Filmmaker Kirk Cameron plans to keep the Christ in Christmas with his next film, “Saving Christmas” coming November 14th, but hackers are playing Grinch.
With winter around the corner and retail stores stocking up on the latest gifts, that means it is time for the yearly battle between pro and anti-Christmas elements to take center stage. However, this year things are looking to be a little different with the latest film from Kirk Cameron coming out. His new film, Saving Christmas, is going to take a look at various elements surrounding Christmas such as its origins and place in our modern culture.
How the Hackers Stole Saving Christmas
The Saving Christmas website was hacked by Muslim hacking group from Turkey called the Ayyildiz Tim International Force. According to The Blaze, on Sunday and Monday morning, visitors to the site saw Turkish messages and were sent to Ayyildiz Tim’s Twitter account after hearing music and a gunshot.
The message translated to ”The Turkish spirit will shine again and the use of weapons will emerge in the nation’s history as this hero will shine again.” It was accompanied by an image of a man in armor.
The team behind the film knew that their work would be challenged, and this attack has only strengthened their resolve to continue with their mission. Ben Howard, senior vice president of studio Provident Films said, ”This incident only heightens our resolve to help this important message get out.”
Kirk Cameron also took to his Facebook page to detail his thoughts on the account:
The Saving Christmas production team has since removed the hacker’s messages and fixed their website.
A Unique Look At Christmas
Saving Christmas has been described by Cameron as an examination of the holiday as it exists in our present culture. Rather than being a documentary like he has been making recently, Kirk Cameron insists that this film will be a narrative driven by a protagonist aptly, named Christian White. The story will follow this man’s struggle in finding out what Christmas means to him and his family while taking time to reexamine some of the most basic facts about Christmas and its basis in Christianity.
Keeping Christ In Christmas
One of the goals that have been outlines for this film by Cameron is showing that Christmas is being brought under fire by the political correctness hardliners in society and the media. According to Cameron, in recent years there has been an increasing anti-Christmas sentiment that is trying to secularize the holiday that celebrates the Christian holiday.
While he recognizes that there are people who are uncomfortable with the Christian symbolism, such as the nativity scene, he says that it is asinine to attempt to remove the Christian presence from the holiday. Cameron has said that it is not his aim to upset people with his film; he has acknowledged that it could ruffle more than a few feathers in the Atheist community.
Atheists Look For Lively Debate
Some secularists have already begun to discuss the film and its goal of debunking certain assertions that have been made against Christmas throughout the last generation. While the film has promised to address atheists directly, they have continued to stress that the modern incarnation of the holiday has only tenuous threads to the celebration of Jesus’ birth.
Like Cameron, the secularists have many points which they would like to see explained in the film such as the increased commercialization of Christmas as well as the actual date of Jesus’ birth. Either way, this Christmas season is looking to be even more lively than before for the holiday debate to continue.