Let’s not tailor to his ignorance by sexualizing the church-mom in a story about a little boy’s visit to heaven.

Who are these “many people” who think of Christian women this way? Must we cater to secular ignoramuses who imagine that the vast sea of American churches they never visit have no attractive women inside? If a 20-something “progressive” New Yorker is that clueless, too bad. And Kelly just had this sense of romance and charisma – you couldn’t take your eyes off of her.” The writer/director, Randall Wallace, explained Sonja’s portrayal this way: “So many people believe that Christians, and particularly the wives of ministers, would be these sexless, sweet, butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-their-mouths kind of people, and that was the opposite of what I thought Sonja was or should be. Don’t get me wrong, she’s no Miley Cyrus or Madonna, but she’s repeatedly represented in an alluring, suggestive, sensual manner. Most annoying was the sexualizing of the little boy’s mother, Sonja Burpo. The screenwriter took too many shortcuts and liberties and redirections with new characters. I’ll say up front that I didn’t like the movie much, certainly not like the book.

The story is about the near-death experience of a four-year-old named Colton Burpo, a pastor’s son from Nebraska. But this time, I made an exception, for reasons I’ll explain. I try my best to swim against the cultural tide, especially this culture. Maybe it’s the snob in me, or, really, I just don’t like to do what the culture is doing. I don’t typically do the books and movies everyone else is doing, especially the touchy/feely spiritual ones. I recently bought the book Heaven is for Real and then saw the movie.

Sonja burpo heaven is for real