Has the World Lost Its Mind???

Someone recently pointed me to a post by Brent Singer on parentdish.com about reports of a new pole-dancing doll . . . yes, you read that right—a little girl's doll that dances around a pole!!
Here are his opening lines:

Gizmodo has an item about a new doll. Does it burp? Does it breastfeed? Nope. It dances. On a pole.

If anyone was wondering if the world was doomed, here is your confirmation.

The scoop on this new plaything came from Gizmodo's Jesus Diaz, and features a somewhat grainy photo of a doll in a shiny dress hanging on a pole. A giant heart emblazoned with the word "Pole Dance" is at the top. The box promises "Style." "Interesting." "Music." "Flash." "Up and Down." "Go Round and Round." It might've said "Ewww," "Gross," "Criminal"," but in all likelihood the upstanding manufacturers ran out of room. (http://www.parentdish.com/2009/08/31/next-up-a-pole-dancing-doll/)

Singer goes on to express hope that the reports are false (I hope so, too!), but also identifies the disturbing trend of stripping becoming mainstream. And not just mainstream among adults—stripper poles are showing up in marketing and media targeted at teens and younger children.
It's enough to terrify parents, worry child psychologists, turn optimists into pessimists, fascinate doom-sayers, and probably put the final nail in the coffin of the once popular notion that human civilization was evolving to higher and higher levels (if that coffin hasn't been buried already).
Selling stripper-pole dolls to little girls! Has the world completely lost its mind??
It seems that St. Paul thought so:

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. (Ephesians 4:17-19, Today's New International Version)

That was Paul's evaluation almost 2,000 years ago.
I don't think the level of sanity is improving.

My First Blog

It’s hard to imagine the Apostle Paul sitting at a computer writing a blog. (His first reaction would probably be, “What’s a blog?” Or maybe, “What’s a computer?”) Communication has evolved far beyond anything he could have imagined.

In fact, in my own lifetime I’m stunned at how much has changed in the way we communicate. This morning my family sat at my brother’s computer and talked with my nephew…in Austria! And I don’t mean we typed messages to him, or even that we talked to him by phone. I mean, we sat in front of a computer screen and actually could see and hear each other! I can imagine Paul taking one look at the computer and immediately trying to cast a demon out of it!

On the other hand, I think I can envision Paul trying to use any means of communicating with people in whatever culture he might be. By modern standards, the world was pretty simple in his day; but from what we can tell, he was as up-to-date as he could be. He was trained in the common rabbinic teaching methods used in Jewish synagogues. He also knew and used the standard public speaking and writing techniques practiced among the Greeks and Romans. He went where people gathered for public dialogue, and engaged them in ways they could understand. So I guess it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine Paul learning to use blogs, PowerPoint, email, websites…maybe even Facebook (I wonder what Paul would post on his profile?).

Some of you may have found your way here from our church website and you’re still trying to figure out what a “blog” is. “Blog” is short for “weblog” (web + log) and refers to writing a column on the internet. The main difference between a blog and a newspaper editorial is that a blog allows readers to post comments in reply, inviting a dialogue among readers.

Some of you may be wondering, “What took so long?” Blogging is not really a new means of communicating in the rapidly changing world of the internet. To you I can only say, “Better late than never.” (I hope that’s true!)

Others of you may be wondering why anyone would care what I have to say. Frankly…I agree with you.

But for those of you who are interested (or at least curious), pop in here each week and see what we’re talking about. And don’t be afraid to jump in.