in my opinion, most youth have 'split' personalities. They have two [sometimes more] different identities, where the same person who goes to church, serves, acts a certain way on sundays, is not the person seen by others outside of his 'immediate' community on mondays.
example: -joe is a polite kid, who serves his church on the weekends. -on monday, joe becomes joey, a guy who loves nothing more than smoking in the boys room and ditching class.
most youth have problems joining their two different identities into one, but it usually self resolves by their mid twenties.
[quote author=gust123 link=topic=9135.msg113572#msg113572 date=1271746129] Especially in the English speaking countries. Or even English speaking countries vs. Arabic speaking. Please shed some light.
Sexualisation of youth.
This is definately a problem in the UK, and Europe. The Church, being weak, fragmented, and in the state it is, I believe there is no voice of reason to counter balance what any young person is subjected to whether at University, Work, at Home.
We've pushed the boundaries of decency in Europe, and what can be considered mainstream advertisement was definately not the case 20 years ago.
We're living in a world where sexuality is a commodity, and youths can be easily forgiven for treating themselves as a commodity also.
Just last week, Primark were selling padded bras for girls aged 7. After public outrage, they removed the bras from their shelves, but the question remains: They were selling to a market. Parents were buying this garbage for their young kids.
It is absolutely common now to find toddler-wear or clothes with remarks such as "Sex bomb" on it, "I'm too sexy for my parents" etc.
It was common to see semi-naked women advertising a bio-organic yogurt at 2pm in French Local TV (That was 15 years ago).
Do you like music? look at how pop singers behave, how they dress? Listen to the lyrics. I won't paste them here.
In fact, this is a good example of how morals have changed:
Look at any 60's record lyrics:
Will you love me tomorrow? Sitting on the Dock of the bay Why do fools fall in Love?
Now, compare this with ANYTHING today:
I dare not even mention the title of the songs, NOR the lyrics.
In some cases, some lyrics are just so pornographic, they should be banned.
If you are not into music, take a look at films: Do I need to say anymore?
Look at education? In the UK and France, they teach sex education: but it is more on the lines of "This is what you can do, and this is how you should do it".
In Canada, they try to be creative and add the following to any sex education lesson: "You don't know unless you've tried it" (that applies to homosexuality, and anything else. Why, just this sunday, I met a girl from Canada who felt the same way: its not a place to raise children.
I think the sufferings we have today as a Christian, are much worse than 1500 years ago.
Today, you can shout out, at the top of your voice, any profanity or degrading comment about anyone, yet if you were to say to anyone "Jesus Loves and Died for You", you'd be arrested for offending muslims or atheists.
You know, I remember once I was in Paris, going to work, and in the metro, this little girl came on the train. She was no more than 12 years of age. I'd say around 10. She wore a skimpy top that only covered her top half, leaving her waist uncovered, and a small skirt.
She started dancing provocatively in the metro. A lot of people watched, and many laughed thinking it was amusing, encouraging her. Their sniggering turned into embarassement and entire atmosphere changed when I shouted at her telling her what she is doing is illegal, and I called the police.
----------------------------------------------
So what IS wrong with sexualising anyone? We are, after all, sexual beings. God created us male and female.
Why was there a public outrage at Primark's selling of padded bras for young girls?? Why did people get upset over this, but not over naked women being posted on billboards advertising their latest pop songs? Why?
Like the story in the metro, there is no voice to say "this is WRONG". The voice in this wilderness should be the Church, and it is so quiet, so passive, so calm, and so fragmented, that any message it will say is not clear and will not be heard.
I've had a lot of conversations with the youth in my church: the preteens, young adults, and even older youth who are in their 20's and 30's....they all have a common issue. Dating and loneliness. I'm not saying this is the only issue facing youth, but it is an important one. They see their friends and the media showing off dating for everyone, even the very young...as young as 7 or 8 years old and it just becomes a normal thing to practice. When the church or even the parents try to be the voice of reason, it becomes a struggle to figure out what makes sense. Then, if they're smart enough and willing enough to not fall into the trap of having relationships at a young age or even at an older age just to be 'like everyone else", they struggle with extreme lonliness. They feel like they need to date so they can feel loved or needed because they're friends aren't fullfilling that duty. It only becomes a matter of time before they act like their friends and the media portrayls and just date one guy after another or one girl after another...and all the inhibitions go out the door and many problems arise.
[quote author=gust123 link=topic=9135.msg113572#msg113572 date=1271746129] Especially in the English speaking countries. Or even English speaking countries vs. Arabic speaking. Please shed some light.
[quote author=omelnour link=topic=9135.msg113584#msg113584 date=1271778007] I've had a lot of conversations with the youth in my church: the preteens, young adults, and even older youth who are in their 20's and 30's....they all have a common issue. Dating and loneliness. I'm not saying this is the only issue facing youth, but it is an important one. They see their friends and the media showing off dating for everyone, even the very young...as young as 7 or 8 years old and it just becomes a normal thing to practice. When the church or even the parents try to be the voice of reason, it becomes a struggle to figure out what makes sense. Then, if they're smart enough and willing enough to not fall into the trap of having relationships at a young age or even at an older age just to be 'like everyone else", they struggle with extreme lonliness. They feel like they need to date so they can feel loved or needed because they're friends aren't fullfilling that duty. It only becomes a matter of time before they act like their friends and the media portrayls and just date one guy after another or one girl after another...and all the inhibitions go out the door and many problems arise.
The Church should be that voice of reason.
It reminds me of John the Baptist: Fearless, and willing to die for the truth. Not just for the truth, but for the benefit of others also. Imagine if John the Baptist had a friend, and wherever he went, his friend went also. Imagine if that friend disagreed with EVERYTHING John the Baptist said? Imagine if John the Baptist had told Herod: What you are doing is wrong, and yet his friend said "no no.. its OK.. so long as you love each other, don't worry".
This is the west with a divided Christian identity. It is so dangerous.
The identity of Europe and the Western Countries IS based on Christianity, but while we are divided, we are not just divided dogmatically, but we are divided spiritually, and morally. Our identity , our morals do not become clear. The Church is no longer guiding us. All that is guiding us is public opinion. There are communities in the Roman Catholic Church who preach against fornication, and there are others who are pro-homosexuality. There are communities who see adultary as wrong , and others who see it as a sin to say that "anything is wrong".
The worst part is this: the youth will subconsciously come to the conclusion that so long as they do not destroy the Ozone layer, NOTHING will upset God from them, and they are not in anyway sinning.
