Madre's Missives

It takes a lot to disturb me.  I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but it is what it is.  I have been disturbed.  And of all things, by a song I heard on the Top 20 station on my radio* between random errands the other day.  I normally just listen to news or the 70's station, but I was actually trying to get an idea of what teens are listening to these days.  Did I get an earful!

Just to make sure I wasn't imagining what I heard, I asked my youth group about it this week.  Before I even finished asking my question, they named the song, the artist, and were singing the lyrics.  Against their will, they say.  They all hate the song, but its catchy tune has burned it into their memories.  (If only I could get them to learn the catechism so quickly!  Somehow I don't think Katy Perry will be on board with that plan.)

We have become such a hedonistic and disposable culture that it's perfectly normal - stuff of Top 20 pop music charts - for a young lady (and I use the term loosely here) to get drunk and make out with another young lady (and I use the term loosely here too).   She hopes her boyfriend doesn't mind, but every girl today knows that making out with another girl is a great way to get a guy's attention and "safely" be a tease. 

Now I know that a lot of people these days, even Christians, are cool with sexual experimentation, many of them even promote it.  How else are you going to know if you're "compatible" for a long term relationship or marriage if you don't try things out ahead of time?  (Don't get me started on the plug and socket speech...)  Not only is there the usual  boy-girl experimentation going on, but now we have pop music promoting same-sex experimentation too.  It's not enough for to teach against and try to prevent "purpling", but apparently "pinking" and "bluing" is more common than ever.

"Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.  Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.  For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature..."  (Romans 1:22-26)

The interesting thing about this song is that Miss Perry knows what she is doing is wrong.  She's struggling internally with the decision.  It demonstrates how, even though it is against our conscience, we are encouraged to overcome that voice and satiate our curiosity.  Separate intimate actions from intimate relationships.  It's all about random feelings and following our basest of urges.  Even the personal interaction of a kiss has been depersonalized.  This girl Miss Perry kissed may as well have been a lightpost for all the human interaction that was involved.

This just further goes to show the depth of sin in this world we live in, in our relationships with one another, and even our "relationships" with ourselves.  This is not the way God created things for us, not the way He wants them to be for us.  He has given us His Son to be our Bridegroom, to be the One who tends to us, loves us, gives Himself for us, puts us first, does not treat our bodies merely as objects of lust for his own pleasure and experimentation.  How could He?  He died to save us from this twisted world we live in, where our young ladies are encouraged to try out homosexuality on the radio.  Come quickly, Lord!


* XM radio is REALLY cool - it's like cable TV for the radio!