Dead American

Before I conclude this long and intense series, I wanted to make a couple points to balance these things out and be clear about what God’s heart is about these things.

God has created the things we have perverted (in one way or another … you’ll see). It is important for us to remember God’s will in their creation.

God created sex (woo hoo!). A man and a woman in a committed, married relationship should enjoy this wonderful aspect of life. Under the New Covenant, it expresses the intimacy between Christ and the Church, a oneness both physical and spiritual between two beings made in the image of God. is also designed to produce children, not for intimacy and relationship alone. We were meant to produce life out of intimacy and relationship (also very symbolic of the Christ/Church relationship). “Be fruitful and multiply” was a command even before the fall … and it is still a command today. Anything outside of this is not God’s will, therefore, displeasing to Him. The further we get from this will, the closer we get to terms like “abomination.”

God created material things. Our physical bodies require physical things, barring some miraculous intervention, food and clothing particularly, and God desires for us to have these things. As much of the world understands, our actual needs are very basic, and the scriptures are not ignorant of this in its strong focus on ensuring no lack among the Church and giving to those in need. Of course, we also must remember that it is His will we trust Him for our needs, not seek to produce them in our own strength.

Now we get to violence. Did God create violence? Hmn. Probably not the semantics I would use, but it does come from Him. He violently dealt with the rebellion of Lucifer. He promised death as the main consequence of sin for Adam and Eve. He destroyed the world in a flood (a violent act to punish a violent people) and gave the death penalty along with the rainbow. Violence as an act of wrath against rebellion and sin is part of God’s character.

Many noble pacifists see any violence by man as unacceptable, but in the whole of scripture, we see several acceptable times when men are ordained to be violent (the death penalty, the discipline of children, or the role of punishment by the government by the sword, as Romans states). God expects certain people in certain roles of worldly authority to punish evil, even violently, for in so doing they teach a God who seriously considers sin, judges, and punishes.

Of course, the true argument is whether the people of God, set apart from the world, are to be involved in these worldly systems. But that doesn’t negate the God-given place for violence at times.

As for false religion, we must remember a certain amount of latitude exists within the Church. Some people teach that if the Bible does not address it, it is not allowed in the Church. Of course, this was not the agenda in the writings of the NT nor why we have the scripture in general. Too strictly adhering to our foggy understanding of biblical tradition can create the very system the New Covenant seeks to set us free from. This does not give complete liberty, however, only balance that rests upon the Spirit to give life.

And there is much to be said of us as a unique, individual creation. Christ ministered to individuals as well as groups of people. Losing all individuality would be denying the Church the gift God has placed within each of us. Some are a hand, some a foot. We are not all a hand.

As for entertainment, it can be a useful tool. Of course God can use it. He’s not opposed to using it (hopefully He’s using it right now!), but when it ceases to become a tool and instead the substance, the focus, or the substitute for true relationship in the Body, it becomes a problem.

Remember, nothing of God or created by Him is in and of itself evil. It becomes such when we use it outside His design, His will, and His direction. He has given us all good things to enjoy, just not to feed or s or to have control over us.

There is the balance.

Peace.

Implied or discussed among each of the sins of Western Civilization I have explored is the constant of entertainment in our society. Everything must entertain us or it is invalid.

For sexuality, we have the thriving porn industry, grown exponentially through high speed internet and cable TV. Of course, many mainstream movies and TV shows aren’t much different in their graphic subject matter and the morals they portray.

For materialism, we’ve already discussed the advertising that does on, not to mention the money we put into the paraphenalia we NEED to be entertained: big screen TVs, surround sound speakers, the newest gaming systems, movies, games, the faster speeds, the better graphics, the bigger stuff! Our self-entertainment costs money.

For violence, we also mentioned movies and television as well. Individualism is worshipped through our media, too. How many movies are similar to the Rambo movie mentality, one man and an M-60 against a whole army!

Much of sin goes hand in hand in entertainment. But our need for entertainment has conquered even more endeavors.

Education is evolving to strictly believe that if we do not entertain, we cannot educate, despite how it has been done for thousands of years. Children in those other cultures and nations that kick our tails in basic and higher education, continue to learn by rote memorization, but we have “progressed” to the degree that a child cannot be educated if he is bored.

And so we have a rising generation who feel they are excused from learning if they are not entertained.

