Long after names of the teams, names of players, and even MVP Brady are forgotten, Super Bowl XXXVIII will retain notoriety due to Janet Jackson's vain and very stupid attempt to parade herself as a "great somebody" by exposing her right breast to millions of viewers!
In a rather wildly animated "musical" number there was a moment when Jackson's partner, Justin Timberlake, grabbed a part of her costume and ripped it off resulting in the exposure of the aforementioned part of her anatomy.
Reaction was immediate with howls of protest coming from individuals and groups. Understandably, those who classify themselves as religiously "conservative" or "evangelical" were outraged. A number appealed to persons on their mail lists to storm the gates of the Federal Communications Commission with a flood of protests.
Finger pointing is the order of the day as the FCC probes this incident. CBS and the NFL scrambled in overdrive to do whatever could be done to implement a thing called "damage control!" It very much resembles a situation in public when a guy gets caught with his pants down and tries to explain, as he throws a host of flimsy excuses at a police officer, just why and how it happened!
I admit a bit of risk in asking the question, "Why all the fuss about this?" Now hold on a moment and hear me out. I'm not attempting to be a devil's advocate because I wholeheartedly agree this incident more than qualifies as a top entry in the category of repugnant abominations, and further, that it was no accident! Remember, a majority of those people in the entertainment industry have an ego that if it consisted of coal, you would have a batch of tonnage filling enough railroad coal cars to stretch across this nation from New York to San Francisco at least 3 or more times!
It is no secret that these ego maniacs are always playing the game of "I'm top dog and you're the fire hydrant!" They will resort to anything in an effort to outdo their competitors when it comes to the shocking and the bizarre in their performances!
But why be so "shocked" at what happened on Sunday evening, February 1, 2004 in Houston, Texas? Why is it that we fail to realize this is simply another bitter obnoxious "fruit" which has ripened as a result of our national "seed of rebellion" sown over the latter decades of the 20th Century?
The tap root goes all the way back to the beginning of the 20th Century when apostasy began to be imported from Europe and seminary professors and pastors allowed this spiritual garbage to corrode their spirits. The reasoning for permitting this was rather simple -- this "stuff" was regarded as the latest in "enlightened scholarship," and if you were going to keep pace with the latest developments, then you jumped on this "theological bandwagon" and did your part to spread this stuff in your little section of the world! Participants in this came to be known as "liberals" and for a time this label conveyed an image of sophistication and superior knowledge -- one was a member of an "elite" club. The basic message proclaimed by these people was that the Bible is not a trustworthy volume -- that is, the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis are comprised of myth and fairy tale type material, miracles recorded throughout the Scriptures didn't really happen, there is no personality known as Satan really in existence nor are there demons, Jesus had both an earthly father and mother the same as you and I, the reported atonement for the sins of us humans through Jesus' death on the cross is not really so, and He didn't literally rise from the dead after crucifixion, and He is not going to return to the earth in power and glory at some future point in time as promised!
But while a number of theologians, seminary professors, and pastors have been spreading the above mentioned "spiritual manure" quite extensively, there have been those rare theologians, seminary professors, and pastors who have believed the Bible means precisely what has been revealed therein, including the mind boggling miracle that God became human, sacrificed Himself for the sins of every human being, and literally rose triumphantly from the dead 3 days after that sacrifice was made! The position of these is simply that the Scriptures are totally trustworthy and the final Authority on matters of faith and the practice of that faith which is centered in Jesus Christ, the only Source of salvation from sin, peace with God, and hope for time and eternity!
However, just as in the case of a fast spreading cancer, the "liberal" seed began to infect people at an accelerated pace -- sort of like a snowball rolling down a steep slope -- the further it goes, the faster it goes, and the bigger it gets in size!
Things really came to a head in the early 60's as the rebel seed sown over previous decades began to bear repulsive "fruit" which would make a dead carcass exposed to 90 degree summer temperatures smell like a rose by comparison! Consider ways the deadly fruit has been manifested:
- open defiance of God's laws on sexual experience and expression
- the transformation of the day of worship into a day of pleasure seeking, entertainment, and business -- on any given Sunday we cannot get even half of our 290 million population into a house of worship -- does that say something about the priority and attention that the Creator of this mighty universe is given by U.S. citizens?
- court rulings that have critically eroded the Judeo-Christian foundation upon which our republic was originally established such as removal of Scripture reading and prayer from our public education institutions, the legalizing of abortion on demand resulting in tens of millions of unborn children being destroyed, and a plethora of idiotic decisions banning the display of symbols or references related to the Christian faith in public schools, on government property, etc.
Unborn Babies Killed
since Roe vs. Wade
January 1973
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- court rulings and corporate business policies favoring sodomite and lesbian lifestyles which ultimately will result in legal marriage for same-sex couples and all benefits and privileges which have previously only existed within the realm of marriage between a male and a female.
- the decadence practiced, displayed, produced, and marketed by a majority in the movie, television, and music industries. Why do we get so upset when our young drink this moral sewage and then duplicate the same in their own lives? It's harvest time, don't you know?
- the ever growing pressure upon those who seek to practice the Christian faith as plainly defined in the holy Scriptures to compromise their faith and to adopt a position of tolerance in the midst of what has been defined as a "diverse" culture -- in other words, "Live and let live!" Don't suggest that someone whose lifestyle is morally and ethically different from yours is wrong! That's being judgmental and very unfair. Not a few professing Christians are in a state of retreat and defeat due to yielding to the pressure -- in order to "get along, we'll go along" without any protest whatsoever!
So, with over 4 decades of our national makeover to become a 21st Century version of Sodom and Gomorrah, why all the fuss about a very few seconds of female breast exposure during the half-time antics of Super Bowl XXXVIII?
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"...You have had a harlot's forehead; you refuse to be ashamed."
"When I had fed them to the full, then they committed adultery and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses. They were like well-fed lusty stallions; every one neighed after his neighbor's wife.
Shall I not punish them for these things?" says the LORD. "And shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?"
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time I punish them, they shall be cast down," says the LORD. Thus says the LORD: "Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'
"So you shall say to them, 'This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the LORD their God nor receive correction. Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.'"
Jeremiah 3:3b; 5:7b-9; 6:15,16; 7:28 NKJV
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It is time for You to act, O LORD, for they have regarded Your law as void. Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold! Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way.
Psalm 119:126-128 NKJV
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February 9, 2004
by Clayton D. Harriger
Elder in Full Connection
W. PA Annual Conference
The United Methodist Church
and presently pastor of
Gipsy Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Gipsy PA
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