Standing on a whale

I think we've all seen the image in various cartoons: a character standing on what he thinks is a sunny island when in fact he's standing on a whale basking in the sun.  At any moment the whale will wake from its doze and dive under water, potentially drowning our character who is oblivious to his danger.

This image came to my mind again recently because of the situation I'm about to relate. 

The days before the beginning of Lent are the season of Carnival.  The primary school where my children attend held a costume ball during Carnival.  Parents voted on best costumes and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers received prizes.  One little girl was dressed as the pop star Rihanna - she of the revealing outfits and risqué stageshows - and won first prize.

I was working and couldn't attend this costume ball, but when my wife told me later about the little girl dressed as Rihanna I gasped.  I already knew that this particular pop star is very popular among pre-teen girls; I guess what bothered me was the idea of parents in effect giving a big 'thumbs up' to a little girl emulating her.

Innocence

A year ago one of my students, a young girl, informed me of the dirty video Rihanna made for her song S&M (and no, that doesn't stand for 'sunshine and moonbeams').  I found it on youtube and was disgusted at what I saw.  On the scale of human achievements where some reach as high as the heavens, this video and song are so far in the depths that they give off the stench of hell.

What are parents thinking?  As my wife remarked, "they probably don't even listen to the music their kids are listening to."  Of course, here in Poland, a lot of parents wouldn't understand the English lyrics.  I suppose too that parents of a certain generation remember the more innocent songs of their youth and assume things are the same now.  Or, they figure every generation's music is a "natural rebellion" against their parents' values and is "harmless" - "just a part of growing up." 

Yet, I'm sure these same parents wouldn't give their kids heroin or feed them a plate of dog doo.  The culture that engulfs our kids is toxic and too many of us are completely oblivious to it. 

It's not just the "youth culture" either that's corrupt, but the entire culture, whether it's in television, movies, sports, politics, our work habits and even our churches.  Little by little we've let the solid fundamentals of integrity, dignity and wisdom (truth, beauty and light, in other words) be eroded away.  We're like the cartoon character standing on the whale, thinking there's solid ground beneath our feet.  The great beast that we're in fact standing on will suck us down into the frigid deep.

A child sacrificed to the god Moloch
(notice the men feeding the fire at the back of the idol)