Subconsciously, they will feel that. If the Church itself is not sure about what is right or wrong, then they can just as well live their lives experimenting and finding out for themselves.
Now, I know we should be careful when saying "the Church" as our Orthodox Church is totally blameless in any of this. We are not the Church of the west even!! But, others won't see that.
Recently, I read a letter by the Archbishop of California who did a survey: 70% of Catholics who attended mass did not believe NOR realise that they were partaking of the Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
I know loads of Catholics who believe that fornication is not a sin, and is blessed by the Church so long as you "love the other person".
Protestants generally believe that sex before marriage is wrong, and adultary, but I feel many of the Church divisions arise because of their very existence.
Christ said: You are the salt of the earth.
It only takes a small bit of salt to season a HUGE BOWL of salad. But if that salt loses its flavour, no matter how large the quantity you put in it, it does nothing. It is the cheap salad afterwards that gives flavour to the salt. It becomes literally worthless.
Salt was a commodity people used to trade in. I think that is why Christ used it as an example: because it was expensive.
So, IF the Church was united, even if we were smaller, then a voice could be heard. Not just united, but OBVIOUSLY sharing the same values. We are not. Many people have not heard of the Orthodox Church, nor understand it, and many see us as just another flavour of the Catholic Church. Hence, if they found the RC immoral, then we're just another flavour of that branch of Christianity.
I'm not suggesting unity to overcome these issues, but it is a HUGE embrassement to the Christian faith, or to anyone Christian, to admit that their western democracies are based on Christian ideals, and yet we have no morals within us.
The Churches (notably, the anglicans, catholics, evangelicals etc) have a LOT to answer for.
[ADDITION]
May I just add, a PRIME example illustrating the cause of why our youths are just now sexualised is the story of H.G. Bishop Souriel.
I feel I can tell this story, as he himself talked about it, and its freely available on the internet:
He was invited to attend a meeting with other churches in Australia concerning Church Unity (I think that was the topic). Anyway, he just mentioned that Homosexuality is wrong, and is a sin. That's all.
After saying this, I think he was rebuked and asked not to come again.
So, look at the voice of the Church! Look...
We cannot expect the youth in the street to know or understand theology to figure out that there are moral differences between Orthodox, Catholics and Anglican. You cannot blame them for putting us ALL under the same umbrella as "Christians" and saying to themselves: "well, the Church is divided on this issue, so it cannot be THAT serious. If a bishop has a gay boyfriend, then i'm sure me with my heterosexual girlfriend will be OK".
The Coptic Church parishes are being passive about a lot of things--relative to observation. They feel they might offend the youth and they will leave the Church as a whole.
One can look casually at the appearance of the youth and you can get a flavor what they are involved. Their parents are permissive, because they are living vicariously through their kids, or they feel that somehow again they will be lost. Sounds judgmental, but it is unfortunately true.
I do not think that there is enough discipline on a lot of levels/planes.
You can talk about this until you are blue in the face, it is not going to change too much.
More my vantage point, things are getting worse. I do not see any improvement. There are one or two bright spots, but even they are under a lot of pressure to acquiesce.
[quote author=ilovesaintmark link=topic=9135.msg113592#msg113592 date=1271789268] The Coptic Church parishes are being passive about a lot of things--relative to observation. They feel they might offend the youth and they will leave the Church as a whole.
One can look casually at the appearance of the youth and you can get a flavor what they are involved. Their parents are permissive, because they are living vicariously through their kids, or they feel that somehow again they will be lost. Sounds judgmental, but it is unfortunately true.
I do not think that there is enough discipline on a lot of levels/planes.
You can talk about this until you are blue in the face, it is not going to change too much.
More my vantage point, things are getting worse. I do not see any improvement. There are one or two bright spots, but even they are under a lot of pressure to acquiesce.
Hi iLoveStMark,
I don't think the CoC is being passive, I think our priests in the diaspora have just assumed that because they themselves know that fornication is wrong (for example), that they think somehow that those in their parishes will also , automatically believe the same.
That is their prime mistake: they assume a lot. They do not realise that a child growing up in western countries will grow up in a completely different environment than anyone in Egypt or the Middle East.
But I'm not sure they are aware, due to the fact that nearly 99% of our priests & bishops have never studied, nor grown up in any western country, that they are clearly aloof as to what their youth go through in their daily lives at School, University, Work and at Home.
I remember the pressure of growing up and having to have a girlfriend. This was amazing. Whether u were Christian or Muslim growing up in Egypt, this was not a "peer pressure".
I remember when I turned 16, whilst at school, it was like an objective to lose your virginity. Being a virgin was not heard of at 16. In Egypt, the opposite is true. For muslims or Christians.
Although we do have have some clergy that have lived and grown up in the west, I think there is a need for more; as they will assume less about those they are serving. They will not use their childhood upbringing in Egypt to extrapolate what it is like for their youth in western countries where they now serve.
Of course our youth will be more influenced by their "peers" than by the Church. They will see abouna as someone from the Middle East, and "out of touch" with their western traditions.
What then is the answer?? --------------------------
Ultimately, in the 1st instance, is the well being of our own youth, and secondly those who are not even Coptic orthodox.
I don't know why His Holiness has insisted in the past in systematically sending us priests in France who never grew up there, and some who can hardly speak French, and priests in the UK, who although are really "nice" people, can barely put a phrase in English together.
But when our youth are properly nourished spiritually, and have the correct faith and morals embedded in their hearts, then I'm sure things would be different. Had I depended on my Church priests for any sort of guidance whilst growing up, I'd have surely faltered.
I was blessed to have a remarkably strong Christian family, whose house was like a Cathedral, and who were so close to me, that I could trust with anything.
Concerning the non Coptic Orthodox youth: or anyone who is not even baptised nor believes: They need a united Church: united in morals, values, MICRO-values, and dogma.
As I said, you cannot blame them for assuming anything theologically. The Bible is not the easiest book to understand, and reading it by yourself results in the opening of new Churches left, right and center.
No matter how bad the world becomes, IloveStMark, when the House of God is united, it will season any food. - remember, the apostles were only 12 and they evangelised the entire world - and not with the sword.
The key to success is written in the Bible:
On the day of the Pentecost, it is written that they were not only gathered together, but were united in spirit and prayer.
The priests are not blind, but their hands are tied. Have you ever seen a parent admonishing the priest for the sway and loss of their child? They blame the priest, but they do not blame themselves.
