Are We Willing to Stand Up and Protect Our Kids?
June 25, 2004 |
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Transcript
The movie Gladiator portrayed a terror-filled, callous attitude towards life. In 404 AD an Asian monk arrived in Rome and found his way to the Coliseum and the actual gladiatorial games. The violence he saw was inconceivable as gladiators fought in front of cheering crowds to the death. The young monk Telamachus was appalled and walked down to the edge of the arena. Standing on the surrounding wall he appealed to the crowd, yelling at the competing gladiators and to Caesar and cried out, “Stop this! Cease this madness!” Mocking him, the crowd pushed him onto the arena floor where he was run through with a sword. While kneeling in a pool of his own blood his final plea was “for this madness of killing others to cease.” The noise and mocking of the crowd suddenly grew silent, as people filed out. That day the world witnessed an end to the gladiatorial games as Emperor Honorarius declared them no more. Today’s kids face risks that are also unfair and frightening - like the messages of violence and callous sexuality that bombards them and are unhealthy. Wouldn’t you agree that kids deserve to have their innocence? That they need to learn what friendships and healthy relationships are? Violence has no place in their normal walk of life. As for the silver screen's other message, sex? The best place for love in all of its dimensions is in marriage, the anchor of family. It took one monk paying the ultimate price that changed the powerful Roman world and its culture in 404 AD. But if many of us would pay "some" price, and commit to standing up for our kids in our own communities against the madness that’s all around us, perhaps we can make a difference and change our culture. It takes courage to stand up and defend, train and protect our kids. Let’s you and I take that stand for the children and do what we have to do to protect them from the madness and violence in our culture. |
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