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In fact, it disturbs me that this type of reaction doesn't come from more people more often considering that many "stars" that appeal to young children often pose or appear in a movie either this way or in an imoral situation.
The most important thing is that you explain to your child why the <strike>idol</strike> celebrity was wrong in their action.
We as consumers have let public figures and role models get by with imoral behavior for as long as I've been around.
I've realized that until recent generations, children were only exposed to (or raised by) family and friends behavior. Now children spend more time watching tv than they do with their parents.
Jesus will prevail.
If Miley is repentant, publicly, it could be even more beneficial to her young viewers. She would have to apologize for her mistake and give glory to God for forgiveness for leading others astray.
She should even talk about the feelings that tempted her to do that.
It's almost enough to make parents look like the gullible ones, since they believe that it must be possible this time... Trust them!
We Christians cannot have it both ways. That is be able to denounce everything that offends us and still participate in or admire the "cleaner" aspects of the entertainment industry.
That which is not of the Spirit of the Lord will never satisfy the parameters of holiness, no matter how "unoffensive" it is.
I do not suggest a boycott. I would like to see some honesty.
"This TV show has NO spiritual value. I watch it because it is what is comfortable for me to do." But I guess then we would have to deal with issues of being lukewarm and that is certainly not comfortable.
Part of the problem is a cultural American mandate that a beautiful song in the voicebox , packaged in a culturally accepted type of beauty is worth paying money to see. And Christians pay, though sometimes only if all the content is "Christian." We still like our worship leaders to dress well and sing well and a refined, polished perfo--uh--ministry is a glory unto God, of course. Ever watch the Dove awards? Christians are as guilty as anyone else in exalting giftings above character.
When did we stop valuing productivity?
And I'll also be the first to agree with you that materialism and the entertainment industry have had some ill effects on our world view. I, too, wish the Dove awards would just go away. Not only because of the self-congratulating but also the sheer cheesiness of it all. How many more times do we have to hear "God Bless the USA" anyway?
I just don't think I agree with your assertion that participation in the culture is an all or nothing deal. Aren't you arguing that if we are going to throw out (or criticize) one part of the culture we should throw it all out? Maybe I'm mis-understanding your comment?
I never expected Miley Cyrus to satisfy the parameters for holiness. And as best as I can tell, neither did my daughter. Does that mean that I can only listen to music, watch movies, or read books that DO perfectly satisfy the parameters for holiness?
Can't I have John Coltrane and John Piper in my iPod at the same time?
It's an old question, isn't it? At what point do we move from liberty to compromise? Where do we draw the lines?
Wine in moderation is good for the heart and stomach; in excess it leads to debauchery. Television in moderation is an example of God's common grace exercising itself through technology; in excess it is a soul-poluting idolatry.
It isn't that culture is an all or nothing deal. We cannot escape our culture except to become the new creation in Christ. Otherwise, we remain its slave.Then participation in the culture is an all for nothing deal. They have nothing to offer, and we should be willing to give our all.
However, Christians are not going to alter the material culture around us. Participating in the consumption of it, then being offended when lost people assert their understanding over it seems like a double-standard. If we are consuming what they produce one day; then when they show darker colors and we react with shocked horror, what does that mean? Are we honestly surprised that something we assumed was simply sweet reveals it is as tainted as the rest of fallen humanity? Does anyone really expect the entertainment industry to be sensitive? Why would we do such? Is Hanna Montana a role-model for any Christian child.? If so, how so?
She is nothing but a celluloid image,a caricature, a childish illusion, deliberately packaged to appeal to children for their power to influence parental spending.
Did she or the young woman who plays her say some Christian sounding things along the way? Miley Cyrus did the lead-in to a video shown at our school for St Jude's Children Hospital. The video was provided as part of the promotion for a fund-raiser. Her scripted words and they could have been nothing less, were full of man-centered altruism. Sweet but lifeless. Yet, the commodity of "Hannah Montana" drew kids in. Good or Bad?
Regardless that she was not representing Christ, she was doing a good work. Can I be satisfied with that? Yes. I am glad kids with very serious cancers can be treated for free.
However, I find it insidious that the persona of Hanna Montana and a very young woman behind that mask are both used for entertainment consumption. Our culture is absolutely entralled with the imaginary, the presumed and the blatantly false. All to our detriment. We applaud people living in a false reality or at least willingly consume their image products, then claim foul when the expectations of the larger culture takes these people into realms we find offensive. Are we in relationship with them? Do we know these people, talk with them, know their hearts? Why have we included them in the community of those who help us rear our children?