As for His Holiness, where is he going to get priests?
You make many assumptions, and I have to disagree with some of them. I do not think you have seen how the youth have changed in Egypt.
Part of the reason, which has never really been discussed (at least relative to Egypt), is the "Trojan Horse Effect"--as I call it.
We, as a people and a Church, were happy that such things as Aghape TV and CTV came into being. They required satellite dishes to be brought into the homes. However, with one or two religious TV channels came over 100 channels of terrible programming and outright satanic expression. So Satan, let us have a small victory, and used it as a Trojan Horse to infiltrate into the people of Egypt.
I can give you a list of analysis on so many different fronts. The bottom line is, people do not seek out God unless there is a tragedy. After 9/11, the church attendance in the United States was 90-98%. As things began to settle it was back to 18-20%.
How many people are around for the High Feast Days and not around every Sunday?
How do you attract someone to be a priest when he can make a ton of money in the secular world?
These are the realities. You cannot make anyone do anything.
That is why in Egypt they call cancer: "The disease which leads to Paradise". When the adversity of the disease hits, it causes you to seek out penance, because the time to see Your Maker is soon.
[quote author=ilovesaintmark link=topic=9135.msg113595#msg113595 date=1271793878] My Dear Zoxsasi,
The priests are not blind, but their hands are tied. Have you ever seen a parent admonishing the priest for the sway and loss of their child? They blame the priest, but they do not blame themselves.
Hey iLoveStMark!
Im really interested to know what you mean by "their hands are tied". It would appear that the problems facing our youth in Europe are different than in the US.
Perhaps at times I do ask myself whether abouna is not addressing these issues so he doesnt offend anyone, but at others I think he's just unaware that its an issue.
As for His Holiness, where is he going to get priests?
I agree. Im sorry. But it doesn't mean that the cultural differences will not be problematic when they do serve in a country that they did not grow up in. especially if they cannot speak the language, nor think in it.
You make many assumptions, and I have to disagree with some of them. I do not think you have seen how the youth have changed in Egypt.
Easy big guy.. lol
i didnt say that the youth in Egypt have changed. Im well aware that they do more or less the same immoral acts they do in the west, except it is all "hidden". However, my point was simple: it is against the Egyptian culture to actually have sex outside marriage anyway - whether you do it or not, hidden or open, it is not something you'd boast about in Egypt.
Part of the reason, which has never really been discussed (at least relative to Egypt), is the "Trojan Horse Effect"--as I call it.
We, as a people and a Church, were happy that such things as Aghape TV and CTV came into being. They required satellite dishes to be brought into the homes. However, with one or two religious TV channels came over 100 channels of terrible programming and outright satanic expression. So Satan, let us have a small victory, and used it as a Trojan Horse to infiltrate into the people of Egypt.
ilovestMark, I have both CTV, and agapy TV, and I have NEVER even seen any other channel. I've never even looked at any other channel. I just saw once this programme called "Smile of a Child" and that was it. That's all the TV i watch.
But, in general, I agree, we can be subjected to many temptations, whether we have satellite or not.
For me, I find the internet the worst! With Satellite TV, I can control what I watch. With the internet, I'm not 110% in control. If I'm looking for a PNG file to use in a document, and I search for it, I'm sure I'll come across some nudity or porn.
Also, I do look at the news. I read the news a lot! Sometimes, they publish, even in respected news sites, stories of Pop stars in the worst way possible.
I can give you a list of analysis on so many different fronts. The bottom line is, people do not seek out God unless there is a tragedy. After 9/11, the church attendance in the United States was 90-98%. As things began to settle it was back to 18-20%.
How many people are around for the High Feast Days and not around every Sunday?
How do you attract someone to be a priest when he can make a ton of money in the secular world?
These are the realities. You cannot make anyone do anything.
That is why in Egypt they call cancer: "The disease which leads to Paradise". When the adversity of the disease hits, it causes you to seek out penance, because the time to see Your Maker is soon.
Overall, I have to tell you: I do not have many answers. Unless there is an inward motivation to seek out the Almighty, the person will stay the same and follow the insanity of the world.
[quote author=little moseeba link=topic=9135.msg113590#msg113590 date=1271782358] [quote author=gust123 link=topic=9135.msg113572#msg113572 date=1271746129] Especially in the English speaking countries. Or even English speaking countries vs. Arabic speaking. Please shed some light.
facebook.
Facebook, is not the biggest issue concerning youth. I think that is such a small aspect as has been discussed that its almost irrelevant. Facebook is a time waster and if used incorrectly yes can be damaging. But that goes back to lack of supervision. You can argue anything without proper parental supervision is a hinderance and cause to be worried about. TV can be arguably a much bigger issue, especially the things that show up on prime-time now its quite sad and disgusting really. The church needs to be more active, but I think the parents have to play a much bigger role. If the church says dating is bad but the parents could care less or are even unaware of their childrens activities(which can happen with huge generation gaps and culture gaps, ie parents who come here with young children and can't communicate well in english.) Parents are a huge role, the burden will fall on them and judgement will be passed harsher on them not necessarily the church. I encourage all who are reading this, parents, couples, who ever, once you have kids(if you don't already) please do not seek to be the 'cool" parents. You only hurt your child that way. Be involved and make sure that when they are young you are providing substantial supervision and discipline.
I am amazed to see that someone else was concerned about parent's wanting to be "cool" in front of their kids like me.
This is a huge issue. Parents try their best to show their kids that they are open minded, and in doing so neglect the teachings of our Church. I find this attitude in parents who came from very conservative backgrounds and feel generally that they themselves didn't "live life" or their parents were "too strict" so, they over-compensate in being "cool parents" allowing their kids to do what they were deprived of.
Again, the problem is rooted in the Church: Did the Church explain to these people that God's commandments are good for them? Whether you love God or not, His commandments protect you?
The fruit of such upbringing is disaster.
They will regret it.
It is so important to instill in your children at a young age the importance of purity of heart, and the fear of God. A lot of parents send out the wrong signals to their children by trying to compromise with values in the hope of allowing their children to integrate into a society. This is VERY weak in the personality of the parent. It means they have no personality themselves
The issue is not the Church. That is where I have to disagree with you.
Christ, Himself, was among His People and Apostles, and I can give plenty of examples where they just did not want to listen.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the slayer of the prophets, many a times a yearned to gather you as a mother hen gathers her chicks and you would not...." (I think we all know how that verse ends).
