I enjoyed a nice visit with a few moms the other day. It was kind of a typical chat about kids and our busy lives but I was shocked to hear of a situation in which free speech was once again taken away in our local community.
The story goes that someone was not allowed to wear a piece of clothing with certain words on it. Be assured, the words were not swear words or derogatory words. They were words that represented something that person believed in. In reality, it was a war on values. The hair on the back of my neck stands up even now when I see that the war on free speech and freedom of religious views and opinions is showing up on our door step.
There are so many issues across this nation and beyond that have me so concerned. I hear the same cause for concern from many friends, community members and beyond. Are you one of them? Not only does it appear our rights are slowly being stripped away, it is starting to show up in the economic downfall right in our own back yard. My heart goes out to the farmers, ranchers, laborers, teachers, and parents as the rug has been pulled out from underneath them in one way or another. The list could go on for all those who’ve been directly or indirectly affected by the lawmakers in our nation.
As I was praying this morning about what to write about this week, the words “shock value” came to mind. It seems that the world, as a whole, needs to feed on information that is more shocking than the last story. The media’s job is to sell stories. The more shock value they get, the more money goes into their pockets.
According to Wikipedia, shock value “...is the potential of an action, image, text, or other form of communication to provoke a reaction of disgust, shock, anger, or fear.” The danger of using shock value continually is that it has caused desensitization to the realities and horrors of actual true situations around us and the globe. We used to be able to read or hear a story and believe it. Not anymore. There is so much fake news out there; we are hard-pressed to know what is true and what isn’t. I am thankful for the Moose Jaw Express that keeps a small-town, honest approach to their paper. I am thankful I have been given the freedom to express my thoughts on paper without control or manipulation; simply to be able to express my thoughts. Period.
We are experiencing the birth pangs of the earth in transition as we look to the return of Jesus. “But understand this, in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.”
I believe the only way to navigate this very tumultuous time we are living in is to keep our eyes on Jesus and then stay close to believers, fellowshipping and encouraging each other.
“Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)
We need Jesus and the fellowship of believers now more ever.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