Even our Christianity has adopted this. For many, a great time of worship on Sunday, or any day, includes quality entertainment. We are encouraged to attend this fellowship or that one because of their drama or video production or the great musicians in their praise team.

Another problem with entertainment is the inordinate amount of time we spend on it. No real community is encouraged when we watch a movie for two hours together. How much more encouraged would our Spirit-man be if we spent two hours in conversation or worship or prayer or even building something with our hands? Infinitely more, I would say.

Now, I’m all about creativity and all, but all entertainment in the Church does is create spectators, not disciples. Spectators are naturally selfish and critical, not to mention passive and disengaged, which stands directly opposed to true discipleship.

This leads to false religion. How many choose a fellowship based on the show that is produced every Sunday morning? How many are prideful of it? The video screens lit up with cool graphics (its almost like being at the beach!), the sound system is well mixed and just loud enough to drown out the congregation, and even the pastor tells some great jokes.

James Edwards started a revival by reading his sermons, fairly quiet and monotone, by candlelight. Jesus sat on the side of a mountain. John the Baptist had bug breath.

It is not that entertainment exists, but it is that we feel we need it and it is a part of the Body of Christ at all. Entertainment doesn’t exist in the Church, the Kingdom of God, the people set apart for His glory. At all. And yet we cling to it all the same. And in so doing, we give place to worldliness, emotionalism, sensationalism, and selfishness … all in a people meant to be separate from the world, temperate, and selfless.

There are varying degrees of this in the Church, and I will quickly thank God that at least the name of Christ is involved somehow using a scripture verse here and there.

But God is looking for a people who love one another deeply in a community, not a show where we try to prove we are as talented as the world. God is not impressed with Christian entertainment; He has a much better show in Heaven. He sees things and hears sounds from angels we can’t hope to produce this side of eternity. (To be honest, most people here on earth aren’t that impressed with Christian entertainment, either) You wanna know what draws God’s eye? A people who truly, deeply love one another, love and bless their enemies, content themselves with less so that others may eat, live righteous lives so others can see Christ, intercede for a lost and dying world because God is their only hope. In other words, God is impressed when He sees a people of character. What character? The character of His Son.

Entertainment cannot produce this character. Only discipleship through relationship can.

Be saved from this evil generation.

Peace.

We come to the final bastion of Western Civilization: our individualism, our person-hood, our self-ness.

Take what you will, but we will cling desperately to the notion that I am an individual, a unique creation. And believe it or not, it is our extreme worship of this sacred cow that keeps us from forsaking all and following God.

It is our high notion of our own selves that is the basis of a very evil thing: pride. It was pride that felled Lucifer. Pride continues to degrade the divine spark within us all.

While you were made in the image of God, you are not God. Our God-like image gives us a certain sense of uniqueness, but just as the creator is infinitely higher than the creature, God is infinitely more unique than man. Therefore, “you can be like God” is quite the deception and impossibility.

While many other cultures take community and collective truths to the extreme, even to the point of denying all individuality, Western Civilization has progressed to the point where we deny all truth about the collective and worship the individual like an Ashera pole.

This is at the heart of pride, which is at the heart of sin. It is our individualism that says, “I choose who I have sex with, I choose what I do with my body, I choose where and when I give my most intimate self away.” This dogma from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has resulted in high rates of adultery, divorce, abortion, sexually transmitted disease, and an overall sexually immoral culture.

It is our individualism that says, “I own these material things. I have the right to own property, to provide for myself, to insure my own security by financial means.” And so we have a culture dominated by materialism and greed. We are a covetous nation.

It is our individualism that says, “I have personal and inalienable rights. I have the responsibility and the human power to fight for those rights and the things that are mine.” And we become a violently divisive people, justifying violent solutions, the right to bear arms, as God-given. Then we experience high rates of murder and violent crime.

It is our individualism that says, “What do I believe? I get to decide whether or not Christ is Lord of my life. I get to decide what religious system or tradition works best for me.” Personal preference and desire become the basis of our belief system, validating only the things we happen to agree with. We become independent agents within our own spirituality instead of looking to a Sovereign God who alone is the independent initiator and a standard that already exists. This leads to much false religion.

In Christ, our individualism dies with our old nature. In crucifying the old man, we are to put on the new man. All distinctions dissipate within the Second Adam, Jesus: “Neither Jew nor Greek, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.”

