Month: March 2013

Golf great Tiger Woods is back as the world’s #1 on the course. There he is in the latest ad, knees bent, putter in right hand, studying his next move. His eyes intently survey the green.  Bold letters centered on the photo declare; “WINNING TAKES CARE OF EVERYTHING.” After his wife found Tiger texting his many mistresses and took a 9 iron to him, he’s back, minus Elin Nordegren. This time he’s courting ski champion Lindsey Vonn, who three years ago sarcastically said of the scandal Woods was then facing, “Tiger, you’re like my idol, and I too have a sex problem.” Since they both, by admission, have sex problems, this should  be interesting.

There you have it. In one simple stroke of Madison Avenue arrogance, Nike has defined the moral insignia for a generation.  WINNING TAKES CARE OF EVERYTHING.  The unrepentant slogan actually came from Tiger’s lips.  He’s been saying it all along, as if his serial adultery meant nothing so long as the drives were in the fairway and the ball was in the cup. At the time of the outrageous revelations of his large coterie of sexual partners the only spirituality Woods could muster was a reference to his Buddhist background. Tiger mused that he needed to return to the principles of his faith, whatever that meant.

WINNING TAKES CARE OF EVERYTHING. No need for heartfelt sorrow over sin. No need for shame at destroying a marriage and the lives of innocent children. Just do well what you’re paid to do and all will be fine. A marketing research firm says that Tiger’s credibility rating is about even with Ozzy Osbourne, Mike Tyson, and Kim Kardashian.  His moral rating is even lower, on a biblical scale. No one wishes him to grovel in an orgy of self pity. If he is skilled, he deserves the chance to prove it on the field of play. But without any true sense of moral propriety  to invoke Godly repentance, Woods will learn a hard lesson at the end of life. Winning may be everything to Nike and some of his fans, but it won’t take care of everything eternally.

I do my best to stay informed on any variety of issues. Politics, social trends, and of course, religion. I want to know what the devil is doing. Not just with individual lives, but across the entire cultural spectrum. That’s why occasionally I read contrary opinions, like Salon, a liberal web news site widely respected and quoted by the news media. This week, they had an article that made my blood boil: “11 heinous lies conservatives are teaching America’s schoolchildren.”  I almost don’t know where to start, but someone needs to refute such nonsense. I guess it’s easy to lie about “conservatives” (a leftist code word for “Christians”) if you don’t think they’ll read what you write. You can say what you want and get away with it, no matter how ridiculously false it is

There’s not enough room in this blog to refute all 11 of the left’s lies, but I’ll pick the most egregious to show you how unfair “liberals” (my code word of “anti-Christians” in this case) are and how they arrogantly twist the truth to make believers look like idiots. It’s all part of an effort to make Christians look ignorant and unworthy of being part of America’s social contract. Now, on to a few of the lies listed in this article, purporting to illustrate what Christians actually believe:

1. Slavery wasn’t that big a deal. FACT-It was Christian abolitionists like Wilberforce of England who spearheaded the demise of slavery
2. Joe McCarthy was right. FACT-He was an alcoholic liar as most informed Christians know and used his political platform for self-aggrandizing aims.
3. The Bible is a . . . scientific document. FACT-No respected theologian says that. Yes, we refuse to believe what evolution says about the origins of man, but as home schooling parents we don’t use Scripture to teach calculus or physics.
4. Black people are descendants of Ham and therefore cursed by God. FACT-Laughable. Only wacko Identify Movement cultists believe something so diabolical. Yet Salon boldly says: “Christians are still trying to justify the enslavement of African Americans over a century ago.”

I’m out of room to refute all the lies of the left, such as Salon’s claims that Christians believe “sex is awful and filthy,” “gay people do not actually exist,” all hippies were “Satan-worshippers,” etc. The Christian-hating left has the right to believe what they wish, what they don’t have the right to do is publish such patently stupid prevarications in the name of progressive journalism. There’s an agenda here. By portraying conservative Christians as mindless bigots we are marginalized. That makes it easier to persecute us in any every way possible, starting with words on a page and headed to the courts and the jails. Its lies like this that imprison Christians in Iran, Cuba and under other totalitarian regimes. It must not happen in America.

I wasn’t aware of it, even though I have two teens in my household; but, due to our Christian values, they obviously wouldn’t be affected by the trend in question. It took a news article in a national newspaper to alert me to a growing product line of female, teenage apparel – lingerie. And not just skimpy tank tops. Padded bikinis, special tennis shoes to accentuate the derriere, and slinky outfits that used to belong in strip joints. Victoria’s Secret (who else) is partially behind this new marketing move. Their product line includes lacy underwear for the barely-post-pubescent set with stitched-on invitations like, “Wild,” “Call me,” and “Feeling Lucky?” Other merchandisers like Urban Outfitters are close behind (no pun intended).

What’s happening is the introduction of 11-year-olds (I have a child that age so I’m particularly disgusted at this.) to push-up bras and suggestive under clothing. The result sexualizes ever younger girls to be sex objects, taught that their bodies are the key to success in life. Society, which abhors rape and pedophilia crimes, keeps on sending young girls the message that they must look good, even sexy, physically to be wanted. The result is the objectification of their self-perception, that they are toys for someone’s pleasure, only desirable if they look erotic enough.

Don’t we already have plenty of MTV videos that send that message? Hasn’t Hollywood done an adequate job of sexualizing almost every aspect of our lives? Do we as a culture need to worsen the situation with underwear that reminds the wearer every moment of the day that they are only acceptable if they are sexual? The mom that allows a nearly-teen child such lingerie is sending a message about her own inadequacies as a woman, and that’s why she may be living out her fantasies through her child. That’s sick, and such mothers need a stern reality check and a revaluation of their daughter’s clothing choices.