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Religion and Philosophy I implore you to read this story I pulled off of CNN this afternoon. I'll discuss my feelings on the topic at the conclusion of the story.
(CNN) -- At one point in Jared Hutchins' young life, the Beatles were a big problem. "I had to stop listening to them for a while," said Hutchins, who lives in Cumming, Georgia, and plays the piano, guitar and harmonica. He said the group's world view "had a negative effect on me," and made him irritable and angry.
"God owns my life, not the Beatles," he said simply. Although Hutchins said he enjoys a wide range of music -- from Pink Floyd and Arcade Fire to Christian bands such as Hillsong United -- he said he has to be careful of what music he listens to, for the same reason he temporarily turned off the Beatles.
Hutchins, a 16-year-old graced with poise and thoughtfulness, is one of many teenagers who say that some part of popular culture, with its ubiquitous references to sex, drugs and violence, has harmed him.
Last year, Hutchins and his Christian youth group attended an Acquire the Fire rally in Atlanta, Georgia, he said. Acquire the Fire -- regional rallies held across the country -- and BattleCry -- the larger rallies held this year in only three cities -- are the products of the evangelical Christian organization Teen Mania.
One part concert, one part Christian revival, the rallies seek to "stage a reverse revolution" against secular popular culture. They have the pull of headlining rock concerts, drawing thousands of people regardless of the region of the country, the month of year or the day of the week. The audiences are nearly always predominantly teenagers and young adults.
From 2006 to 2007, a total of 127,830 people attended the 34 Acquire the Fire rallies, and 71,414 people attended the three BattleCry events held in San Francisco, California; Detroit, Michigan; and Bristow, Virginia, according to Teen Mania.
For Hutchins, who said he struggled in his early adolescence to fit in and be cool before having a personal experience with God about four years ago, the organization's message is exactly right.
"We don't have to be branded by the culture, we are branded by God," he said. "Be who God created you to be."
But the glossy, glamorous appeal of popular culture too often obscures that path to God, Teen Mania followers say.
And so, Ron Luce, the 46-year-old founder of the organization, has waged a modern-day crusade against "purveyors of popular culture," whom he has condemned as "the enemy." More than two decades old, Teen Mania estimates it has reached more than 2 million teens with its message "of living completely for Christ."
The organization is sprawling. In addition to its live stadium rallies, there are BattleCry shirts and hats, mobile screen savers, books and a television program. There are international mission trips -- Hutchins attended one in Tijuana, Mexico, this summer. There is even a Teen Mania internship, a one-year program called the Honor Academy, based in Lindale, Texas.
In the live events, Luce couples the earnest appeal of a young father with a preacher's ability to mobilize a crowd. He weaves disturbing statistics about teenagers amid his gospel.
Today's teenagers are in crisis, he says.
"We're fighting for those who don't know they have a voice, that are being manipulated by our pop culture indulging in things that, really, they're not mature enough to be thinking about yet," Luce told CNN.
"Kids are hurting," he said. And of those who he feels inflict these moral wounds, Luce said, "We call them terrorists, virtue terrorists, that are destroying our kids."
"They're raping virgin teenage America on the sidewalk, and everybody's walking by and acting like everything's OK. And it's just not OK."
To some, Luce's rhetoric is off-putting, hateful and divisive. Opponents point to his views on homosexuality -- not "in God's plan" -- and abortion -- the "ending of a precious life" -- and say Luce is imposing conservative values on vulnerable teenagers.
It is this criticism that Luce and his followers confronted head-on in March at BattleCry San Francisco.
There, in arguably the most liberal city in the United States, protesters, armed with megaphones and poster board signs, rallied against BattleCry on the steps of City Hall as the Christian teenagers circled and prayed in a demonstration of their own.
"Ron Luce is a liar!" one protester shouted. "Let me hear you say Christian fascist," another yelled.
Luce and the youths, some as young as 11, also raised their voices.
"God, I ask that as we do this BattleCry, Lord, that you would reveal yourself to the teenagers, God, here, God," Mindy Peterson, shouted. Peterson is a member of Teen Mania's Honor Academy. Afterward, Peterson railed against what she said was the protesters' mischaracterization of BattleCry.
"These people think that our war is against other people. They think that our war is against man. And our war isn't. Our war's against ... the pain in teenagers' hearts, like depression, alcoholism. Those things that -- that are, like, tearing our teenagers apart," she said.