Human beings are just not chosing God. They want another master, i.e., Satan and his ways.
I know that once someone decides to move to a different country, they usually begin with some hardships (culture shock, finding a job, language barriers, etc.) and when it comes to a family, the parents often become too busy to guide their children. Some also state that they have no idea how to communicate to their children since they have focused their attention on various other issues they have been facing for a number of years. What do you think the children can do on their own in order to stay on the right and true path to Christ?
[quote author=Zoxsasi link=topic=9135.msg113575#msg113575 date=1271753947] [quote author=gust123 link=topic=9135.msg113572#msg113572 date=1271746129] Especially in the English speaking countries. Or even English speaking countries vs. Arabic speaking. Please shed some light.
Sexualisation of youth.
This is definately a problem in the UK, and Europe. The Church, being weak, fragmented, and in the state it is, I believe there is no voice of reason to counter balance what any young person is subjected to whether at University, Work, at Home.
We've pushed the boundaries of decency in Europe, and what can be considered mainstream advertisement was definately not the case 20 years ago.
We're living in a world where sexuality is a commodity, and youths can be easily forgiven for treating themselves as a commodity also.
Just last week, Primark were selling padded bras for girls aged 7. After public outrage, they removed the bras from their shelves, but the question remains: They were selling to a market. Parents were buying this garbage for their young kids.
It is absolutely common now to find toddler-wear or clothes with remarks such as "Sex bomb" on it, "I'm too sexy for my parents" etc.
It was common to see semi-naked women advertising a bio-organic yogurt at 2pm in French Local TV (That was 15 years ago).
Do you like music? look at how pop singers behave, how they dress? Listen to the lyrics. I won't paste them here.
In fact, this is a good example of how morals have changed:
Look at any 60's record lyrics:
Will you love me tomorrow? Sitting on the Dock of the bay Why do fools fall in Love?
Now, compare this with ANYTHING today:
I dare not even mention the title of the songs, NOR the lyrics.
In some cases, some lyrics are just so pornographic, they should be banned.
If you are not into music, take a look at films: Do I need to say anymore?
Look at education? In the UK and France, they teach sex education: but it is more on the lines of "This is what you can do, and this is how you should do it".
In Canada, they try to be creative and add the following to any sex education lesson: "You don't know unless you've tried it" (that applies to homosexuality, and anything else. Why, just this sunday, I met a girl from Canada who felt the same way: its not a place to raise children.
I think the sufferings we have today as a Christian, are much worse than 1500 years ago.
Today, you can shout out, at the top of your voice, any profanity or degrading comment about anyone, yet if you were to say to anyone "Jesus Loves and Died for You", you'd be arrested for offending muslims or atheists.
You know, I remember once I was in Paris, going to work, and in the metro, this little girl came on the train. She was no more than 12 years of age. I'd say around 10. She wore a skimpy top that only covered her top half, leaving her waist uncovered, and a small skirt.
She started dancing provocatively in the metro. A lot of people watched, and many laughed thinking it was amusing, encouraging her. Their sniggering turned into embarassement and entire atmosphere changed when I shouted at her telling her what she is doing is illegal, and I called the police.
----------------------------------------------
So what IS wrong with sexualising anyone? We are, after all, sexual beings. God created us male and female.
Why was there a public outrage at Primark's selling of padded bras for young girls?? Why did people get upset over this, but not over naked women being posted on billboards advertising their latest pop songs? Why?
Like the story in the metro, there is no voice to say "this is WRONG". The voice in this wilderness should be the Church, and it is so quiet, so passive, so calm, and so fragmented, that any message it will say is not clear and will not be heard.
Finally, I'd like to use the Bible (scripture) to highlight this huge problem we have. Fr. Peter at least asked us to quote from Patristics or from the Bible as far as possible:
Most people, whether they believe in God or not, generally accept the following:
* Murder is wrong (bad) * Adultary is wrong (bad) * Lying is wrong (bad) * Rape is wrong (bad) * Theft is wrong (bad).
However, what the Bible terms as "sexual immorality" is not considered wrong. On the contrary, it is even justified and rewarded by many democratic socieites.
Let's see a small chapter from the Bible to highlight this:
MARK Chapter 1 - explains it all (see below):
Basically, Christ rebuked the Pharisees because they devalued God's commandments in favour of their own traditions.
How does that apply today?
It is our culture/tradition now to have sex before marriage. We justify it. We think its normal. Our society tells us its normal. Fornication is no longer a sin. We've devalued Christ's commandments in favour of our traditions.
In fact, if you go and tell anyone that sex before marriage, even with your boyfriend, is a sin, they will surely tell you: "No. that was before. But, now our culture has changed".
Therefore, I am saying THE ONLY problem facing our youth is sexual immorality. Its the ONLY one. Its where they are not only weak in faith, but the culture around them promotes it, and worse off, the Churches are not even in agreement that this is something wrong.
1The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 2saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed. 3(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.[a]) 5So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?"
6He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: " 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'[b] 8You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
9And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe[c] your own traditions! 10For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,'[d] and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'[e] 11But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), 12then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."
You see! You see how we've devalued Christ's commandments in favour of our own traditions (man made traditions!?).
How can we accept all God's commandments, and yet, equally, reject the ones we don't want and replace them with our own traditions: "so long as you love the person, its OK".
How do we correct the situation? How do we tell our youth that sexual immorality is wrong, and above all, that lust of the heart or sexual immorality in the heart is wrong? How do we do that? How do we do that when every western society not only uses sex to advertise a paper-clip, but at school, University, life, it literally becomes part of your national identity to be sexually immoral?
Its a very hard situation. I won't deny that. If I am from a good Christian family, and I found it quite difficult at times to combat purity of heart, what about others whose parents are just regular Christians?
How do they cope?
OK, so at a global level - there is much we can do. There's an organisation called Morality in Media which aims to lobby governments about sexual obscenity in the media. I think this is good. There are many Catholic and Protestant groups who evangelise chastity and the need for sexual purity. But as you can see: WE ARE FRAGMENTED.
To hinder any effort the churches make, there are some clergy in some churches who will be judged severely for the influence they have in telling their parishioners that sex before marriage is OK, so long as you love each other : God warns us in Isiah : "woe to you who change wrong to right, and right to wrong"; and I feel this message is completely directed at Christians who do that, as their influence will be greater than anything.