In Acts, “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.”

We will not become the Church God desires us to be unless we repent of our individualism.

Our individualism becomes an excuse for sin in ourselves or others: “I can’t help ______ , it’s just my personality.”

But this is not Christian. How does a dead man have identity? “For I have died, and yet I live, but not me, it is Christ in me.” “Any man in Christ becomes a NEW CREATION.” It is hard to be the new creation when you’re clinging to the old. Losing your personal identity is part of the repentant act. The other part is realizing and claiming our heavenly identity with Christ and His Body.

We have a whole generation of Christians that have been taught to choose their worldly identity over the one given to them in Christ. Just put “Christian” in front of it, and you will be real spiritual … and you can keep your individuality. We have Christian plumbers, musicians, judges, actors, lawyers, soldiers, politicians, goths, metalheads, punks and rednecks. Of course, you must realize that no plumber, musician, judge, actor, lawyer, soldier, politician, goth, metalhead, punk or redneck or anything of the like will enter the Kingdom of God. Only that which is of Christ will enter there.

Why didn’t Jesus stay a carpenter? Why didn’t he ever build someone a table during His ministry? Didn’t people need tables back then? Jesus was more than happy to leave behind His worldly identity to identify with His Father and those that did His will. “Who are my mother, brothers, and sisters? Those that do the will of my Father.”

Yes, in Christ we are given things uniquely: our gifts, calling, and measure of faith as examples. But even these we’ve secularized. Most spiritual gift tests are only psychological personality tests in disguise. You wanna know the biblical spiritual gift test? What does Christ do through you in humble service to the Body? Christ in and through you is the gift. Worry about definitions later.

For many, our call is too tied to worldly success, education, social status, our own lust for position, or plain ignorance.

Even verses we could point to for individual convictions or culture, they’re either discussing ministry to unbelievers or those whose faith is weak.

Jesus left being a carpenter. Matthew left collecting taxes. Peter left his nets. The call to identify with Christ is contingent upon our willingness to lose our own individual identity. Paul goes on in Philippians describing his Jewishness, his flesh, the things he could boast in. But no, he would rather count them all as trash. Why? “To gain Christ and be found in Him.”

Sounds like reason enough to me.

You have to leave one place to go to the next one. This means to be saved from this present generation, you must cease to identify with it. You must lose your individuality and the deep hold it has on you so you may follow Christ in holiness and righteousness. This includes all national, regional, political, racial, and family identity. It includes your talents and personal preferences. Once I repented, the ME that came from the Mooney family died, and only the ME that was birthed in Christ (the new birth, the new creation) has any hope of life.

Peace.

Let’s try this again.

Let’s look at some scripture. First, we go back to Cain and Abel again. Cain’s offering was unacceptable to God. We see in the second generation of humanity the pride of giving God only what we want to give instead of humbling ourselves to see what He requires of us. Even before murder, Cain was guilty of false religion.

Also in Genesis we have the tower of Babel. With some understanding of God, they attempted to reach the heights of heaven in their own power. God frustrated that effort. It is His love when He does.

Moving on the the much beloved Ten Commandments, we have two that deal with false religion: “no gods before me” and “not taking the Lord’s name in vain.”

The “no gods before me” is fairly clear (despite how often we willingly partake in it). But what gets confused in our modern understanding is the term “taking the Lord’s name in vain.” Many have advanced the idea that this is saying “God-damn-it” as a curse word.

While it may include this, I believe that “taking the Lord’s name in vain” is a much bigger idea. It includes misusing His name, as it has been understood among rabbis for thousands of years, but the bigger idea for us to comprehend is that He was ascribing to a group the title “people of God.” Israel means “prince of God.” “If you obey this law, I will be your God and you will be my people.” To do something in vain means as if it were nothing, for no credit, value or profit.

As Christians, this becomes even more important. We actually claim a name of God when we say “Christian.” We shouldn’t take the name as if it were nothing, for no credit, value or profit. In other words, don’t say you follow God when you actually don’t.

Moving on, we have many examples of idolatry and false worship in the Old Testament. Aaron’s eldest sons were killed by God for offering the wrong incense as priests. The prophets dealt continuously with idolatry and improper worship, even worship without love.

