I acquired a new job this summer, one I wasn't anticipating - that of a censor. We go to the dentist for one of T's many visits, and the boys start giggling, looking around, and holding a magazine very close. It's an underwear ad. I tell them to stop being silly and turn the page. They obey, but every boy after that wants that magazine. We go to the Hair Salon, and they get all excited when they see a cover, and I discover that there is a Maxim magazine in the waiting area. I start sorting through the many piles, pulling out all the Maxims and Cosmopolitans I can find. What are the owners thinking?
But then tonight we go to Cary Towne Center. Walking out of Macy's, we have to walk by not one, not two, but THREE huge photos (all the same picture) in the make-up aisle to get out. The lady's top is almost off with nothing else on. Thankfully Tonya spotted a picture half-way through of a woman pursing her lips at the lipstick rack and started making fun of it, so that distracted the boys some.
Maybe I'm a prude; maybe it's my Christian worldview, but even if the boys don't follow the teachings of Christ, I cannot find one rational reason for allowing them to absorb material that enforces the world's concept that women are nothing more than sex objects.
I've also had to censor music this year - a first. I have an eclectic taste of music, and apply the Phillipians 4:8 principle to what I hear. One of our boys is enthralled with rap, and was totally shocked to discover we don't approve. Tonight we stopped to get gas, and the girl next to us had her car blasting rap music, and it was repetitively blasting the B word. Has she no sense of self-esteem? Does it not bother her that her radio is repetitively belittling her gender to the status of a female dog in heat - in essence, a sex object?
I believe God created sex, like the rest of creation, to be a beautiful thing. Yet when we distort and abuse such a thing, it ceases to be pretty. It then becomes broken, which is revolting, painful and deprecating.
And sadly, we have once again this summer had to censor video games. Even though I carefully selected games before the kids came, another host family gave the boys a game. Five minutes into the game I had heard more than 4 curse words, and had had enough. We compromised by turning off the volume.
I hate being a censor, but I'm even more appalled at how often I've been called upon to work in that capacity this summer. It makes me sad for our country, for the young people-both boys and girls, and for others across the world who embrace our lascivious ways without realizing the "cool American stuff" is actually a poison that will corrupt their minds, relationships, and passions. My heart goes out to the young boys who are constantly exposed to such trash, and for the young girls who mistakenly think such actions are a show of freedom. I wonder where are their parents, and who zapped their brains?
"the renewing of our minds"...we need it today more than ever before.
But then tonight we go to Cary Towne Center. Walking out of Macy's, we have to walk by not one, not two, but THREE huge photos (all the same picture) in the make-up aisle to get out. The lady's top is almost off with nothing else on. Thankfully Tonya spotted a picture half-way through of a woman pursing her lips at the lipstick rack and started making fun of it, so that distracted the boys some.
Maybe I'm a prude; maybe it's my Christian worldview, but even if the boys don't follow the teachings of Christ, I cannot find one rational reason for allowing them to absorb material that enforces the world's concept that women are nothing more than sex objects.
I've also had to censor music this year - a first. I have an eclectic taste of music, and apply the Phillipians 4:8 principle to what I hear. One of our boys is enthralled with rap, and was totally shocked to discover we don't approve. Tonight we stopped to get gas, and the girl next to us had her car blasting rap music, and it was repetitively blasting the B word. Has she no sense of self-esteem? Does it not bother her that her radio is repetitively belittling her gender to the status of a female dog in heat - in essence, a sex object?
I believe God created sex, like the rest of creation, to be a beautiful thing. Yet when we distort and abuse such a thing, it ceases to be pretty. It then becomes broken, which is revolting, painful and deprecating.
And sadly, we have once again this summer had to censor video games. Even though I carefully selected games before the kids came, another host family gave the boys a game. Five minutes into the game I had heard more than 4 curse words, and had had enough. We compromised by turning off the volume.
I hate being a censor, but I'm even more appalled at how often I've been called upon to work in that capacity this summer. It makes me sad for our country, for the young people-both boys and girls, and for others across the world who embrace our lascivious ways without realizing the "cool American stuff" is actually a poison that will corrupt their minds, relationships, and passions. My heart goes out to the young boys who are constantly exposed to such trash, and for the young girls who mistakenly think such actions are a show of freedom. I wonder where are their parents, and who zapped their brains?
"the renewing of our minds"...we need it today more than ever before.
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