At a local level (within the CoC), as I mentioned, I know that you cannot overcome ANYTHING without God's grace. It is not by your own will. We will fall in the same trap as St Peter who tried to do good, but because he depended on his own inherent goodness, he couldn't even confess he knew Christ to a powerless woman servant.
We need to depend on God's grace to deliver us from all sins. Having the "good intention" not to sin is not enough. Really - I mean that. Our Church is powerful in terms of the sacraments we have: notably the Holy Communion. I don't think it is possible to be immune to sin unless you engage in the Holy Sacraments.
What are my concerns - personally?
I'm saddened that we live in democracies where there is so much freedom, there is a complete disregard or apathy towards one another. What has now become mainstream "culture" in Europe is anti-Christian. It saddens me that, with our own hands, by our own making, we will not have a choice to raise our kids in an environment that is holy. If I take the metro in Paris, I will pass 1000's of posters, adverts,even women who are either naked, semi-naked or dressed to seduce to sell you something.
Have you noticed something bizarre about living in the West?? That anything immoral, sexually offensive, disgusting, or vulgar can be published and promoted by simply calling it "art".
here's an example: Child Pornography is wrong. However, at the age of 13: Brook Shields's mother took a picture of her in the nude whilst having a bath. It was completely provacative and sexual. The TATE GALLERY in london felt it "artistic" to publish this.
What the heck is wrong with us???
Why is there such an apathy towards one another??
So, if Brook Shield's mother made a mistake, do we need to carry the lantern of that error for all generations to come and vulgarise our societies!??
Its so easy to turn off a TV station when something pornographic comes up, but when it is in your face, day in, day out, everywhere you go, it will influence you.
I think the Church should lobby for stricter advterisement laws.
Comments
in my opinion, most youth have 'split' personalities. They have two [sometimes more] different identities, where the same person who goes to church, serves, acts a certain way on sundays, is not the person seen by others outside of his 'immediate' community on mondays.
example:
-joe is a polite kid, who serves his church on the weekends.
-on monday, joe becomes joey, a guy who loves nothing more than smoking in the boys room and ditching class.
most youth have problems joining their two different identities into one, but it usually self resolves by their mid twenties.
Especially in the English speaking countries. Or even English speaking countries vs. Arabic speaking. Please shed some light.
Sexualisation of youth.
This is definately a problem in the UK, and Europe. The Church, being weak, fragmented, and in the state it is, I believe there is no voice of reason to counter balance what any young person is subjected to whether at University, Work, at Home.
We've pushed the boundaries of decency in Europe, and what can be considered mainstream advertisement was definately not the case 20 years ago.
We're living in a world where sexuality is a commodity, and youths can be easily forgiven for treating themselves as a commodity also.
Just last week, Primark were selling padded bras for girls aged 7. After public outrage, they removed the bras from their shelves, but the question remains: They were selling to a market. Parents were buying this garbage for their young kids.
It is absolutely common now to find toddler-wear or clothes with remarks such as "Sex bomb" on it, "I'm too sexy for my parents" etc.
It was common to see semi-naked women advertising a bio-organic yogurt at 2pm in French Local TV (That was 15 years ago).
Do you like music? look at how pop singers behave, how they dress? Listen to the lyrics. I won't paste them here.
In fact, this is a good example of how morals have changed:
Look at any 60's record lyrics:
Will you love me tomorrow?
Sitting on the Dock of the bay
Why do fools fall in Love?
Now, compare this with ANYTHING today:
I dare not even mention the title of the songs, NOR the lyrics.
In some cases, some lyrics are just so pornographic, they should be banned.
If you are not into music, take a look at films: Do I need to say anymore?
Look at education? In the UK and France, they teach sex education: but it is more on the lines of "This is what you can do, and this is how you should do it".
In Canada, they try to be creative and add the following to any sex education lesson: "You don't know unless you've tried it" (that applies to homosexuality, and anything else. Why, just this sunday, I met a girl from Canada who felt the same way: its not a place to raise children.
I think the sufferings we have today as a Christian, are much worse than 1500 years ago.
Today, you can shout out, at the top of your voice, any profanity or degrading comment about anyone, yet if you were to say to anyone "Jesus Loves and Died for You", you'd be arrested for offending muslims or atheists.
You know, I remember once I was in Paris, going to work, and in the metro, this little girl came on the train. She was no more than 12 years of age. I'd say around 10. She wore a skimpy top that only covered her top half, leaving her waist uncovered, and a small skirt.
She started dancing provocatively in the metro. A lot of people watched, and many laughed thinking it was amusing, encouraging her. Their sniggering turned into embarassement and entire atmosphere changed when I shouted at her telling her what she is doing is illegal, and I called the police.
----------------------------------------------
So what IS wrong with sexualising anyone? We are, after all, sexual beings. God created us male and female.
Why was there a public outrage at Primark's selling of padded bras for young girls?? Why did people get upset over this, but not over naked women being posted on billboards advertising their latest pop songs? Why?
Like the story in the metro, there is no voice to say "this is WRONG". The voice in this wilderness should be the Church, and it is so quiet, so passive, so calm, and so fragmented, that any message it will say is not clear and will not be heard.
Secularism
False Ecumenism
Too many hormones in foods
Decreased Adult supervision
Especially in the English speaking countries. Or even English speaking countries vs. Arabic speaking. Please shed some light.
facebook.
I've had a lot of conversations with the youth in my church: the preteens, young adults, and even older youth who are in their 20's and 30's....they all have a common issue. Dating and loneliness. I'm not saying this is the only issue facing youth, but it is an important one. They see their friends and the media showing off dating for everyone, even the very young...as young as 7 or 8 years old and it just becomes a normal thing to practice. When the church or even the parents try to be the voice of reason, it becomes a struggle to figure out what makes sense. Then, if they're smart enough and willing enough to not fall into the trap of having relationships at a young age or even at an older age just to be 'like everyone else", they struggle with extreme lonliness. They feel like they need to date so they can feel loved or needed because they're friends aren't fullfilling that duty. It only becomes a matter of time before they act like their friends and the media portrayls and just date one guy after another or one girl after another...and all the inhibitions go out the door and many problems arise.
The Church should be that voice of reason.
It reminds me of John the Baptist: Fearless, and willing to die for the truth. Not just for the truth, but for the benefit of others also. Imagine if John the Baptist had a friend, and wherever he went, his friend went also. Imagine if that friend disagreed with EVERYTHING John the Baptist said? Imagine if John the Baptist had told Herod: What you are doing is wrong, and yet his friend said "no no.. its OK.. so long as you love each other, don't worry".