But this was in the OT, under the Old Law … surely how we worship isn’t that important anymore …

Let’s begin again with Paul. He specifically wrote warning against men who were only interested in worldly gain, worshiped angels, preached an acceptance of sin in the Christian life. Paul continually tried to protect his assemblies from “those of the circumcision,” Jews who claimed Christ and held Gentiles to ceremonial standards. Paul even publicly disputed with Peter about this. Paul also dealt with proper leadership characteristics, basic sound doctrine, modesty and love in times of meeting, and how to treat one another during the Lord’s Supper.

Now we can move on to Jesus Himself. No group of people felt the ire of the Lord more than the Pharisees, Sadducees, and other religious leaders. The only time we see Christ physically act on His anger in the gospels was on the issue of people making a profit in the House of God, meant for prayer. He even called them names.

“Pit of vipers” “Whitewashed tombs” “Sons of the Devil”

Jesus told the Jews of His generation that the blood of all the prophets from the beginning would be on their hands. When we look at all He accused them of, we see why.

“You search the world for one convert and make him a two-fold son of hell worse than yourself.”
“You clean the outside but the inside is still dirty.”
“Do what the Pharisees say but not what they do.”
“Beware the leaven of the Pharisees (pride).”
“The Pharisees love the best seats at the feasts and synagogues. They will endure a greater condemnation.”
“Hypocrites! You make the word of God of no effect for the sake of your own traditions.”
“You search the scriptures for eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify of me, but you wouldn’t come to me, that you would have life.”

This would be considered hate speech today … and they did then, too, crucifying Him for it.

A cursory reading of the gospels reveals how much Christ hated the sin of false religion as expressed through the religious leaders of His day. Of course, if there is false religion, there must be a true religion of Christ in the earth apart from the work of men.

We’ll try and cover some of all that tomorrow.

Peace.

Of course we can include any religion other than Christianity in this. Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and several others have naturally grown due to the larger number of immigrants from certain parts of the world. These do not regard Christ as the only way within their doctrines, however they may honor Him as a good man or prophet.

As a historian, I am familiar with many pacifists, their views and methodologies. Three of them I am especially fond of: Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. One of my favorite books to read to American History classes is A Testament to Hope, a collection of Dr. King’s complete writings and speeches. It’s a big book (no, I haven’t read it all), but indispensable for understanding his philosophy.

I will not attempt to really place all three of these men in the same category, only to use these unique individuals to find some important common ground within pacifism to make a couple points. (I place Gandhi within this group because, while definitely not a Christian, he based much of his philosophy on Christian principles)

Pacifism is a belief that is not an appropriate means to any end. Pacifism, at its heart, sees any done of man against man as wholly evil and to be avoided.

I actually find strict pacifists quite noble. But true, biblical pacifism, is willing to suffer , even to the point of , in order to show love to those bound by violent solutions. Biblical pacifism is not non-confrontational. Rather, it is fairly aggressive in its passion to show love speak truth. It is realistic in its expectation that while true love is shown in righteousness, will be shown by others, many times to great extremes.

All three of these men, King, Gandhi, and Bonhoeffer, all made the ultimate sacrifice for their beliefs. King and Gandhi were both assassinated by those of extreme predjudice, and Bonhoeffer was executed by the regime he opposed in his own home country. While neither desired , nor did they shrink from it.

Another common theme, however, was their ultimate failure in their respective causes. Gandhi mourned the division of India and Pakistan, of Hindu and Muslim; even though they gained freedom from their British oppressors, Gandhi knew they were still bound by their religious . Bonhoeffer suffered in prison as other nations brought Germany down and the aggressive German resistance, which actually attempted to assassinate , failed. It was Bonhoeffer’s hope that Germans would rise up to oppose . It never really happened.

And for our great Dr. King. He stood next to Johnson for the signing of the Civil Rights Act of ‘64 and made his famous “I have a Dream” speech that still gives us all chills. But he was largely marginalized by the youth movement in the early ’60’s that rejected his nonviolent approach and insisted whites be seen and treated as the enemy. What was once a wonderful movement for peace and brotherhood disintegrated into division and power plays and, yes, .

While each definitely moved with spiritual motivation, they also fought for temporal gain. Here is where modern pacifism breaks down.

