What's the message?

~ brandon ~ Leave a comment

So, our family has been out of the cable TV loop for about six years.  Today, a few things came together and I had the chance to watch a show on Nick.  While the show, clearly aimed at pre-teens, was cute, it left me wondering what message there are trying to send.  The basic premise was something like this:  a group of kids wanted to eat dinner at a really expensive restaurant.  Being teens, they could not afford to and they devised a scheme to eat there.  To get the money they defrauded their high school out of $1500 (convincing a teacher to assist them), then used the money for their extravagant dinner.  Did they get caught?  No, they did not.  Was there any lesson about lying, fraud or theft?  No, there was not.  In fact, the only message that I could see was, “There are no consequences for immoral or illegal behavior.”  Not exactly a message I want my kids getting.

Parents, watch your kids shows with them from time to time.  Watch them critically.  Ask yourself, “What lesson(s) are my kids learning from this?”

Which culture wins?

~ brandon ~ 1 Comment

In Austria, an Austrian man is fined for yodeling, as it offends his Muslim neighbor:

Austria: Judge Rules That Yodeling Offends Muslims – Politics & Gov’t – Israel News – Israel National News.

This raises a question: when two cultures come together, how do they begin to integrate?  I mean, on the myriad differences between them, who determines which culture wins, and how is that determination made?

I would suggest that the majority culture should hold sway.  If I’m living in Austria, with a rich tradition of yodeling, perhaps I should modulate my thinking to accept yodeling.  It seems quite rude to move into someone’s home and demand they cease centuries old traditions to protect my sensibilities.

Culture Change, Illustrated

~ brandon ~ Leave a comment

In 1923 Charlie Chaplin made the movie, The Pilgrim.  In it, Chaplin plays an escaped con who poses as a Pastor.  Chaplin’s character, The Pilgrim, preaches a sermon on David and Goliath.  Since it’s a silent film, the only aids to the audience’s understanding is one card (which reads, “The Sermon will be on David and Goliath”) and Chaplin’s body language.  As I watched it I was able to understand the story, including David taking stones from the stream.  Then two things dawned on me:

1)  In 1923 Chaplin thought it was believable that an escaped convict would be familiar with the story of David and Goliath.

2)  In 1923 Chaplin thought an average movie audience would be able to follow the story of David and Goliath with only his body language.

That led to a further thought:

Would both of those assumptions hold today?

Laws & Morality

~ brandon ~ Leave a comment

The Telegraph publishes a story about Switzerland reconsidering incest laws.  In the midst of the article comes this quote from a member of the Swiss Parliament:

“Incest is a difficult moral question, but not one that is answered by penal law,” he said.

via Switzerland considers repealing incest laws – Telegraph.

His quote makes me wonder:  aren’t most laws moral questions?  Take murder as an example.  Isn’t it illegal because society deems it immoral?  The current fight over same-sex marriage seems to be a moral argument that may or may not change the laws.  Perhaps, in free societies, laws often reflect our social answer to moral questions.

Consider something Jesus said about morality:

“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.”  (Matthew 15:18 ESV)

Truly Jesus is not speaking of how social norms become law.  Yet, isn’t it a similar principle?  When laws are passed by a legislature they reflect the heart of the people–at least to some extent.  When they don’t reflect that heart, well the past two years of American politics has shown what happen.