What is Our Society Coming To? (Part 1 of ?)

Today begins a series of posts on society, culture, and the moral decline I see that just keeps snowballing faster, and faster.  I'm planning to touch on different topics, but I'm not sure how many parts this series will have, so you'll just have to bear with me as I write.  :)

I ran across this post today, when a friend of mine shared it on Facebook.

Now, I'd heard of Magic Mike and "50 Shades of Grey" but I didn't really know what they were about until I read this review from Focus on the Family's PluggedIn Online site, and saw "50 Shades" mentioned on a few other blogs I follow.  I very quickly realized that neither of these two new releases (one is a movie, and the other is a book) were things that I needed to be putting in my mind.

So, I simply haven't paid attention to them, and I have no desire to see the movie or read the book.  But, Melissa Jenna brings up some excellent food for thought in her post on these things.

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1.  Christian women need to reject both of these works, and instead, use our voices in support of what is good, right and true.


If my Facebook feed is any indication, most of my friends (both IRL and online) share my perspective that we don't need "50 Shades" or "Magic Mike" polluting our minds.  But... what if we take that a step further.  What if, instead of rallying against what culture is promoting as "okay", we stand firm on what is RIGHT.  Both are good, but did you know the best way to spot a counterfeit bill is to work with real bills?  Counterfeit bill spotters don't spend their time going over bad bills.  They spend their time with the real thing.  I believe we should be doing the same.  Rather than making "50 Shades" or "Magic Mike" the center, or starting points, of our conversations, perhaps we should be devoting more time to talking about God's design for marriage, and letting God fulfill our needs spiritually, and work with our husbands to get our physical needs met.


2.  Why aren't church leaders publicly denouncing 50 Shades or Magic Mike, by the way?


I haven't seen anything from our church about "Magic Mike" or about "50 Shades".  Nothing from the pulpit, nothing from Women's Ministries.  And we just finished a 6 week "Campaign for Marriage".  But... that would have been the perfect time to address these issues, but nothing was mentioned.  I'm glad to see that many Christian bloggers have taken up the fight against "Magi c Mike" and "50 Shades", but it would be nice to see pastors actively admonishing their congregations to stay away from this "mommy porn".


3. Just because evidently this summer we’re all about objectifying men, that doesn't make it okay. It’s not like there’s a scale, and all these years, it’s been heavy on the objectification-of-women side, and we need to balance it out by objectifying men now.

I can't say it any better than the way Melissa put it here.  It's time to STOP the madness, and stand up for what is right, true, and holy.

Further Thoughts


Some comments on Melissa's blog have tried to point out that if we're throwing out "Magic Mike" and "50 Shades", that we should go all the way and stop watching TV, reading secular magazines, and hanging out on the internet.  Do I think that's a good idea?  Well, yes, and no.

I do think that God calls Christians to a high standard.  We need to be mindful of what we're putting into our thoughts.  Garbage in, garbage out, so they say.  But, I don't think that means that we're supposed to be walking around with our heads in the sand, keeping ourselves totally clueless about whats the "latest and greatest" in the secular world.  As Christians, I do think it is important that we know what our non-Christian relatives and friends are exposing themselves to, so that we can show them that God offers so much more than what the world does.  Does that mean that I'm going to head out to the local theater this weekend with a group of my friends and watch "Magic Mike"?  Absolutely not.  What it does mean, that when I have the opportunity to explain how damaging mommy porn can be to a woman's view of sexuality, not to mention her self-worth, I'm going to do so.

Some people may tell me,"Oh, you don't know what you're talking about because you haven't read the book or seen the movie".  But that's not the point.  The point is... is "Magic Mike" and "50 Shades" good, right, true, pure, holy entertainment that we would be okay watching or reading with Jesus, or does God call Christians to something way better, and far beyond the imagination of any secular screenplay or book writer.

What are your thoughts on how we should respond to "50 Shades" and "Magic Mike"?