True pacifism only works when exercised by the people of God, filled with the Spirit of Christ, and done for eternal reasons alone. Each of these men, while great men of history and greatly inspiring to me personally in their writings and example, sought temporal gain (Bonhoeffer with the salvation of Western Civilization and the removal of the regime, Gandhi with an independent and united India, and King with equal rights under the law for all men).

Jesus and the apostles of the New Testament, while supremely non-violent, were not concerned about these things. They were only concerned with the organic and pure growth of the Church as in the world but not of it. None of these men, the Son of God included, could have approved of the highly oppressive actions of the Roman empire, based on the principles of their teaching and writings. They most assuredly condemned them, but neither did they try to change them.

If we could assume any political concern, it was within the influence of the Jewish culture unto Christianity. Clearly, however, it was not a political concern, i.e., the rise or fall of a Jewish state in opposition to the Roman tion. The apostles were not concerned with an independent Jewish OR Christian state. There was no attempt to convert the Roman empire into a Christian state. They were also not concerned with the equal rights of all men under Roman law (half of the men and women in the Roman empire were slaves).

We hear nothing of these issues in relation to the world, even though they were highly problematic.

But they did address them in the Church. We fight for an eternal kingdom. Our citizenship is in heaven, so we are concerned with heavenly things. Earthly distinctions (rich/poor, master/slave, Jew/Gentile) all disappear within the community of faith. There we are equal. You do not lie or steal or cheat or bring if you are in the Church. There is no need. This is the standard for the Church because we alone possess the indwelling Spirit of Christ that can empower us to live such a life.

But it is severely unwise to hold the world to such a standard. First of all, the world does not have the Spirit of God and cannot truly love at great cost to themselves, even their own . And secular pacifism also mixes a type of godliness with temporal agendas (equal rights, social injustice, poverty relief, political success, or the removal of one from power).

All three or my examples, King and Bonhoeffer expecially, understood the truth that tyranny and oppression are evil and not of God and must be opposed on some level, but not at the expense of one’s own soul. Hence their non-violent philosophies (to varying degrees and method).

Biblical non-violence and pacifism seeks the eternal redemption of man above all other agendas, which also includes the building of the CHURCH, not manufactured organizations centered on dogma but organic communities of faith centered on love. Christians seek the redemption of others even at great physical, emotional, and relational cost to themselves. Jesus suffered the sin of mankind and the rejection of His Father. Moses asked to be stricken from God’s Book rather than see Israel forsaken. Paul was willing to be accursed for the veil to be lifted from the Jews.

So … if a Christian tells me that he is a pacifist, that he cannot justify of any kind, will not participate in it, will not support it, and seeks the same testimony among the Church for the sake of love, I’m all for it. This can be a high vision of love and supported by scripture.

However, if a Christian uses the same priciples to apply pacifism and non-violence to the world, he is unwise and due for disappointment. His pacifism becomes an idol that cannot speak or act, and without the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit of God, it is doomed to temporal and eternal failure (a sad but great definition of “epic failure”). It is an idol because he is worshipping something man can create apart from the Church, the dwelling place of God, the “work of his own hands.”

Next week I’ll tackle one short idea and bring some balance to all of this before a conclusion.

Peace.

As before, we’ll start with the Ten Commandments. “Thou shalt not murder” is there.

But we can also go a little further back to Cain and Abel. The first murder occurs in the second generation of mankind … before adultery. Not soon after that, God judges the earth for being “filled with violence” in a flood. After the flood, God gives a law within His covenant with Noah, “whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed. For in the image of God He made man.”

So even in Genesis, God deals with the violence of man against man, and He connects its seriousness with man’s created image, a divine spark that is to be respected and protected.

Before we move on to the New Covenant, we have several prophetic verses and psalms that equate evil with violence. One is a messianic prophecy quoted heavily by the early church: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” Isaiah 2:4. We must be cautious sometimes with messianic prophecies because they also speak of the heavenly realities at the end times, as well. But for those who pray, “on earth as it is in heaven,” even these verses apply.

In Romans 1:30, Paul lists being violent as evidence of being given over to a debased mind. In Galatians, he lists contentions, outbursts of wrath, and murders as works of the flesh. Peace and longsuffering are the fruit of the Spirit. Colossians tells us to put of anger and wrath as part of the old man.

