"Atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning."
C.S. Lewis
"The fingers of your thoughts are molding your face ceaselessly."
Charles Reznikoff
"Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere."
G.K. Chesterton
"Humility enforces where neither virtue nor strength can prevail, nor reason."
Francis Quarles
"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil."
C.S. Lewis
Resistance Thinking Culture
Culture is a term used to describe why humans act the way they do. The study of culture attempts to explain why certain behaviours have special significance for some humans, where as for others it is completely meaningless. Culture encompasses everything from watching television and surfing the web, to doing yoga and having pre-arranged marriages.
All of the human behaviours that make up a particular culture are founded on a certain set of ideas. For instance, Islamic women wear a hijab for modesty because of teahcings in the Hadith and many Christians wear a cross around their neck in rememberance of Christ. These are human behaviours that are founded on a very clear set of ideas. Ideas are expressed in human behaviours that make up a certain culture.
In this culture section you will find articles, news and reviews on an extrememly diverse range of topics that relate to culture: the media - TV, news, magazines, movies etc., other religions - Islam, Judaism, New Age, Buddhism, Hinduism etc., philosophy - postmodernism, existentialism, humanism, consumerism etc., popular culture, music, Christian culture - music, moviews etc., and a whole lot more!
A great article appeared on Christian Post the other week sharing Christian apologist Josh McDowell's views on the detrimental effect the internet is having on Christian children.
"Atheists and skeptics now have equal access to our children as we have, which is why the number of Christian youth who believe in the fundamentals of Christianity is decreasing and sexual immorality is growing, apologist Josh McDowell said.
“What has changed everything?” asked the apologist from Campus Crusade for Christ International as he spoke on “Unshakable Truth, Relevant Faith” at the Billy Graham Center in Asheville, N.C., Friday evening. His answer was, the Internet.
“The Internet has given atheists, agnostics, skeptics, the people who like to destroy everything that you and I believe, the almost equal access to your kids as your youth pastor and you have... whether you like it or not,” said McDowell, who is author of two books on Christian apologetics, More than a Carpenter and New Evidence that Demands Verdict.....
McDowell, who considered himself an agnostic before accepting Christ, warned that the sexual immorality through the Internet was “marginalizing the maturity of the witness of Christ…all over the world.” It’s an “invasive, intruding immorality… that is all just one click away.” He said the majority of questions young people ask him are about sex, mainly “oral sex.”
The majority of all the 2.2 billion people who go to the Internet daily are between 15 to 25 years of age, he said. And there are 4.2 million pornographic sites. “Do you know how many pornographic emails would be circulated just today? 2.5 billion…just one click away.”...."
The most disturbing video I have seen recently on youtube is a video for the new Wii game called We Dare. The trailer shows two adult couples participating in kissing the nunchuck, spanking and striping. Unfortunately this game, which is ONLY rated PG, is encouraging sexual acts and swinging. As per usual, as soon as I saw this issue Bill had already covered it with a great article.
"The makers and promoters of popular culture have a lot to answer for. Hollywood in particular and the entertainment industry in general are keen to get all the disposable income which young people have in abundance, and they don't really give a rip about any moral considerations.
Microsoft's new toy for the Xbox 360, the Kinect, goes on sale tomorrow. In fact the Kinect is so much more than a toy. It is sophisticated enough to do a number of things you could only dream of. Firstly, the Kinect has been designed to attempt to tap into the Wii market by doing away with the need for a controller. In this regard it goes one step further than the Wii. Instead of nunchucks the user acts as the controller and, in games which allow, all gestures are mimicked on screen. This is pretty revolutionary in itself. Reviewers continually compare this with the precog machine that Tom Cruise uses in the Minority Report. While such a comparison will get cliché rather quickly it is probably the most accurate representation of what this technology actually is. Picture sweeping gestures to minimize and a zoom function that results from flicking your wrist.
So, society is now in a state of such moral decay, that we have an adult website called ashleymadison.com which tailors for the adulterous individual who wants to forsake their marriage vows.
Here is an advertisement (much less erotic than some of their others) for this website:
Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!
Obviously, there are going to be people commiting adultery regardless of whether there is a website that lets them do it. However, this does not diminish the damage that such a site produces. Check out this piece of advice:
"Ashley Madison has become the primary place for people to turn to when monogamy turns into monotony. Our philosophy is that you can never be “too good” at cheating. Life is short, have an affair."
