Welcome to part two in my series on how pop culture is distracting us from faith. We've heard from Susan Moore, who submitted a sermon she wrote based on the story of the love triangle between Jacob, Rachel and Leah, and I talked a little about how we are so obsessed with our outward appearance that we forget that God loves us just as we are, He loves what's inside. And He gave us these bodies as gifts, we need to learn to love them, just as He does.
But there's another issue here, that may even be greater than the body image crisis fuelled by the media…the concept of “celebrity” has become synonymous with “idolized” we are making idols out of these pop culture icons, and it is heading into dangerous territory.
In addition to fuelling body image issues, society's obsession with celebrity and the need to know everything they're doing, highlighting each destructive or damaging moment is taking a toll on the faith development of each individual and the faith community as a whole. We don't have time or space in our lives for God and His Word. We practically worship these “idols”: Brittany Spears, Mylie Cyrus, Barack Obama.
There are all sorts of reasons, some of them very legitimate: I mean, I would have voted for Obama, too, if given the chance, the man is brilliant and has the potential to enact some serious change. But he is just one man, albeit with a powerful position and a host of people around him who are able to make important and powerful decisions that might actually change the world. But he isn't a superhero. Many people have unrealistic expectations of the man, he is on such a high pedestal that the potential fall could be fatal.
Other obsessions are considerably less legitimate although still perfectly human. We want to have others to look up to, we like to be entertained and it is in our nature to be curious (and even nosy) so when the gossip mill starts running it's hard to stop.
And what about TomKat and Brangelina? (where did the name combo thing come from anyway?) Do we really care about their relationships or is it more like a trainwreck, you just can't look away?
And if I hear one more time that Brittany Spears has put on weight so help me I think I'll scream. Personally I think it's about time the poor girl ate a cheeseburger and put on a little weight, she was starting to look a little gaunt.
We need to care less about the lives of the people we see on tv and in movies. It's as simple as that. But where do we start? I'm not sure. I would start by trying to find God in all the media we encounter. Is there a bigger message here? How should I feel about what I'm seeing or reading? How does it impact my life and the life of those I know? If we think a little more actively we might find we're able 9;do my essay'>do my essay
