| Topic: |
Religions > Bible |
| User: |
"Russ T. Nale" |
| Date: |
29 Mar 2006 06:16:41 PM |
| Object: |
Battle for a wholesome generation? |
Battle for a wholesome generation?
by David Batstone
What cause do you suppose could bring more than 25,000 evangelical
Christians together in San Francisco this past weekend: Immigration? The
Iraq war? Climate change? Nope, a celebration of "virtue."
The two-day rally branded itself as Battle Cry for a Generation and fits
into a broader national campaign to provide Christian youth with
alternative entertainment - Christian rock and rap - and teach clear
values.
The moving force behind the campaign is Ron Luce, host of the cable
television show Acquire the Fire and author of literature geared for
Christian teens. Luce freely uses the language of warfare to express how
youth are under attack from a culture that celebrates wanton violence and
sexual promiscuity. Corporate commercial centers target youth with a
"virtue terrorism," Luce charges, and are winning the battle for their
souls. Luce frames his efforts as a culture war, and wants to arm
Christian youth with Bible-based solutions for life. The red flags and
slogans he uses for Battle Cry for a Generation are revolutionary chic and
emotive. Luce is savvy enough to realize that if you are going to resist
mainstream pop culture, you have to provide youth a compelling
alternative.
Despite my misgivings about the onward Christian soldier motif, I share
the concerns that inspire the Battle Cry movement. As a father of four
children quickly moving into adolescence I am painfully aware of how
advertisers and entertainment outlets hone in on their demographic. The
sexualization of youth culture is a primary tool to motivate their desires
for consumer behavior. At first blush, that statement appears to be an
oversimplification. It's not - titillation is the engine that drives the
commercial machine.
So when Luce bemoans the MTV stereotypes of attractive young women and the
celluloid images of manhood packed with violence, I am ready to raise his
red flag of counter cultural resistance. I, too, do not let my kids run
loose on MySpace and closely monitor the DVDs they bring into the house.
So much of pop culture is a values cesspool, and I want my kids to
understand how those distorted values corrupt a healthy soul.
Of late there have been some encouraging trends in pop culture. A
relatively new film company, Walden Films, is making family entertainment
that embeds meaningful values. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and
Charlotte's Web are two of their initial forays into the theaters. And at
a time when marketers tell us that only promiscuous sex and violence sell,
a rather wholesome "High School Musical" has become a pop phenomenon.
These successes hopefully will spawn a new wave of media that I will be
happy to see make its way into my home.
Thus, it saddens me to see an event such as the Battle Cry for a
Generation rally detour off its original path. It throws itself into the
polarized debates on same-sex marriage and abortion. Ostensibly, that is
why San Francisco was chosen as the site of the high profile rally last
weekend. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Battle Cry
invitation stated, "[Come to] the very City Hall steps where several
months ago, gay marriages were celebrated for all the world to see."
Predictably, advocates for a libertine culture came out of the woodwork to
host a counter-rally. The San Francisco Chronicle ran a front page story
covering the conflict - protesters were quoted as calling the event a
"fascist mega-pep rally." In the scuffle, the profound range of issues
that the Battle Cry raises are lost. Opposition to gay marriage drowns out
all concerns about greed, materialism, and the assault on our kids'
innocence.
Lamentably, the media fans the flames of the conflict. The Chronicle knows
which story will sell papers in San Francisco, in other words. But I also
fault the narrow vision of those who stand behind the Battle Cry. If you
want to make a symbolic stand, why not go to the town where Desperate
Housewives is filmed? Or host the rally in New York City where Sex and the
City is set. A gathering outside the studios of MTV also would be rich
with symbolism.
I simply cannot understand why so many evangelicals consider same-sex
marriage as the prime threat to the virtue of heterosexual families.
Honestly, which has ruined more marriages: The extramarital affairs that
are so brazenly celebrated on Desperate Housewives or the decision of two
men or two women who love each other to make their lifelong commitment
public? I don't think there is any doubt about the answer to that
question. Yet most discussion of sex and values in the church veers
inevitably to the gay and lesbian issues.
I have a proposal: Let's do an honest appraisal of teenage sexuality and
lifestyle. Let's evaluate how the values of youth are shaped, and what
forces are at play to move them in one direction or another. And let's
ignore those political blocs that want to utilize vital family issues for
their own agenda.
--
Russ T. Nale
http://grace.break.at
God is still speaking
http://www.stillspeaking.com
To send e-mail, remove "youhat" from address
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