The creators of Ashley Madison seem keenly aware that, to an extent, they have to convince visitors that this is a legitimate service. Through this they are contributing to infidelity. There is even a page on their website entitled "Ashley's Married Dating Tips Keys To Success!". This service is so unreal it seems almost impossible to make up.
CEO Noel Biderman states that the reason they provide this service is because "we know it's part of the human condition. Why not create a community where these people can go, they're like-minded adults, and connect with one another" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha2vucTepPA&feature=relmfu).
As Christians we recognise that there are many parts of the human condition that are destructive and sinful. Unlike secularism we condemn murder, rape and theft because of biblical mandates. To some this makes us extremist, however, when discussing topics such as adultery, our worldview places us in the unsecular position of being able to reject the lie that what is apparently "natural" is permissible.
If we had websites encouraging a destructive behaviour like suicide there would be a justifiable uproar. Of course, such a website would not generate many return customers. Yet we allow this smirking man to tell us that we need a platform for this kind of relationship. In the end he is merely an opportunist preying on those who would disavow their marriages.
As somebody who is about to get married if find myself bitterly discouraged that companies like Ashley Madison are trying their best to cheapen marriage, all in the name of the bottom dollar!
It is extremely unusual that I agree with Susie O'Brien and she seems just as startled that she would agree with "reactionary Right-wing columnists". However, when events like the Forever Young Festival occur both sides can align. Here is how Susie O'Brien describes the event:
"How do you feel about bondage? If you are an adult, I don't care what your answer is.
Tie yourself up. Knock yourself out. Whatever gets you there is fine by me.
But it's not OK for children. Children shouldn't even know about that stuff.
And yet, a kids-only music event, Forever Young Festival 2011, to be held in Melbourne in three weeks, is headlining an artist whose hit song describes bondage in graphic detail. In fact, Wynter Gordon's Dirty Talk track appears to endorse it, along with promiscuity, violence and masturbation.....
Our children are immersed in a culture that sees music with suggestive, outrageous, pornographic lyrics as not only acceptable, but totally normal.
Take some of these lines from Dirty Talk, and work out for yourself whether it's something you'd want your year 8 student listening to: "Kitten heels, lingerie, pantyhose, foreplay, Legs up, on the bar, In the back of your car/ Latex, champagne, bubble bath, whipped cream, Cherry pop tactic/ Can you make me scream."
And this: "Blindfold, feather bed, Tickle me, slippery, G spot, nasty pose/ In a video, love machine, by myself/ Climax, hot wax, S&M on the floor, I like it hardcore."
Now I am not against adults having a good time. In fact, I am whole-heartedly for it and some of these suggestions are probably even on the to-do list of many married mothers.
We all know sex sells. But who do we want sex sold to? Certainly not to our kids.
Does anyone think that these are the sort of lyrics we want our kids to be humming on the way to school?...."
Click here to go to the full editorial in the Herald Sun.
I usually don’t agree with sociologists and feminists. However, on this rare occasion I find myself assenting with a woman who is both of these. Gail Dines is Professor of Sociology at Wheelock College in Boston and an advocate for the anti-pornography movement.
This week Gail Dines appear on Lateline to promote her new book entitled Pornland. Having seen her interview and read an excerpt I cannot promote this book enough.
Gail makes several key points through-out her interview. One is that pornography is about the debasement of women. Well, this is obvious. However, Dines expands on how much women are being exploited in these films.
Gail Dines also makes reference to the addictive nature of pornography and how, like the tobacco and alcoholic companies, they employ such addictions to sell their product. Again, seems pretty obvious. But if people were actually listening then Gail wouldn’t have to writes books like Pornland.
However, pornography is not just an issue for adults. With the internet being what it is, young children have no problem accessing pornography. Gail highlights this major concern and emphasises that the vast majority of boys at age thirteen have been exposed to pornography more than once.
Gail Dines explains that this difficulty occurs because parents do not understand the dangers of the internet. Most parents do not realise what their children have been accessing.
Anyway, watch the full interview on Lateline’s website and join me and other concerned citizens to Stop Porn Culture.