This is the west with a divided Christian identity. It is so dangerous.
The identity of Europe and the Western Countries IS based on Christianity, but while we are divided, we are not just divided dogmatically, but we are divided spiritually, and morally. Our identity , our morals do not become clear. The Church is no longer guiding us. All that is guiding us is public opinion. There are communities in the Roman Catholic Church who preach against fornication, and there are others who are pro-homosexuality. There are communities who see adultary as wrong , and others who see it as a sin to say that "anything is wrong".
The worst part is this: the youth will subconsciously come to the conclusion that so long as they do not destroy the Ozone layer, NOTHING will upset God from them, and they are not in anyway sinning.
Subconsciously, they will feel that. If the Church itself is not sure about what is right or wrong, then they can just as well live their lives experimenting and finding out for themselves.
Now, I know we should be careful when saying "the Church" as our Orthodox Church is totally blameless in any of this. We are not the Church of the west even!! But, others won't see that.
Recently, I read a letter by the Archbishop of California who did a survey: 70% of Catholics who attended mass did not believe NOR realise that they were partaking of the Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
I know loads of Catholics who believe that fornication is not a sin, and is blessed by the Church so long as you "love the other person".
Protestants generally believe that sex before marriage is wrong, and adultary, but I feel many of the Church divisions arise because of their very existence.
Christ said: You are the salt of the earth.
It only takes a small bit of salt to season a HUGE BOWL of salad. But if that salt loses its flavour, no matter how large the quantity you put in it, it does nothing. It is the cheap salad afterwards that gives flavour to the salt. It becomes literally worthless.
Salt was a commodity people used to trade in. I think that is why Christ used it as an example: because it was expensive.
So, IF the Church was united, even if we were smaller, then a voice could be heard. Not just united, but OBVIOUSLY sharing the same values. We are not. Many people have not heard of the Orthodox Church, nor understand it, and many see us as just another flavour of the Catholic Church. Hence, if they found the RC immoral, then we're just another flavour of that branch of Christianity.
I'm not suggesting unity to overcome these issues, but it is a HUGE embrassement to the Christian faith, or to anyone Christian, to admit that their western democracies are based on Christian ideals, and yet we have no morals within us.
The Churches (notably, the anglicans, catholics, evangelicals etc) have a LOT to answer for.
[ADDITION]
May I just add, a PRIME example illustrating the cause of why our youths are just now sexualised is the story of H.G. Bishop Souriel.
I feel I can tell this story, as he himself talked about it, and its freely available on the internet:
He was invited to attend a meeting with other churches in Australia concerning Church Unity (I think that was the topic). Anyway, he just mentioned that Homosexuality is wrong, and is a sin. That's all.
After saying this, I think he was rebuked and asked not to come again.
So, look at the voice of the Church! Look...
We cannot expect the youth in the street to know or understand theology to figure out that there are moral differences between Orthodox, Catholics and Anglican. You cannot blame them for putting us ALL under the same umbrella as "Christians" and saying to themselves: "well, the Church is divided on this issue, so it cannot be THAT serious. If a bishop has a gay boyfriend, then i'm sure me with my heterosexual girlfriend will be OK".
They feel they might offend the youth and they will leave the Church as a whole.
One can look casually at the appearance of the youth and you can get a flavor what they are involved. Their parents are permissive, because they are living vicariously through their kids, or they feel that somehow again they will be lost. Sounds judgmental, but it is unfortunately true.
I do not think that there is enough discipline on a lot of levels/planes.
You can talk about this until you are blue in the face, it is not going to change too much.
More my vantage point, things are getting worse. I do not see any improvement. There are one or two bright spots, but even they are under a lot of pressure to acquiesce.
The Coptic Church parishes are being passive about a lot of things--relative to observation.
They feel they might offend the youth and they will leave the Church as a whole.
One can look casually at the appearance of the youth and you can get a flavor what they are involved. Their parents are permissive, because they are living vicariously through their kids, or they feel that somehow again they will be lost. Sounds judgmental, but it is unfortunately true.
I do not think that there is enough discipline on a lot of levels/planes.
You can talk about this until you are blue in the face, it is not going to change too much.
More my vantage point, things are getting worse. I do not see any improvement. There are one or two bright spots, but even they are under a lot of pressure to acquiesce.
Hi iLoveStMark,
I don't think the CoC is being passive, I think our priests in the diaspora have just assumed that because they themselves know that fornication is wrong (for example), that they think somehow that those in their parishes will also , automatically believe the same.
That is their prime mistake: they assume a lot. They do not realise that a child growing up in western countries will grow up in a completely different environment than anyone in Egypt or the Middle East.
But I'm not sure they are aware, due to the fact that nearly 99% of our priests & bishops have never studied, nor grown up in any western country, that they are clearly aloof as to what their youth go through in their daily lives at School, University, Work and at Home.
I remember the pressure of growing up and having to have a girlfriend. This was amazing. Whether u were Christian or Muslim growing up in Egypt, this was not a "peer pressure".
I remember when I turned 16, whilst at school, it was like an objective to lose your virginity. Being a virgin was not heard of at 16. In Egypt, the opposite is true. For muslims or Christians.
Although we do have have some clergy that have lived and grown up in the west, I think there is a need for more; as they will assume less about those they are serving. They will not use their childhood upbringing in Egypt to extrapolate what it is like for their youth in western countries where they now serve.
Of course our youth will be more influenced by their "peers" than by the Church. They will see abouna as someone from the Middle East, and "out of touch" with their western traditions.
What then is the answer??
--------------------------
Ultimately, in the 1st instance, is the well being of our own youth, and secondly those who are not even Coptic orthodox.
I don't know why His Holiness has insisted in the past in systematically sending us priests in France who never grew up there, and some who can hardly speak French, and priests in the UK, who although are really "nice" people, can barely put a phrase in English together.
But when our youth are properly nourished spiritually, and have the correct faith and morals embedded in their hearts, then I'm sure things would be different. Had I depended on my Church priests for any sort of guidance whilst growing up, I'd have surely faltered.
I was blessed to have a remarkably strong Christian family, whose house was like a Cathedral, and who were so close to me, that I could trust with anything.
Concerning the non Coptic Orthodox youth: or anyone who is not even baptised nor believes:
They need a united Church: united in morals, values, MICRO-values, and dogma.
