imus, rap, yada yada

Warning: the next two sentences have fundamentalist preacher written all over it.

What do Imus, Capital Records and Abecrombie & Finch have in common? The answer is that these three are just a few of the many examples of those who have persistently perpetuated a culture of moral deprivation.

By now we all know of Imus' infamous quip that cost him his job. And has been widely retorted, Capital Records is raking in wild profits from hip hop groups that make terms like "nappy headed h--s" common street vernacular- but you don't see them scrambling to find their chopping block.

So why bring Abercrombie & Finch into it? Because I don't listen to rap music (except for Ced's music- a rap beat and great message) and never have liked Imus (a cranky old man in a cowboy hat sitting at a mircophone isn't my idea of entertainment); but I go to the mall occasionally and have to walk past Abercrombie & Finch. I am not the first parent of teenagers who has pointed out that what they call marketing I call soft porn. The visual messages sent to our kids are very powerful. Much more powerful than the very insulting remarks of Imus. And what makes it particularly disgusting and puts it in this context is that the audience the store is targeting is so obviously teen and pre-teen.

I know that this issue has been beaten to death in the press, but I want to raise the issue here for a couple of reasons.

First, I want to point out the irony of popular media expressing such disdain for the very environment it helped to create. From a philosophical perspective, what we are witnessing is the natural outcome of Western European enlightenment thinking that says that there is no such thing as absolute truth and that moral values are undefinable and unsustainable, as there is no way one can prove God scientifically and therefore modern people should not be expected to think in such archaic terms.

But be honest, when one follows secularism to it's end, the outcome is that because everyone is their own judge of human behavior, and there is therefore no higher authority than human consciousness, there is really NO authority over the thoughts and actions of man. When everyone is in charge in other words, no one is in charge. It is in a very real sense a kind of Darwinian moralism.

In this context, why would anyone be offended by what Imus said? Who cares that we refer to college girls as prostitutes with bad hair? Why would anyone be offended that the most popular songs on the charts are pornographic and de-humanizing? What value does human life have anyway? Why not think of stores with posters suggesting pre-teens as sex objects is normative?

You see where I am going with this.

Popular culture can't have it both ways. Pardon us, if we Christians are underwhelmed by your sense of shock. If you are buying into the whole secular humanism package, you shouldn't complain by what pops out of it. How strange to hear people who are so obviously followers of the secularist script twist in the wind in trying to explain their displeasure.

Let's face it, Imus as "shock jock" is paid to be provocative- an increasingly difficult task in a culture that has just about defamed and dehumanized everything of value. But what was really shocking was this quote from "The Huffington Post":

"There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society, Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves of CBS said in announcing the decision. "That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision."

Although I think it is positive that a major broadcast network is having a discussion on the effect of language on young women, we should not hold our breath if the discussion is void of any moral authority, as no real positive conclusions can come from it.

As we have seen time and again, large corporations ruled by their bottom line do not show much promise in choosing what is right over what is profitable.

Which leads me to my next reason for bringing this up. I am more convinced than ever that parents have to gain the upper hand in raising children. If you are not on top of this and vigilant in your approach to parenting, you will quickly fall behind the curve.

The Yada Yada conference coming up May 4 and 5 is especially timely. For all of you moms out there who have young daughters- now is the time to have substantive discussions and to reach for all the effective tools at your disposal.

This conference is one such tool. Register here.