Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Forbidden Fruit....The Subtle Seduction

Stephenie Myers is the new JK Rowling! Her book series, Twilight, is taking America by storm. It is finding a ready audience among girls in Christian Schools and even those who claim to be Christian. It's a story about an independent-minded teen-aged girl who feels like an outsider, having moved to a new town and school. A girl who meets a mysterious boy who piques her interest.

The problem is that this boy, Edward, is a Vampire! Of course, he doesn't drink blood, he and his family have chosen not to do this -- although he is tempted on occasion, usually in response to heavy petting. But he IS immortal. He has enormous physical power: he can run faster than a mountain lion and stop moving cars with his bare hands.

The movie depicts threatening beer-toting males surrounding a lone girl on a dark street. A vampire bites the necks of his victims. Two men are chased, attacked and killed by vampires. One vampire is beheaded, dismembered and burned, presumably to create sympathy for Edward's plight as a member of a persecuted minority.

The movie is rated PG-13 because the truly gruesome events are off-screen or simply illustrated in a book. But the real danger is NOT in the violence. It's in the subtle seduction of our youth. The heroine is shown engaged in a near-obsessive attraction to Edward that pushes him to the edge of his self-control. She lies to her parents and friends, jeopardizes the safety of Edward and his family, wears a low-cut dress with the expressed intent of allure and kisses passionately in a bedroom. For love?

We are watching as our young children are being hurried into adult situations by an aggressive media, without parental control. Girls are increasingly seductive, both in fashion and in behavior. Boys are increasingly assaulted by graphic sexuality. Dating is looking more and more like marriage and children are having babies. (the out-of-wedlock birth rate is climbing again)

When do we say "enough!?" When do parents step up and take control? Why are we letting our children make adult decisions about romance and relationships? Because they look like adults?

The Wall Street Journal opined: "Twilight has targeted the collective soul of teenage America, and will surely have its way."

If the goal was to undermine Christianity, incite rebellion against parents, eradicate biblical values and spread moral chaos, surely this book / movie will do the trick. If your daughter is reading this "stuff" she is At Risk.

Monday, December 1, 2008

The Wave of The Future

A recent Associated Press report indicates that 64% of U.S. High School students had cheated on a test, 36% had used the internet to plagiarize an assignment and 83% had lied to a parent about something significant.
The results of this study are not as shocking as the response by Educators who questioned any suggestion that today's young people are less honest than previous generations.
They pointed to the intensified pressures on young people today, prompting them to cut corners. "The competition is greater, the pressures on kids have increased dramatically," said Mel Riddle of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "They have opportunities [to cheat] their predecessors didn't. The temptation is greater."
Children lying or cheating is nothing new. But the percentages are huge!
Where does all this come from? Is it simply a matter of increased opportunity?
Or is there something more basic going on?

I would suggest to you that this is the direct result of two factors:
1. the elimination of objective morality from our social system
2. the mental health community's 70-year effort to blame circumstances for our problems.

If I am simply a highly evolved animal, shaped by my environment and answerable only to my own value system, why would I do anything that did not benefit me right here and right now?
On the other hand, if I am a divinely created person, shaped by my perceptions of that reality and accountable to an objective, unchanging moral code, why would I give in to the temptation to gratify the immediate need? Especially if the temptation is to violate that moral code?
Educators don't "get it." The Mental Health Community doesn't "get it." Social Architects don't "get it." And, sadly, too many preachers don't "get it."
A society operating according to it's own moral standard is destined for moral decline. Children lying and cheating is only the tip of the ice berg.
"Victims" never accept responsibility for their condition nor their responses.
So, strap yourself in! It's going to be a very bumpy ride when this crop of morally-challenged young people start affecting our world!