As I said, you cannot blame them for assuming anything theologically. The Bible is not the easiest book to understand, and reading it by yourself results in the opening of new Churches left, right and center.
No matter how bad the world becomes, IloveStMark, when the House of God is united, it will season any food. - remember, the apostles were only 12 and they evangelised the entire world - and not with the sword.
The key to success is written in the Bible:
On the day of the Pentecost, it is written that they were not only gathered together, but were united in spirit and prayer.
They were "united".
The priests are not blind, but their hands are tied. Have you ever seen a parent admonishing the priest for the sway and loss of their child? They blame the priest, but they do not blame themselves.
As for His Holiness, where is he going to get priests?
You make many assumptions, and I have to disagree with some of them. I do not think you have seen how the youth have changed in Egypt.
Part of the reason, which has never really been discussed (at least relative to Egypt), is the "Trojan Horse Effect"--as I call it.
We, as a people and a Church, were happy that such things as Aghape TV and CTV came into being. They required satellite dishes to be brought into the homes. However, with one or two religious TV channels came over 100 channels of terrible programming and outright satanic expression. So Satan, let us have a small victory, and used it as a Trojan Horse to infiltrate into the people of Egypt.
I can give you a list of analysis on so many different fronts. The bottom line is, people do not seek out God unless there is a tragedy. After 9/11, the church attendance in the United States was 90-98%. As things began to settle it was back to 18-20%.
How many people are around for the High Feast Days and not around every Sunday?
How do you attract someone to be a priest when he can make a ton of money in the secular world?
These are the realities. You cannot make anyone do anything.
That is why in Egypt they call cancer: "The disease which leads to Paradise". When the adversity of the disease hits, it causes you to seek out penance, because the time to see Your Maker is soon.
My Dear Zoxsasi,
The priests are not blind, but their hands are tied. Have you ever seen a parent admonishing the priest for the sway and loss of their child? They blame the priest, but they do not blame themselves.
Hey iLoveStMark!
Im really interested to know what you mean by "their hands are tied". It would appear that the problems facing our youth in Europe are different than in the US.
Perhaps at times I do ask myself whether abouna is not addressing these issues so he doesnt offend anyone, but at others I think he's just unaware that its an issue. I agree. Im sorry. But it doesn't mean that the cultural differences will not be problematic when they do serve in a country that they did not grow up in. especially if they cannot speak the language, nor think in it. Easy big guy.. lol
i didnt say that the youth in Egypt have changed. Im well aware that they do more or less the same immoral acts they do in the west, except it is all "hidden". However, my point was simple: it is against the Egyptian culture to actually have sex outside marriage anyway - whether you do it or not, hidden or open, it is not something you'd boast about in Egypt. ilovestMark, I have both CTV, and agapy TV, and I have NEVER even seen any other channel. I've never even looked at any other channel. I just saw once this programme called "Smile of a Child" and that was it. That's all the TV i watch.
But, in general, I agree, we can be subjected to many temptations, whether we have satellite or not.
For me, I find the internet the worst! With Satellite TV, I can control what I watch. With the internet, I'm not 110% in control. If I'm looking for a PNG file to use in a document, and I search for it, I'm sure I'll come across some nudity or porn.
Also, I do look at the news. I read the news a lot! Sometimes, they publish, even in respected news sites, stories of Pop stars in the worst way possible.
[quote author=gust123 link=topic=9135.msg113572#msg113572 date=1271746129]
Especially in the English speaking countries. Or even English speaking countries vs. Arabic speaking. Please shed some light.
facebook.
Facebook, is not the biggest issue concerning youth. I think that is such a small aspect as has been discussed that its almost irrelevant. Facebook is a time waster and if used incorrectly yes can be damaging. But that goes back to lack of supervision. You can argue anything without proper parental supervision is a hinderance and cause to be worried about. TV can be arguably a much bigger issue, especially the things that show up on prime-time now its quite sad and disgusting really. The church needs to be more active, but I think the parents have to play a much bigger role. If the church says dating is bad but the parents could care less or are even unaware of their childrens activities(which can happen with huge generation gaps and culture gaps, ie parents who come here with young children and can't communicate well in english.) Parents are a huge role, the burden will fall on them and judgement will be passed harsher on them not necessarily the church. I encourage all who are reading this, parents, couples, who ever, once you have kids(if you don't already) please do not seek to be the 'cool" parents. You only hurt your child that way. Be involved and make sure that when they are young you are providing substantial supervision and discipline.
Pray for me and my weakness
I am amazed to see that someone else was concerned about parent's wanting to be "cool" in front of their kids like me.
This is a huge issue. Parents try their best to show their kids that they are open minded, and in doing so neglect the teachings of our Church. I find this attitude in parents who came from very conservative backgrounds and feel generally that they themselves didn't "live life" or their parents were "too strict" so, they over-compensate in being "cool parents" allowing their kids to do what they were deprived of.
Again, the problem is rooted in the Church: Did the Church explain to these people that God's commandments are good for them? Whether you love God or not, His commandments protect you?
The fruit of such upbringing is disaster.
They will regret it.
It is so important to instill in your children at a young age the importance of purity of heart, and the fear of God. A lot of parents send out the wrong signals to their children by trying to compromise with values in the hope of allowing their children to integrate into a society. This is VERY weak in the personality of the parent. It means they have no personality themselves
The issue is not the Church. That is where I have to disagree with you.
Christ, Himself, was among His People and Apostles, and I can give plenty of examples where they just did not want to listen.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the slayer of the prophets, many a times a yearned to gather you as a mother hen gathers her chicks and you would not...." (I think we all know how that verse ends).
Human beings are just not chosing God. They want another master, i.e., Satan and his ways.
[quote author=gust123 link=topic=9135.msg113572#msg113572 date=1271746129]
Especially in the English speaking countries. Or even English speaking countries vs. Arabic speaking. Please shed some light.
Sexualisation of youth.
This is definately a problem in the UK, and Europe. The Church, being weak, fragmented, and in the state it is, I believe there is no voice of reason to counter balance what any young person is subjected to whether at University, Work, at Home.
We've pushed the boundaries of decency in Europe, and what can be considered mainstream advertisement was definately not the case 20 years ago.
We're living in a world where sexuality is a commodity, and youths can be easily forgiven for treating themselves as a commodity also.
Just last week, Primark were selling padded bras for girls aged 7. After public outrage, they removed the bras from their shelves, but the question remains: They were selling to a market. Parents were buying this garbage for their young kids.
