The “B” in ABC

By Lisa Van Houten

As we reported last week, ABC has added another show to its lineup referencing the word “b—ch” in the title, “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt. 23.” See our analysis of last week’s premiere episode.

The creator of “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt. 23” is Nahnatchka Khan, a proclaimed lesbian, who previously worked as a writer of the extremely lewd and vulgar show “American Dad,” airing on Fox TV.  Khan has said about her new show, “I hope that America loves it despite the fact that it can (be) … raunchy…” Even the show’s creator proudly describes the show as raunchy!  That’s one thing we can agree on.

Click here to urge the sponsors to pull their support from this blatantly raunchy show.

 

Of the 14 advertisers from last week’s premiere episode, only 2 returned to advertise on last night’s second episode.  The two returned were Warner Brothers (a Hollywood movie company) and a local ad – Meijer’s supermarket.

 

Last night’s advertisers included Tropicana, Olive Garden, TJ Maxx, Volkswagen, Claritin, and Samsung.

 

The show centers on two New York roommates – June, the “good girl,” and Chloe, the proclaimed psychopathic “bad girl.”  Although, ABC uses a different “B” word to describe her, other than “bad.

One reviewer stated about the two characters:  “…viewers might like the June/Chloe pairing so much, they might want to see the two together romantically.” In reply, Khan, the show’s creator, reportedly said while she doesn’t have immediate plans to do so, she could see that happening.

In last night’s episode the character Chloe makes crude references to sexual exploits with women, as well as with men.  Khan described the character’s bisexuality as: “Whatever is sexy and awesome and fun.”

 

While roommate June seems to have no interest in “batting for the other side,” this episode showed her in bed with Chloe’s married father.

Express your concern to the advertisers of this show who are empowering the increasing lewdness on network television.

 

Click here to urge these advertisers not to support such degrading shows.

http://www.americandecency.org/archives/the-b-in-abc/#more-6602

Beware of the Least Likely Temptation

Beware of the Least Likely Temptation.

Let’s Hear it for the Rules

Let’s Hear it for the Rules.

Never Forget

“Let this be written for a future generation,    that a people not yet created may praise the LORD: ‘The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high,    from heaven he viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners    and release those condemned to death.’”—Psalm 102:18–20

It’s human nature to avoid talking about unpleasant topics. The more serious the topic, the more uncomfortable we feel in discussing it. And when it comes to something as horrific as the Holocaust, we often are at a loss as to how to treat such an overwhelming and sensitive topic.

Indeed, there are those who invoke the Holocaust too frequently and those who do not talk of it enough; those who speak of it appropriately, and those who do so insensitively; those who wish to forget about the past and those who seek to learn from it; those who use the Holocaust to their own advantage, and those who are humbled by its magnitude.

When it comes to the Holocaust, it is essential that we never forget. All Jews today consider themselves as Holocaust survivors since Hitler’s plan was genocidal — to eradicate the entire Jewish nation. All Jews bear an awesome responsibility of telling the story of that painful and dark time in our history. We cannot allow history to repeat itself simply because we failed to convey the horrors to future generations. That’s why the stories of eyewitnesses are so important.

When one American doctor arrived at a concentration camp in Buchenwald, he walked through the barracks for the first time. He heard a voice and turned around and saw a “living skeleton” talking to him. The doctor said it was a strange feeling talking to a skeleton that talked back.

These are the kinds of stories that we cannot afford to forget, not for ourselves and not for our future generations. They convey, in vivid detail, what the eyewitnesses saw and experienced. But stories do not merely convey history; they convey moral value. A Jewish woman who was at Auschwitz said that whenever Allied planes flew overhead, she and the other Jewish prisoners prayed that they would bomb the gas chambers, “even if it meant we might be killed.” They were willing to give their lives to save others.

It’s important to convey both history and moral value to future generations. That’s why God’s word reminds us and warns us to pass it on: “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them” (Deuteronomy 4:9).

