Friday, February 22, 2008

The Oscars and Morality

After two rounds of the Accenture Match Play Championship, the totals are: Beverly, 33-15, Rick 29-19.
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As we get ready in the mornings and eat breakfast, Beverly and I watch Good Morning, America. This morning was almost totally about the Oscars. I hear that this is one of the most watched shows of the year. But I don't know anyone who watches it. Years ago I did occasionally, but I got sick of the winners' patronizing political speeches. They all seemed to say, "You lowly people of America are not nearly as enlightened as we actors are. The world would be so much better if we had more abortion rights and gay marriage."

Does anyone out there actually watch this?

There was another feature this morning: A preview of tonight's 20/20. Apparently, they secretly recorded people who had been put in situations in which they had to make moral decisions. The one they showed this morning involved a woman who had a friend who has just moved in with a man in a "committed relationship" (we used to call a committed relationship "marriage," but not in this wiser, more enlightened society). The set-up is that the man goes to a restaurant with another woman , where this friend happens to also be dining. The question: Will the woman tell her friend or not? My thought was that if she is a moral person she will tell her friend that living together outside of marriage is immoral. But obviously, that was not an issue here.

The "new morality." New? No, actually it is strikingly similar to the morality of the Roman Empire of 2,000 years ago -- in its waning years before it fell apart from within.

Sorry to be so cynical today. So, have a wonderful weekend!

5 comments:

Bev Ross said...

I'm still up by 4?!?!?!?!? I can't believe it! Do you want any help doing your bracket today? I am here for you, Honey-bunny!

Jeff said...

Maybe you need to take her to Vegas.

Bev Ross said...

Are you all thinking this is all about luck???????????

mchristophoros said...

I used to watch the Oscars, but I quit last year. Reason you cited, plus, the movies they like I don't.

The shack-up question bothers me too. We have young people in our congregation in this situation, no doubt you do too. In our view -- this is not God's will. In their view -- they are perfectly aligned with the culture, and doing nothing wrong. How does Jesus treat them? What if they want to be baptized? Do they have to straighten out their life first? If so, how "straight"?

Michael

Unknown said...

I don't have any idea whether Beverly is lucky or if she just knows golf and its players-- so I can't really comment on that. I will admit, however, that she knows a lot more about professional golf than I do.

The Oscars: I don't believe I have ever seen a complete show; clips or segments only. I don't think I have even seen segments of the actual awards show in several years.

I would like to comment on mchristophoros' question,"Do they have to straighten out their life first?"
--The quick answer that comes to my mind is no, they don't have to straighten out their lives first. Because none of us ever straighten out our lives on our own, which is exactly why we need the blood of Jesus.
--Having said that,I would pose these questions: If someone was contemplating being being baptized and making Jesus the Lord (in contemporary terms: the Boss) of his or her life and they are living with someone of the opposite sex (or chronically engaged in some other sinful behavior), is it because he or she is lost trying to find his or her way in this jungle of a world? Or do they know it is not the Lord's will and choose to do it anyway in defiant rebellion? Is this a person who has grown up in a Christian family? Is this a person who has previously had little to no influence of Jesus in their life until recently?

Of course, even if we know the answers to these questions, we do not see the heart as God does. But the answers to these question are generally reliable indicators of the heart.