It is absolutely common now to find toddler-wear or clothes with remarks such as "Sex bomb" on it, "I'm too sexy for my parents" etc.
It was common to see semi-naked women advertising a bio-organic yogurt at 2pm in French Local TV (That was 15 years ago).
Do you like music? look at how pop singers behave, how they dress? Listen to the lyrics. I won't paste them here.
In fact, this is a good example of how morals have changed:
Look at any 60's record lyrics:
Will you love me tomorrow?
Sitting on the Dock of the bay
Why do fools fall in Love?
Now, compare this with ANYTHING today:
I dare not even mention the title of the songs, NOR the lyrics.
In some cases, some lyrics are just so pornographic, they should be banned.
If you are not into music, take a look at films: Do I need to say anymore?
Look at education? In the UK and France, they teach sex education: but it is more on the lines of "This is what you can do, and this is how you should do it".
In Canada, they try to be creative and add the following to any sex education lesson: "You don't know unless you've tried it" (that applies to homosexuality, and anything else. Why, just this sunday, I met a girl from Canada who felt the same way: its not a place to raise children.
I think the sufferings we have today as a Christian, are much worse than 1500 years ago.
Today, you can shout out, at the top of your voice, any profanity or degrading comment about anyone, yet if you were to say to anyone "Jesus Loves and Died for You", you'd be arrested for offending muslims or atheists.
You know, I remember once I was in Paris, going to work, and in the metro, this little girl came on the train. She was no more than 12 years of age. I'd say around 10. She wore a skimpy top that only covered her top half, leaving her waist uncovered, and a small skirt.
She started dancing provocatively in the metro. A lot of people watched, and many laughed thinking it was amusing, encouraging her. Their sniggering turned into embarassement and entire atmosphere changed when I shouted at her telling her what she is doing is illegal, and I called the police.
----------------------------------------------
So what IS wrong with sexualising anyone? We are, after all, sexual beings. God created us male and female.
Why was there a public outrage at Primark's selling of padded bras for young girls?? Why did people get upset over this, but not over naked women being posted on billboards advertising their latest pop songs? Why?
Like the story in the metro, there is no voice to say "this is WRONG". The voice in this wilderness should be the Church, and it is so quiet, so passive, so calm, and so fragmented, that any message it will say is not clear and will not be heard.
I think that is spot on.
Most people, whether they believe in God or not, generally accept the following:
* Murder is wrong (bad)
* Adultary is wrong (bad)
* Lying is wrong (bad)
* Rape is wrong (bad)
* Theft is wrong (bad).
However, what the Bible terms as "sexual immorality" is not considered wrong. On the contrary, it is even justified and rewarded by many democratic socieites.
Let's see a small chapter from the Bible to highlight this:
MARK Chapter 1 - explains it all (see below):
Basically, Christ rebuked the Pharisees because they devalued God's commandments in favour of their own traditions.
How does that apply today?
It is our culture/tradition now to have sex before marriage. We justify it. We think its normal. Our society tells us its normal. Fornication is no longer a sin. We've devalued Christ's commandments in favour of our traditions.
In fact, if you go and tell anyone that sex before marriage, even with your boyfriend, is a sin, they will surely tell you: "No. that was before. But, now our culture has changed".
Therefore, I am saying THE ONLY problem facing our youth is sexual immorality. Its the ONLY one. Its where they are not only weak in faith, but the culture around them promotes it, and worse off, the Churches are not even in agreement that this is something wrong.
You see! You see how we've devalued Christ's commandments in favour of our own traditions (man made traditions!?).
How can we accept all God's commandments, and yet, equally, reject the ones we don't want and replace them with our own traditions: "so long as you love the person, its OK".
How do we correct the situation? How do we tell our youth that sexual immorality is wrong, and above all, that lust of the heart or sexual immorality in the heart is wrong? How do we do that?
How do we do that when every western society not only uses sex to advertise a paper-clip, but at school, University, life, it literally becomes part of your national identity to be sexually immoral?
Its a very hard situation. I won't deny that. If I am from a good Christian family, and I found it quite difficult at times to combat purity of heart, what about others whose parents are just regular Christians?
How do they cope?
OK, so at a global level - there is much we can do. There's an organisation called Morality in Media which aims to lobby governments about sexual obscenity in the media. I think this is good. There are many Catholic and Protestant groups who evangelise chastity and the need for sexual purity. But as you can see: WE ARE FRAGMENTED.
To hinder any effort the churches make, there are some clergy in some churches who will be judged severely for the influence they have in telling their parishioners that sex before marriage is OK, so long as you love each other : God warns us in Isiah : "woe to you who change wrong to right, and right to wrong"; and I feel this message is completely directed at Christians who do that, as their influence will be greater than anything.
At a local level (within the CoC), as I mentioned, I know that you cannot overcome ANYTHING without God's grace. It is not by your own will. We will fall in the same trap as St Peter who tried to do good, but because he depended on his own inherent goodness, he couldn't even confess he knew Christ to a powerless woman servant.
We need to depend on God's grace to deliver us from all sins. Having the "good intention" not to sin is not enough. Really - I mean that. Our Church is powerful in terms of the sacraments we have: notably the Holy Communion. I don't think it is possible to be immune to sin unless you engage in the Holy Sacraments.
What are my concerns - personally?
I'm saddened that we live in democracies where there is so much freedom, there is a complete disregard or apathy towards one another. What has now become mainstream "culture" in Europe is anti-Christian. It saddens me that, with our own hands, by our own making, we will not have a choice to raise our kids in an environment that is holy. If I take the metro in Paris, I will pass 1000's of posters, adverts,even women who are either naked, semi-naked or dressed to seduce to sell you something.
Have you noticed something bizarre about living in the West?? That anything immoral, sexually offensive, disgusting, or vulgar can be published and promoted by simply calling it "art".
here's an example: Child Pornography is wrong. However, at the age of 13: Brook Shields's mother took a picture of her in the nude whilst having a bath. It was completely provacative and sexual. The TATE GALLERY in london felt it "artistic" to publish this.
What the heck is wrong with us???
Why is there such an apathy towards one another??
So, if Brook Shield's mother made a mistake, do we need to carry the lantern of that error for all generations to come and vulgarise our societies!??
Its so easy to turn off a TV station when something pornographic comes up, but when it is in your face, day in, day out, everywhere you go, it will influence you.
I think the Church should lobby for stricter advterisement laws.