Consider what you can do today to remember the Holocaust and to pass on these stories to the next generation so that we will never forget.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/never-forget-2

No laughing matter

By Chris Johnson

Laughter is powerful. It has been called the “best medicine,” the “shortest distance between two people,” and an “instant vacation.” It can shame people or unite people, and it can apparently turn horribly insensitive comments into acceptable “jokes.”

The most recent example of this comes from comedienne Sarah Silverman who made a crack on Twitter about aborting her burrito. The tweet included a before picture of her swollen belly after eating a burrito and a picture after her stomach was again it’s normal size along with the words, “just had a quickie aborsh in case R v W gets overturned.”

Hilarious, right? Who wouldn’t laugh at that? Besides the babies that can’t because they’ve been killed, of course. And maybe the parents who are scarred by the memories of their own abortion procedures. Who would have thought an abortion joke would be in poor taste?

Silverman’s text is just one example of  line-crossing humor that has received some publicity, though.

Not too long ago, Rush Limbaugh got into hot water when he equated Sandra Fluke with a “slut” and a “prostitute.” There was justified controversy over those comments which was somewhat quelled when conservatives pointed out that liberal comedian Bill Maher had called Sarah Palin much more derogatory names which ADA cannot publish and live up to its name.

President Obama’s communications director, David Axelrod, justified Maher’s comments, saying, “understand that these words that Maher has used in his standup act are a little bit different than — not excusable in any way — but different than a guy with 23 million radio listeners using his broadcast platform to malign a young woman for speaking her mind in the most inappropriate, grotesque ways.”

So, in other words, it’s not as bad when Maher says something sexist, because he’s a comedian, and can’t attract an audience.

Going back a little further, there was FOX’s show, “Family Guy,” joking around about September 11. In the episode, two of the characters go back in time  to prevent the 2001 terrorist attacks. When their actions don’t turn out so well, they go back in time again to undo them. When they successfully cause the 9/11 attack to happen again, they give each other high fives. This sparked a discussion on whether or not it was “too soon” for 9/11 jokes.

One final example is David Letterman’s joke about Sarah Palin’s underage daughter being impregnated by the New York Yankee’s star hitter Alex Rodriguez. It took Letterman a week to realize that just because something is a “joke” doesn’t mean it should be told in front of millions of people and apologize.

Abortions, demeaning women, terrorist attacks responsible for the death of thousands of people, raping teenage girls – is that seriously what we’re depending on for laughs now?

According to an old Yiddish proverb, “What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.” I would say the opposite is often true these days. What are considered to be jokes often serve to just make our souls more dirty.

And, while it’s easy to blame people for saying offensive things for others to laugh at, the fact is these people are entertainers. When they find material that works for them, they will keep on using it as long as people keep laughing.  That doesn’t make it right because it isn’t right.  So many aren’t grounded in “… whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are lovely.  … think on these things.”

I’m thankful for a mother and a grandmother who not only contested any miscreant talk and laughter but pointedly showed me the error of it and the potential damage done by it.

May God help us set the pace in our circles – letting our light be light.

http://www.americandecency.org/archives/no-laughing-matter/#more-6596

“The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.” Romans 11:7

Those that are blinded by the god of this world, have no knowledge of what power and feeling and savour and dew are; they see not these things, they are blind to their reality, they are dead to their importance; but the living family of God, who are brought by his blessed Spirit into some apprehension of eternal realities, have eyes to see what power is, and hearts too, to desire to feel its manifestation. Nay, it is the very seeing what reality and power are which makes them desire to experience the savour of eternal things in their conscience; and because they do not feel them as they wish, it makes them often fear that they are blind altogether (Isaiah 59:10). But the very inquiry, the very anxious cry, the very groaning desire, the very fervent supplication to the Lord that he would not let them live and die without a testimony from himself, that he would lift up the light of his countenance and grant them the life of his favour–these very cries are a proof of life. Were you blind, you would not see these things; were you deaf, you would not spiritually hear these things; were you dead, you would not feel these things. And, therefore, that which you seem to take as an evidence against you, is, in reality, an evidence for you; and the very sensations of trepidation, anxious inquiry, godly fear, and the crying out before the Lord that he would search and try you and really make your heart right in his sight–these very things are the symptoms of life, the evidences of a work of grace upon the heart, and are the spiritual breathings of the quickened soul, the Lord himself having communicated these feelings unto it.

http://devotionals.ochristian.com/j-c-philpot-daily-portions.shtml

Search Your Heart: Are You Alive or Dead?