Regarding culture, we do not throw it out nor remove ourselves from it, however, our interaction serves the purpose of modeling a different reality. We are on the Ark of Jesus with the opportunity to pull whomever will listen out of the flood of destruction into the community of God's grace. That reality is not material, but spiritual. Enjoying entertainment and then becoming angry at the producers of such when they fail our standards seems an ill-advised way to illustrate our love.
Did these folks ever promise to honor what we feel? There is nothing wrong with family relaxation and enjoying the neutral but fun things of our culture. When that decision turns around and bites us, is calling out the failure of those who we allowed to serve us a just judgment? Did we really not know they would behave that way?
Ben, I have been bitten. This is not a holier than thou appeal.
I have watched many a movie only to regret it. I have also watched some movies other Christians would shriek over and found redeeming value. This is not about legalism or Christian standards. It is about the way love functions.
You are saying that we bit into the Disney apple that we all know is rotten. Then we got upset when we got a worm.
That might be true. I'm not sure, but I'll consider it prayerfully.
But, then there's another question hanging out there. Should we not still be angry? Shouldn't we still cry foul concerning the incident in question? I don't think in cases like this we should all just shrug our shoulders and say "Oh well. It's not like we didn't see that coming."
Do nothing? No. Always do what is within the heart to do. Always hold the heart in the love of Jesus.
hmmmmm. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. Is Miley the villain? Billy Ray? Vanity Fair? Or is it just evil greed again?
Angry? If Billy Ray and his daughter are Christians, express honest disappointment, concern, a sense of betrayed trust directly to them. Call them out of the illusion into relationship with their audience, maybe. Threaten to avoid their products? That puts the argument into the arena of the material again.
I don't think being angry against these people accomplishes much, personally, but that's just me. Again, I raise the issue of whether or not they are part of our community.
I do think anger can become a motivator to some very real and worhtwhile action. The Lord can accomplish much with motivated people.
For me, the outrage is the idea of a child posing nude in front of a camera being given a place and it being ok simply because she is a "rock star". Whether Christian or not it just makes me sick to my stomach. It makes me want to cry for that little girl that her parents (again saved or not) wouldn't protect her and let her be a child. Instead, they allow the pressures of the media to rob her of that innocence and as a result I am sure she is feeling the back lash of it which I am sure hurts her feelings and is hard to understand.
I do think that we can tend to be too judgmental of non-Christians at times. I know that I want to be careful not to do that, but my bone to pick is really with what this did to this young girl and as a result for those kids who looked up to her (whether right or wrong), it took away some of the fun and games of it and threw it into a place a 6 year old, 8 year old or even 15 year old shouldn't have to consider at this point in their lives. We have, however, gotten to have some good talks with our oldest about it and for that I am grateful!
The depths of our depravity as a culture are more apparent daily.
All the more reason in my mind and heart to shine great amounts of love on all those around us. Only our Father can help. Our great love that others experience as starkly different from what the world exihibits will be used by the Lord to draw those into the reality of the good news of deliverance from the greed monster.
I had a similar situation in which I as a parent had a misjudgement with the High School Musical craze. My children especially my girls age 7 and 4 loved the first movie and it's cutesy love story. I had watched the movie prior to their viewing and thought it was ok for them to see. I saw some of the character "mess-ups" as life lessons and an opportunity to talk to my children about dishonesty etc...Anyways, the promotion for the second movie was huge. At every Disney Channel "commercial" an actor/actress would introduce theirselves with their real-life names and promote the up-coming movie. My children became aware of the now real-life names of these characters and Gabriella (character name) became synonymous with Vanessa Hudgins. It didn't help that the 2 love interest in the movie were in real life "dating". My kids could not wait for the second movie. We actually had a little sleep over with their friends the night of the premiere and played High School Musical trivia. I thought it was cute that my 4 year old was saying she loved Zac Efron (the main star)...UNTIL I had a huge awakening a few weeks later.
The real-life Vanessa Hudgins posed completely nude for a couple of photos posted all over the internet. I was terrified that my children would see the headlines on the magazine covers that I avoided taking them with me to the store for weeks. Like I said, to them Vanessa was not just an actress playing a part she was Gabriella who they thought was this sweet innocent girl who didn't even kiss the boy Troy (Zac Efron) for nearly 6 months after they started "dating". I didn't ruin the innocence of the Gabriella character for my children. I protected them from the harsh reality that these "idols" are mostly non-christians who get paid to play a part not necessarily anything like their real selves.
So I write this long email to say that the good-morals and values displayed on the shows and bubble-gum pop of Hannah Montana are still just that. I will not ruin that for my children by exposing them to her real-life sins. I will, however, shelter them from the non-scripted life of Miley Cyrus as I would any other actor/actress or singer.