announced they are launching Daily Wire Kids. Boreing also launched Jeremy’s razors after Harry’s Razors pulled out of advertising on the Daily Wire.

As a family, one of the things you can do is vote with your dollars. Purchase from companies that are promoting Christian family values. See movies in the theater that helps encourage family values. Purchase movies on DVD such as American Underdog that center around God and family.

Raise your voice and be heard. Disney, like many universities, lives in an echo chamber, and they have surrounded themselves with like-minded individuals. They are far removed from the traditional family culture.

Be aware that most TV shows and news programming are designed to sway you to think one way or the other. I attended a conference where one of the main speakers was a journalist who had lived in NYC for years. Because his own family did not embrace a liberal agenda, he referred to them as country bumpkins and said they were backward. He also went on to say that “we need to change Midwest thinking.”

What Our Family is Choosing to Do!

We were labeled extremists when we began to homeschool years ago. However, I consider homeschooling one of the best things we did for our family. While not everyone can homeschool, it has become easier and easier to work from home and teach your children.

In addition to homeschooling, we discuss current events. But we also have taught our children to think critically. One critical look at many headlines will convince you that truth is not being told. This is true of both the liberal and the conservative news channels.

We love Walt Disney World and many Disney movies. However, we cannot turn a blind eye to all that is going on. We know some families are called to boycott, while other families will respond differently. Read Our Families Response to Disney HERE!