Search Your Heart: Are You Alive or Dead?.

God’s Unfailing Love

The Old Testament book of Hosea is the story of God’s faithful love for His unfaithful people. In what seems strange to us, the Lord commanded Hosea to marry a woman who would break her marriage vows and bring grief to him (Hosea 1:2-3). After she deserted Hosea for other men, the Lord told him to take her back—a picture of “the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods” (3:1).

Later, Hosea was called upon to tell the Israelites that because of their rebellion against the Lord, they would be carried away into captivity by a foreign power. “Tumult shall arise among your people, and all your fortresses shall be plundered” (10:14).

Yet in the midst of their sin and punishment, the grace of God toward His people was never exhausted. In a grace-filled exhortation, He said: “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you” (10:12).

Even when we have “plowed wickedness” and “reaped iniquity” (10:13), God does not stop loving us. Whatever our situation today, we can turn to the Lord and find forgiveness to make a new start. His love never fails!

The Lord bestows unfailing love, Forgiving when we fall And then repent and turn to Him, Responding to His call. —Sper

No force is greater than the power of God’s love.

http://odb.org/2012/04/19/gods-unfailing-love/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+odb%2Ffeed+%28Our+Daily+Bread%29

Are You Trusting in Tyre? by Mark D. Roberts

Ezekiel 26:1-21

They will sing a lament for you, and they will say:      How you have perished, queen of the sea,           city once praised,           who once dominated the sea,      she and her rulers,      who spread their terror abroad,           every one of them.

Ezekiel 26:17

I wasn’t really surprised to hear it, but the news story still caused me to sigh with sadness. Last month, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., announced that the 2010 edition of its famed encyclopedia would be that last print version. What began in 1768, with the first printed edition of the encyclopedia, is now history. From now on, you will only be able to access the Britannica digitally.

At least the Encyclopedia Britannica, believed by many to be the finest encyclopedia in the world, will continue to exist in some form. The same cannot be said for many of the enterprises that once were a regular part of our lives. Remember when you’d go to CompUSA to buy a modem or to Circuit City for a VHS player? Borders was a great place to grab a book and a cup of coffee, and the Sears Catalog was the best place to buy just about anything.

In the sixth century B.C., the city of Tyre was one of the leading economic powers in the Mediterranean world. Perfectly situated on the coastline of Phoenicia, Tyre was an international center of maritime trade. Moreover, the unique city’s location provided a deep harbor for large ships as well as protection from enemy attack. Thus, Tyre was widely praised for her economic prowess and apparent invincibility.

Yet, because Tyre laughed at Jerusalem when it fell to the power of Babylon (26:2), and because of Tyre’s unjust business practices (28:18), God chose to judge Tyre using the might of Babylon (26:7). In time, the city that once dominated the world, the city that was once praised for its success, will fall.

Ezekiel 26 reminds us that even the greatest of human institutions will not last forever. That which so impresses us one day will be gone the next. Thus, we are challenged and encouraged to consider what we value and where we put our trust. Are you living for what really matters? Are you praising that which truly deserves your praise? Are you trusting in the Lord…or in today’s “Tyre”?

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: What institutions might you be tempted to regard as too big to fail? In what institutions are you tempted to put your ultimate trust, or to invest with your ultimate praise?

PRAYER: Only you, O Lord, are worthy of my full trust. Only you deserve my unbroken praise. Yet, how easily I invest my loyalty in today’s “Tyre.” How impressed I can become with temporal success. As I admire human achievements, help me, O Lord, never to vest them with the praise and trust that you alone deserve. Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/are-you-trusting-tyre

The Fire That Consumes You · Max Lucado

The Fire That Consumes You · Max Lucado.