Anonymous
Many parents are hard put to explain to their youth why some music, movies, books, games and magazines are not acceptable material for them to bring into the home, for their youth to see, or hear. One parent came up with an original idea that was hard to refute.
He listened to all the reasons his children gave for wanting to see a
particular PG-13 movie. It had their favorite actors. Everyone else was
seeing it. Even church members said it was great. It was only rated PG-13
because of the suggestion of sex. They never really showed it. The
language was pretty good. They only used the Lord's name in vain three
times in the whole movie. The video effects were fabulous and the plot was
action packed. Yes, there WAS one scene where a building and a bunch of
people got blown up, but the violence was just the normal stuff. It
wasn't very bad.
Even with all these explanations for the rating, the father wouldn't give
in. He didn't even give them a satisfying explanation for saying, "No." He
just said, "No."
It was a little bit later that evening that this same father asked his
teens if they would like some brownies he had prepared. He explained
that he had taken the family's favorite recipe and added something new.
They asked what it was. He calmly replied that he had added dog poop.
But, he said, it was only a little bit. All the other ingredients were
gourmet quality. He had taken great care to bake it at the precise
temperature for the exact time. He was sure the brownies would be
superb. But, even with all the explanations of the perfect attributes
of the brownies, the teens would not take one.
The father acted surprised. There was only one little element that would
have caused them to act so stubbornly. He assured them that they would
hardly notice it if at all. They all held firm and would not try the
brownies.
He then explained that the movie they wanted to see was just like the
brownies. Satan tries to enter our minds and our homes by deceiving us
into believing that just a little bit of evil won't matter. With the
brownies, just a little bit makes all the difference between a great
brownie and a totally unacceptable product. He explained that even
though the movie people would have us believe the movies that are
coming out are acceptable for adults and young people to see, they are not.
Now when this father's kids want to do something or see something they
shouldn't, he merely asks them if they would like some of his special dog
poop brownies -- and they never ask about it again.
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Our thanks to The Ehlers for sending us
"Reason Why." This one struck home