Ramblings

What is it about reality TV that is so interesting? I mean really why do we waste our time watching a glorified talent show or see who is going to be sleeping with who in order to not get kicked off the island? It is this kind of rot that makes us so popular throughout the world, but worse contributes to the lack of values and norms in our society. 

It used to be that married couples in sitcoms could not even be seen sleeping in the same bed. Now it is common to see unmarried people simulating or potentially even having (in the case of so called reality shows) sex beneath the covers. We are meant to believe that this is the norm for adolescents, late adolescents and young adults. 

Now I work with youth and young adults, and I am not naive enough to believe that some of them are not sexually active. Come to think of it I bet more than I would like to admit are sexually active, but I know from experience that reality TV shows and sitcoms show behavior that is far from the norm. 

Just tonight I was having a chat with several young men who go to my church. We were planning an issue night for our struggling to form youth group on relationships. One of the seniors who is helping me out brought up several interesting things. He said that most of his friends were not cut out of the same mold that the media chooses to portray. Both girls and guys that he chose to hang out with were nothing like the shallow self absorbed yahoos we get to see on television. 

I found this conversation very encouraging. Somewhere along the lines the morals and values he has been taught by his Faith and family had gotten through, and he seemed to be almost upset that the media portrayed he and his peers in such a negative way. I know that eventually some of you who do not meet the media charicature  of a teenager or youth will stumble onto this blog. I want to encourage you to fight the media. Do not let them paint you as the immoral disrespectful idiots they make you out to be. Also, just because you see that behavior on TV, do not believe it is normal and therefore acceptable. Look into your heart and listen to that whisper (or yell) that you may hearing. Stand up to these profit hungry chumps and turn the TV off for an hour or two a week. Use that time to read a book.

Take the time to educate yourself beyond what you hear in the class room and see on TV. There is an amazing world of truth and adventure out there waiting for you if you can just turn off the crap you are being fed long enough to find it.

Prayers...

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