In Hebrews 10:34, the author commends the Christians in Rome for “joyfully accepting the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.” Rome kicked out all the Jews at one point from the city, and the writer of Hebrews notes that while violence was being done to them, they did not return it. Rather, they joyfully accepted the persecution.

Is this not like Christ? Jesus tells Peter to put down his sword because “those who live by the sword shall die by the sword” Matt 26:52 … Jesus was actually quoting Ezekiel 7:15 before healing the ear of a man leading Him to His death.

Jesus also says in His “good confession” before Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews” John 18:36.

We are told to live in peace with all men. Jesus tells us, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called Sons of God” Matt 5:9.

Nowhere in the New Testament are we encouraged to be aggressive or violent to get our way (or even God’s way). In fact, we are taught to have the mind of Christ, to be willing to suffer violence ourselves for the redemption of others. We are told to love our enemies, that love never fails.

We could find many examples of God ordained violence in the Old Testament, though. God has not changed, so don’t get confused.

The Covenant has changed. Where the physical Israel had a constant physical struggle to inherit a physical promise, we have no such promise in the New Covenant. On the contrary, our promise is wholly eternal and spiritual. Therefore, we fight by spiritual means against spiritual forces to attain a heavenly kingdom. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood.”

And the New Covenant is infinitely better than the Old, as Hebrews states. With such a heavenly promise, we have no earthly kingdom to attain or fight for. Remember, when Judas runs out to betray Jesus, Christ says, “now the Son of Man is glorified.”

We (as in Christians) need to stop trying to build kingdoms on this earth through our political ideologies, national allegiances, social agendas and ministries. Of all of those, God is most offended when we build a kingdom for ourselves and call it a ministry.

If we have no kingdom on this earth to identify with and we’ve forsaken our possessions and family to be His disciple, what do we have to fight for?

We’ll try to pull it all together tomorrow.

Peace.

Since I’ve already addressed this in another post, this one will be more brief. But I will add some thoughts here in context of this series.

This nation was birthed in violence. First of all, the colonial years were full of the displacement of other peoples — tribes of nations who lived here first. This continued over the next couple centuries as the US created a doctrine that actually stated it was God’s will for America to control all land to the Pacific (Manifest Destiny). Based on our own greed, therefore, we made sure to fulfill our own prophecy at the expense of millions of Native Americans and a war with Mexico.

Secondly, the US attained independence through a war. However justified it may have been, it was violent nonetheless, and we glorify it (since we won!).

Something I did not mention before, I’ll mention here: We have, in the Bill of Rights, the right to be violent. Our Constitution (a political bible, if you will) states that we have the right to bear arms. The purpose of this amendment was to ensure self-preservation in the event the US government became oppressive in any way. Again, whether you agree with it or not, our politcal culture tells us that we, if threatened, have the right to resort to violence, even against our own government. (They had to believe in this right: they had just exercised it against England!)

Also in our history is great violence against minorities and immigrants, many times supported or encouraged by the state or the majority (slavery, racism, etc). We are still the only nation to ever use a nuclear bomb against another nation and then followed that up by not sending Christian missionaries to that same country (we gave them baseball instead).

Currently, we face the following statistics. We have one of the hightest rates of violent crime of any industrialized nation. Gangs control whole areas of some inner cities.

And we still kill millions of unborn a year.

Believe it or not, abortion is also violence against the mother. It is an unnatural act that has emotional and physical consequences in nearly every case for the surviving victim.

First person shooter games (my personal favorite) sell like crazy. We have whole genres of entertainment that glorifies violence. A couple of our favorite sports are fairly violent: football, hockey, boxing. Some violent sports are on the rise like pro wrestling (fake as it is) and Ultimate Fighter-type stuff.

Bored kids make videos of dumb violence, hitting each other for fun or fighting. Then they put it on YouTube and everyone gets a laugh.

Anyone paying attention has noticed certain crimes on the rise. Sexual and physical abuse of the weak (sexual abuse is based on violence expressed through sexual behavior). People getting upset and shooting people at public places, like schools. We even have a term for someone going crazy that they shoot people, going “postal.” Most of the horror movies are just getting more and more graphic, disturbing and violent.

If a person makes a comment to address some of those violent influences in entertainment, sports, or what have you, we roll our eyes and dismiss them almost immediately.

Tomorrow, we’ll see what the scripture says.

Peace.