Running through my book, The Death of the Grown-Up, is an examination of what happens to us, to our society, as the boundaries on human behavior shift or disappear altogether. This effects us on a personal level in terms of our own identity--sexual, national, married name or not. It continues in our homes, which are increasingly permeable to the toxic seepage of television and the Internet. It extends to our national borders, which are increasingly porous to aliens and terrorists. And it goes to church, where the world's Catholics, for example, have had to confront secret, line-crossing sexual crimes.
Here is another sign of our no-boundary times. The New York Times reports that "hundreds" of Protestant and evangelical ministers and pastors are enticing youngsters into church by offering them the opportunity to play the extremely violent (its sale prohibited to kids under 17) video game, Halo 3. It is very, um, successful.
The Times reports:
"Witness the basement on a recent Sunday at the Colorado Community Church in the Englewood area of Denver, where Tim Foster, 12, and Chris Graham, 14, sat in front of three TVs, locked in violent virtual combat as they navigated on-screen characters through lethal gun bursts. Tim explained the game’s allure: `It’s just fun blowing people up.'
"Once they come for the games, Gregg Barbour, the youth minister of the church said, they will stay for his Christian message.
What message is that: Thou Shalt Not Kill?
The story continues. "But the question arises: What price to appear relevant? Some parents, religious ethicists and pastors say that Halo may succeed at attracting youths, but that it could have a corroding influence. In providing Halo, churches are permitting access to adult-themed material that young people cannot buy on their own."
Boy, do I object to that adjective "adult-themed," which, of course, means dirty or nasty or uncivilized--not "adult." The 6th commandment aside, bringing boys into church by appealing to their baser tendencies toward voyeuristic and participatory violence is a clear, sad sign of decline of judgment in the chrnonlogical adults in charge. What next--drugs? Strippers?
“ `If you want to connect with young teenage boys and drag them into church, free alcohol and pornographic movies would do it,' said James Tonkowich, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a nonprofit group that assesses denominational policies. `My own take is you can do better than that.' "