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Thoughts on subtle, indirect conditioning of our minds by the media

Sorry for such a long title. But I feel compelled to post my 2 cents. 

I felt like listening to 'Baby' by Justin Bieber. Trust me, it was one of those rare moments that I felt like  VERY commercial radio pop. I clicked on his youtube video with 37 million ++ views [that's NUTS] and I saw something that made me think. 

Justin's a young kid. 15/16? He's singing about his 'baby', his first love. Sweet right? But I saw Justin pull the reach over and pull the jacket of the girl he was interested in, to pull her to himself almost against her will. And I was thinking: "Actually, a guy did that to me, I would be thinking, 'HOW DISRESPECTFUL!' ". Is it really cool to tell young gals all around the world that it's the coolest thing for to get into BGR when you're 13, and have silly teenage flings with immature teenage guys? 

Wonder if it's possible for children to be children anymore? 

Another video was 'Fireworks' by Katy Perry. I frankly didn't like the song. Katy has better songs than this. But the video was quite compelling. They were obviously trying to communicate that everyone has  a spark in them, and we should all sparkle and shine in out own way instead of burying the fire.

It was typical American feel-good stuff: the fat girl who doesn't want to wear a bikini at a pool party but then decides to strip and jump into the pool, the kid who can't stand his Dad arguing aggressively with his mom pushes his Dad away, the kid with cancer who witnesses a birth and regains zest for life.....but one of the scenes depicted a homosexual young man at a seedy bar plucking up the courage to walk to another guy and kiss him. 

Mom reminds me now and again that we get very easily influenced by what the media depicts as right and normal. And it might be neither right nor as normal as we think. No wonder we have to renew our minds so that we know God's good, pleasing and perfect will.

God's good, pleasing and perfect will is usually not politically correct or particularly popular/well-accepted.  Contemporary media often ridicules it. Don't think 'media' or popular culture in the time of Acts was any better. But at it's core, God's will is the only thing that will bring perfection and harmony to this whole universe and its inhabitants. 

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