The Wisdom of CNN

I try not to pay attention to CNN.com. Really I do. But morbid curiosity sets in periodically and I have to see what incredible things they are reporting about.

In case you haven't checked in with them lately, CNN never reports about anything of any real significance for the most part. But it's always interesting.

Occasionally they do try to present themselves as being newsworthy as they attempt to convince Americans everywhere that the Constitution actually says, "You have the right to free health care" but otherwise, they seem to like to deal in the entertainment industry the most.

Today CNN reports that in order to win a wife, men should stop being nice. No more Mr. Nice Guy. It's time to be draw a hard line and play hard to get. There are so many things wrong with the article's world view that I can hardly figure out where to start. It's not just that men are now being counseled not to be nice, but the fact that they are being counseled to do so, so that women will enjoy the chase more.

For the record, I think men should be nice. And I think women should be nice. And I think men should do the chasing but present themselves as MEN of conviction and honor. A woman can hardly resist a man who has a pure heart, who believes the words that come forth from his mouth to the point where he lives the words, and who holds himself worthy of being honored and respected. The article accuses mothers of training their sons to be "too nice." I think there's a valid complaint there. The problem with the statement is that it is the mothers who are bearing the load of teaching their sons to be nice. The father should be leading by example.

Maybe the main problem is the way CNN has chosen to define the word "nice."

In a way, I suppose this report is newsworthy as it marks the decline of family and that's something that we should definitely take note of.

To further prove my point, a few weeks back I refrained from hopping around and hollering about this article wherein CNN pointed out to travelers that nobody likes a crying baby on an airplane. (News flash: it's not exactly a joy ride for the parents either.) I get the point that parents need to be aware of how their children's behavior is making other people in the immediate vicinity feel. I would agree that parents these days seem oblivious to the pain they are inflicting upon society due to their inability to train their children or remove them from situations where they are creating unnecessary "scenes" (i.e., temper tantrums and screaming hissy fits.) However, that's harder to get away from on an airplane.

Babies frequently cry on airplanes because their ears are popping and they do not yet have the ability to figure out how to take care of the problem for themselves.

CNN quoted one anonymous person in this article about children and air travel and I think it, sadly, represents society's opinion as a whole towards children:

"Babies should be banned from planes, movie theatres (sic), restaurants, and any other public place for that matter. The rest of the world doesn't think your kid is as cute as you do," wrote one poster.

We've strayed from the following idea:

Children are a treasure - a reward! - from the Lord and are meant to be valued and loved, protected and cared for. (Psalm 127:3)

Who chooses to banish a blessing? Only one who lacks understanding would do so. If PARENTS realized that their children were blessings, then they would treat them as such, training them how to properly behave and be liked and accepted into society. If society recognized it then we would have less of this:

***I was going to be bold an insert an image of an aborted child here but the pictures were so horrifying I cannot do it. SO HORRIFYING, FOLKS, THAT I CAN'T EVEN POST IT! THAT is what society is doing to our children. Attitudes that express that children should be banished from society are ugly and horrific to behold. ***

And more of this:



Babies have bad days just like adults have bad days. Should we banish adults from society? (That's an amusing thought, I have to confess.)

A comment like the one I quoted above may seem humorous to the speaker in the heat of the moment, but there was another fellow in recent history who was picking and choosing what he wanted society to look like. That man's name was Adolph Hitler and his attitudes led to some of the most horrific crimes against humanity that the world has ever seen. His crimes were so horrific that if he had seen the two babies I've just posted pictures of, and held them in his hands, he would have chosen instant death for one of them.

We cannot begin to allow ourselves to tolerate such remarks against babies or to brush it off as someone's tiny opinion. It is a tiny opinion to be sure but thoughts lead to actions and actions have consequences.

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:15

Our response should be to meet the false or bad desire head on. History should teach us that to sit by silently and say nothing does not benefit society.

To that end, we need to not only fight for the unborn, but talk about the value of human life that has already been born. To even begin to entertain the debate over whether or not babies should be allowed onto airplanes seems atrocious to me because it is a desire under consideration that will take us down the wrong path, possibly giving birth to a greater sin.

Children are blessings. Marriage is a blessing. And both are worth honoring with our thoughts, our words and our deeds.