Another article by a woman of course (where are the men?), on questioning the hypocrisy of Christians clamoring to Miss USA-Almost, Carrie Prejean's defense on marriage but ignore her immodesty. Cudos to Katelyn Beaty on this issue.
(Note of caution: Christianity Today isn't biblically based and I don't know Beaty's theology, but read this article and agreed with her point...so proceed at that website with much caution):
Excerpts:
Carrie Prejean might have stood up for Christian sexual ethics by skipping the Miss USA pageant altogether.
What has surprised me about the Christian media's response is a seemingly inconsistent sexual ethic at play: Celebrating Prejean as the lone voice for biblical convictions in a public square where it’s now bigoted to oppose same-sex marriage, while never questioning if a Christian woman like Prejean should be participating in the Miss USA pageant in the first place.
It doesn’t take much time on the official Miss USA website to see how much the competition is shaped by prurient interests. Unlike the rival Miss America competition, Miss USA doesn’t feature a talent category, where contestants play the piano, sing, or orate. No, the Donald Trump–owned Miss USA pageant only features evening gown, interview, and the ever-popular swimsuit category, in which contestants are judged on how “well-proportioned” their bodies are (i.e., bust and waist size) and how well they can strut in high heels on national television. Maybe some Christian women feel like the ministry opportunities that could come from winning far outweigh the troubling sexual implications of the swimsuit category. Maybe I’m naïve — maybe some Christians don’t see anything particularly troubling about a swimsuit competition. But I’m hard pressed to reconcile a swimsuit competition with Scripture’s wisdom about real self-worth and female beauty (Prov. 31:10–31, 1 Sam. 16:7, 1 Pet. 3:3, to name a few).
Therein lies the troubling inconsistency: Conservative Christians are willing to speak up about biblical sexual ethics in the public square when the issue is same-sex marriage, but are neglectfully silent when the issue is objectifying women’s bodies to spike TV ratings. Would Tony Perkins and Gary Bauer really have no problem with their daughter or granddaughter competing in the Miss USA pageant?
In an interview with the SBC-affiliated San Diego Christian College, where she attends, Prejean talks about the wonderful things she is already doing for Christ: serving women in the adult entertainment industry, volunteering at the local International Ministry Center to help refugees learn English, and working with a mentoring program to foster-care children. She says, “I especially have a heart for helping young girls with low self-esteem.” At this point, I would encourage Prejean to skip the beauty pageants, which set up the very standards of beauty that lead many young girls to devalue themselves, and focus on the far more lasting work she is already doing in the kingdom.
Unquote.
3 comments:
"Another article by a woman of course (where are the men?), on questioning the hypocrisy of Christians clamoring to Miss USA-Almost, Carrie Prejean's defense on marriage but ignore her immodesty. Cudos to Katelyn Beaty on this issue."
Believe it or not, most of those Christians that I have seen discuss the issue do point that out. It is not her stand on marriage that got us going- it is the ruthless attacks on her by several judges, not just Perez Hilton, and then the piling on her by different Hollywood stars.
Our problem is that Hilton asked in the first place and then when he did not get the answer he and his fellow hyperliberal judges want, they score her very low then brag about costing her the title afterwards, taking shots at her repeatedly making her out to be uncompassionate, bigot, lacking in social grace, etc.
Christians are of course going to be offended because an attack on a person who holds to a view of marriage like them as bigot is also an attack on all of us. It is in a sense not about her, but about people of faith being marganized in general and all made out to be bigots if we don't submit ourselves to the values of these know-it-alls.
And quite frankly, the judges, Hilton, Jacobs, and Moekler, came off as bullies. That not only offends Christians but many non-Christians as well. They came off as using their positions of authority to push their secular ideas on a contestant and to harass her about that, demanding she apologize to gay groups, etc. It is the stuff that alot of Christians can relate to given several tactics are used on them in colleges by the most extremist liberal professors who hate Christianity and use classroom as place to mock people of faith, even when that has nothing to do with the class.
I don't want to debate the decency of the Miss USA Pagent. The issue to me is the media blames her and not the gay activist judge for the conforntation.
It is a shift in what is acceptable in todays time. Flip the roles: Have a Christian judge question a lesbian contestant, then say I can't let a gay person win this contest and he will be treated like a criminal.
Hi Harold,
I am aware of the hypocrisy of the Left for sure. But even moreso should be the concern for the hypocrisy of Christians. God's standard for Christians is extraordinarily high and He judges His household first.
I have three daughters. What am I supposed to tell them when there's a near-naked woman who claims to be a Christian, strutting her body around? How is that a godly example when I'm trying desperately to teach them about modesty? "Christians" are giving mixed signals even on the clearest of commands.
Post a Comment