Shock Jock Imus

The recent remark by shock jock Don Imus on his radio show has earned him a two-week suspension, beginning next Monday. It has also brought him so far into the limelight that in the unlikely event his employer agrees to fire him over the public outcry, he could easily snap up a similar job for more pay.

A “shock jock” is a radio broadcaster who uses “humor” to offend people. There are a number of them who are well-known for offensive comments, and every so often a furor such as this one over Imus hits the headlines.

Personally, I think the airwaves would be better off without this type of “entertainment,” and I could happily go through life without ever listening to one of these “comedians,” but they exist because there is a large enough audience to make such shows profitable.

What are you listening to on the radio - men trashing others for the shock value and ratings …music … non-shocking talk radio ….Christian radio … news?

There is an old saying, Garbage in, garbage out, and it is applicable here. Watch what you allow into your mind. If you listen to programs that exist solely to humiliate, denigrate or poke fun at others, you might not recognize it in yourself, but it will change you – and not for the better.

Whether Imus returns to the same station after his suspension ends or moves on to another station, his type of programming will continue to air.

I didn’t listen to him before this hype began and don’t intend to start now, and from what I have read about his show, it isn’t funny anyway.

God gave us our sense of humor. It’s healthy to laugh. But I would rather stick to clean humor, humor that doesn’t offend or insult others.

www.mercyandpercy.com/

Accidental or intentional

The pet food recall is still news. And it isn't over yet. I found another story of interest on the Anderson Cooper 360º Blog, called “On the toxic pet food story” and posted on April 5, 2007

If the wheat gluten in the pet food was not accidentally tainted, but deliberately laced with melamine to increase the protein level of the wheat gluten, and thereby raise the profit level, something is terribly awry with the minds of those who consider money more valuable than life – any life!

The Food and Drug Administration puts out recall alerts at an alarming rate. You can click here to go to the FDA site and sign up for their email alerts.

There is nothing new under the sun, so greed is not a recent phenomenon, but it will grow worse in the days ahead.

If our only hope was in this society, we would be without hope. But our hope is in Christ.

www.mercyandpercy.com/

RESURRECTION DAY

Have a blessed Resurrection Day!

Without the event this day commemorates, Christians would be without hope.

Have you gotten completely swept up in the hype of Easter - egg hunts, Easter baskets, plays, time off of work, and family dinner- and neglected to thank God for the hope we have through Christ?

Good, I'm glad you remembered what is most important, because the physical is only temporary!

www.mercyandpercy.com/

AGING YOUNGER

As someone well past her 20s, it was a surprise to stumble across an article online today regarding aging younger. These folks aren’t actually aging younger; they just want to hold back the hands of time at a younger age to retain their “looks.”

Why would any woman seek Botox injections at age 21 to try to prevent wrinkles from forming? Has this self-centered society driven women crazy, or has the desire for the approval of the opposite sex driven young women to fear the effects of aging more than the possible side effects of toxins, chemicals or surgery?

I suppose the lack of respect people exhibit toward the natural, God-mandated process of aging marches in step with society’s view of life in general. God did not create us to be vain, living for esthetics rather than building character.

Have you ever heard someone stand at a funeral and eulogize the recently departed? The deceased might have been a philanthropist, a community volunteer, an advocate of the handicapped, a leader of industry, a parent, grandparent, an animal rescuer, a race car driver, a horse trainer, a fireman, policeman, social worker, secretary, accountant - I have heard many words of praise for the dead, but never have I heard anyone eulogized as “she was beautifully young and unwrinkled to the end.”

You can not change society’s view on aging or beauty, but you can change your own, if you have been caught up in the hype of youth and beauty forever and ever.

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12:7.

This applies to the wrinkled and white-haired, the wrinkled and dyed-haired, the ones with beautiful internal character, and those with artificial/superficial outer beauty.

www.mercyandpercy.com/

DON'T CROSS THAT STREET

I enjoy walking my dogs, although they can be an unruly handful when they see another dog, a squirrel, a bicyclist, a skateboarder, a stray morsel of food, a stick … You get the idea. Anything and everything can excite them.

We set out recently on an evening walk. Before we reached the sidewalk, a neighbor’s dog appeared from behind the bushes across the street. Beside him ran his visiting friend, and this time the visitor kept running. I yelled for him to stop, but he raced in front of a passing pickup and stopped directly in front of my dogs. I watched the hair along his spine bristle.

My dogs were unnaturally quiet and well-behaved. No barking, growling, leaping or attacking each other to claim the latest find. That is normal behavior for them, behavior that generally scares off any potential new friend they come across on our walks. I would have told them how proud I was of them, but this new dog had all my attention.

I do not believe he intended my dogs any harm. His original objective seemed to be making new friends, until he suddenly realized the other dog had not followed him across the street, and if the new dogs were unfriendly, he was outnumbered. He retreated across the street, with me yelling over and over, “You stay over there. Don’t you dare cross that street!” Both dogs wanted to cross, even tried to cross, but my yelling confused them.

I think it also confused the poor man on the other side of the street at the end of the block.

I noticed him several times, just standing on the corner looking in my direction. Finally, he crossed the street, stood on that corner and again stared in my direction. At the time, I felt a sense of relief that there was someone nearby in case anything did go wrong. But later, as we were returning home from our walk, I realized that from where he was first standing, he could not have seen the dogs I was yelling at because of the curve in the road and the steep slope across the way. No wonder he stood on the corner longer than necessary.

Don’t cross that street. It sounds like good advice for someone about to unload anger on an unsuspecting passerby. An angry man tends to vent at whoever is handy – children, mate, subordinate, stranger or even friend – and often wanders afield of what is actually inciting him to verbally attack another person. The one on the receiving end can’t see the “dogs” that initiated the outburst.

We live in a fast-paced, stress-filled society. It is easy to become overwhelmed and yell at innocent bystanders, but it doesn’t solve the problem or dissipate the anger. Part of growing as a Christian is learning to stand against the temptations of the devil, and anger is certainly one of his ploys.

I can laugh as I wonder what the man on the corner must have thought when he first heard me yelling, although I wasn’t angry at the dogs, just trying to protect myself from the prospect of going down in a tangle of leashes and flailing paws.

www.mercyandpercy.com/