The Desecrating Snowball

Growing up as a child my waking days focused primarily on my neighbourhood friends. Across the road, down the street, and around the corner… there were many of us and we had a ton of fun. We were simply boys and girls being kids, enjoying the freedom and innocence that comes with childhood (although I’m quite sure we were unaware that such freedom and innocence was ours!). Life was simple and geared to mischievous children determined to play nicky nicky nine doors every Halloween on the unsuspecting.

Back then there was no distinction or discrimination as to where you lived, what your religion was, or if your mother worked and you were a latch-key kid. It just didn’t matter. Some of my friends were Catholic, some were Protestant, and a good percentage were Jewish. We lived in a rented, semi-detached house; some of my friends lived in free-standing homes. Again, none of that mattered. We were simply boys and girls having fun together, sharing our moms when someone else’s mom worked and one of us got sick or hurt. We watched TV at someone else’s house when there wasn’t one at our own. Were we perfect? Not in the least. Fighting and name calling happened. But that’s what kids did (and still do!). We learned that a falling out with your best friend was a crushing experience. We often had to climb the proverbial Mountain of Hurt Feelings, live to experience a renewed friendship at the summit, and become best buds all over again. We were, after all, children, boys and girls learning to get along, building character, and implanting an awareness of right from wrong that would last a lifetime.

But that freedom and innocence is disappearing. Instead, children are slowly becoming victims of a vicious attack on their “freedom and innocence.”  Today, young minds have fallen under the influence of a society in which willful, deliberate, and might I say, malignant choices have been made to attack their innocence. Laws have been set in motion. Rules have been rewritten. Choices have been made, and any who dare to challenge such debased choices become victims themselves. It seems that boys and girls can no longer experience that wonderful feeling of being kids.

Having grown up under that protective umbrella of “freedom and innocence,” we should become nauseous when we, along with our children, are inflicted with such choices. Especially when our rights and freedoms are threatened. Especially when speaking up against such choices results in an attack on our own principles. Especially when those choices are contrary to biblically based faith. If we are not nauseous, we should be! We must be! Have we become so predisposed with a what-will-be-will-be attitude that we see no use in resisting what we cannot control? Have we unconsciously surrendered the control of the lives of our children, and, in effect, our own rights and freedoms to those with debauched interests, motives and desires? What greater gift can we give our young if not to defend  their right to be children, to be boys and girls who play together, learn together, and yes, fight together and become best buds at day’s end?  Or are we sitting silently as the desecrating snowball is hurtling downhill at a frightening speed?

I’ve recently been exposed to two expressions. A person whose values and morals run counter to those of established society would be considered a Counterculturist, one who is in opposition to the progressive trend and is non acceptant of current choices, laws and lifestyles. The other expression rides on the apron strings of this last one.  Hypertolerant culture defines a culture that accepts everything that anyone does or believes in.

In considering these two definitions, I must commend one professional ball player who, by all appearances, understood the meaning of those words and made his views, and yes his faith, very clear. Anthony Bass made a choice and his choice ran counter to the established society. It came at a cost, humanly speaking. But for those who have faith in the Almighty God, be assured that God was honoured, and He will honour Anthony Bass for his stand.

My words fail dramatically to do justice to my thoughts. But words that do not fail are God’s. The truth of His Word is the only way to be delivered from deception and social desecration. That is a fact. God’s Word is truth; what He says is true. We cannot simply discard it because we disagree with it. If we do, we are, in effect calling God a liar, and ignoring God leads to a downward spiral. Romans 1:18-20 from The Message clearly states:

“But God’s angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and wrongdoing and lying accumulate, as people try to put a shroud over truth.
But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is!
By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes, as such, can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse.

What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well,
but when they didn’t treat him like God,
refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives.
They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life.”

Be assured, God will have the last say!