While much milder in his terms, Hutchins agrees. "We're a generation that is kind of troubled," he said. Luce wants to "rescue the hearts of our generation," he added.
And of the critics' contention that the rallies, the organization, the message is neo-conservatism wrapped in Biblical verse? Hutchins smiles, nods patiently. "I don't go because I have a political agenda," he said, adding that his friends don't, either.
"Mostly, what we're concerned with is Jesus."
===============================================================
I have read this story twice, thought about it, went for a walk outside of my office and then came back to my desk at work and read it again. The story opens up with young Jared recounting his victimization at the hands of The Beatles, of all bands. He feels that the band gave him a negative outlook on life and left him "irritable and angry." The last I checked, the Beatles sang of love, peace, understanding, togetherness and more love. "All you need is love," I believe a hook in one of their songs goes. George Harrison, a member of the tortuous English group from Liverpool that is in question, was quoted as saying that specific song was "a subtle bit of PR for God." It sounds strange that a group that was this openly spiritual could be the cause of so much heartache in this youth from Cumming, Georgia. Nevermind the fact that I find it very funny that he lives in Cumming, Georgia.
What troubles me most is that Hutchens is playing the victim behind the guise of being a lost sheep and lured into the sordid world of popular culture. Kids and young adults of this thought process would have you believe that the world at large is out to get them and is hell bent on poisoning them into lives of sin by a snakebite from Britney Spears. All teeny bopper biblical hybrid references aside, I greatly dislike the attitude that most fundamentalist Christian (and some not so fundamentalist) teens and adults alike champion. The idea that these people are somehow entitled to a better afterlife because they are taking up personal crosses and defying the idea of having a choice is somewhat grotesque to me. Make a decision people. Trust me, you don't want a world where you cannot decide between right and wrong. That has always been my number one complaint is that these people want all good and no bad in the world. How would you be able to tell what is good if there were no bad?
Of course, the children that are duped into non-free thinking cults, like the TeenMania organization outlined in this story, are not the true villains in this tale. Oh no, that distinction is reserved for the organizers of festivals and brain-washing tactics that turn normal kids into God-fearin' fire and brimstonin' testaments to God's almighty wrath. The leader of the group, half preacher half father figure Ron Luce, says that kids are under attack and are hurting and don't know what to do about it. Boo hoo. If you are a parent and can't sit down with your kids to guide them and help them out with these struggles and have to turn your parenting over to a man like Luce, then you've got bigger problems than your children listening to "Rubber Soul."
Just in case you missed it, or would like to read it again, here is my favorite quote from the story and from Luce.
"They're raping virgin teenage America on the sidewalk, and everybody's walking by and acting like everything's OK. And it's just not OK."
Wow, that's some pretty shocking rhetoric. I know that it takes the idea of needing a sledgehammer to kill a fly to get some sort of attention shone down on to your particular cause, but come on, I wouldn't want my kid following a guy that would use this kind of analogy to describe how he feels secular mainstream culture is attacking our youth.
The other argument that kills me is how they want to label this a "war." It's always the greatest contradiction than most Christians on a mission perpetuate. They want to aggressively see their agenda pushed down the throats of normal people (Christian or otherwise) and if you are not with them, you are against them. Much like the stance of our current Presidential Administration. Nevermind the fact that the methods you use to convey the teachings you are claiming to be spreading are in direct contradiction to the man who taught them in the first place. Jesus taught people (if you believe in that sort of thing) to love their neighbors and respect your brother's and sister's. Personal, political and religious crusades are something that I'm very opposed to. Pushing your thoughts and ideas on to adults who can (sometimes) make good decisions and rational thoughts is one thing, but these impressionable young people? Come on, leave that to the parents. I don't want some bible and pulpit beating nut job telling my kids what's right and what's wrong. Parent's who send their kids to these types of functions and who let them devour that one way is the only right way are just plain lazy.
Guide your kids in the way you want them to be molded, just don't leave it up to people like Luce and his band of hyper-Christian wackadoos or even the E! Channel or Paris Hilton for that matter. I don't care what it is when it comes down to it. I understand that it's very presumptuous for someone with no kids to tell people with kids how they should raise their children, however if that is what you think then you simply aren't paying attention to what I'm actually saying. I'm not telling you how to raise your kids, I'm just telling you to raise your kids.
 | Currently listening :
Strawberry Jam
By Animal Collective
Release date: By 11 September, 2007 |
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