In the News...

Compiled by Amanda Stiver

Funnies Not So Funny Anymore?
Geoff Brown, the editor of the Chicago Tribune comics pages, finds more and more questionable material in the cartoons he screens. "I have seen . . . a decided tilt toward the outrageous—risqué images and language, name-calling disguised as political satire, oodles of toilet humor and several attempts to slip in a certain curse word and a certain racial epithet" (Bill Eichenberger, "Filtering the Funnies," The Columbus Dispatch , April 4).

Such humor is inappropriate and especially influential in a negative way for young children who are often drawn to the comics because of the pictures and bright colors. But they aren't the only ones impacted negatively.

In the daily business of guarding our minds, everyone is at risk from all directions, including the cartoon page. The Bible warns against empty laughter and coarse jesting (Ecclesiastes 7:4-6; Ephesians 5:4), and screening the comics to avoid inappropriate humor is, sad to say, another action we now must take to avoid degrading our values and attitudes.

Army of Couch Potatoes?
The poor health of the present younger generation has begun to impact the American military. The current recruiting pool of 17- to 24-year-olds, often referred to as Generation Y, is increasingly proving too obese and too reliant on mind-altering drugs that treat attention deficit disorders to be capable of attaining the basic standards of military service.

While we may not serve in the military, we can learn something from the trends in the society around us. What is making these young people so unhealthy, and how can we avoid the same pitfalls? As soldiers of Christ, we, too, have certain standards to uphold (2 Timothy 2:3).

The United States is suffering from a 30 percent rise in obesity among adults, a decline in physical fitness in which one third of teenagers are considered unable to pass a treadmill test, and, partly due to the former two issues, an increasing reliance on drugs to solve hyperactivity problems that could be decreased by losing weight and increasing exercise (Pauline Jelinek, "Uncle Sam Wants You—Well, Not All of You in Prime Recruiting Age Group," Associated Press, March 12).

Watching our health and losing weight if necessary, adopting a healthier eating plan and getting more exercise are ways to combat the unhealthy influences of society. Our physical bodies are a blessing from God, and it is important to treat them with respect. For more information, request or download Making Life Work.

Outsmarting ADD
Attention deficit disorder (ADD) has climbed to near-epidemic proportions in the last 20 years. Some of the causes are environmental—such as heavily increased amounts of sugar and other additives in food and the impact of television and other technologies on neurotransmitters—but other times the cause is hereditary.

Girls often suffer more severely from ADD because a diagnosis is not always easily made. According to Dr. Patricia Quinn, girls can hide their lack of attention longer than boys are able to restrain their outbursts. Girls tend to hold in their frustration about poor achievement in school rather than act out, which causes a tendency toward depression and anxiety (Mary Bridgman, "Girls With ADD Often Struggle in Silence," The Columbus Dispatch , April 3).

The good news is that ADD is highly treatable, not only by medications, but also with behavioral therapy that boils down to organizational strategies to support the development of a longer attention span and better grades in school.

Ready for Marriage?
Marriage has become a widely debated subject in recent years, but God teaches that marriage is properly a lifetime commitment between one man and one woman. As a result, making the decision to step into that commitment is a significant one and doing so wisely requires consideration and reasoning that supersede the emotional excitement of perceived "love."

People generally expect to hear religious officials discuss the issues of a good marriage, but would you believe—the Army? The U.S. Army has delved into the realm of what makes a successful marriage because of the stressful life of military personnel. Army chaplains have developed a program that helps soldiers narrow down and carefully consider their choice of spouse.

The program is called P.I.C.K., which stands for "Premarital Interpersonal Choices and Knowledge." It uses another acronym to outline its basic principles: F.A.C.E.S.—family background, attitudes, compatibility, experiences in previous relationships and skills brought to the union. Participants are taught to use the brain as well as the heart when choosing a future mate (Pauline Jelinek, "Army Teaches Troops How to Pick a Spouse," Associated Press, Feb. 4).

The program does bring up some interesting points. All the elements of F.A.C.E.S. are important considerations for anyone in preparing for marriage, but especially the issue of compatibility.

Finding a spouse of like mind, particularly on issues of belief in God's way of life, is an essential element to success in marriage. This means waiting for God to provide the right person who shares those beliefs.

Seeking counseling, usually through the ministry, that prepares a couple for marriage is one way of determining some of the aspects of compatibility. For more information, request or download Marriage and Family: The Missing Dimension.

A New Species, the Pig-Worm?
What's wrong with this picture: a pig wallows in its sty while sporting the latest in worm genes? The experts claim that splicing an omega-3 fat producing gene from the roundworm C. elegans into pigs will produce a meat that will make pork eaters healthier.

Once these pigs, which will be produced by cloning, are perfected, researchers plan to move on to chickens and cows using the technique developed by Dr. Jing Kang of the Harvard Medical School (Paul Elias, "Geneticists Try to Make Bacon as Healthful as Salmon," Associated Press, March 26).

Pork is a forbidden meat according to the Bible. It simply was not created to be consumed by human beings. Pigs are one of God's natural garbage disposals, and their internal structure is such that they eat and digest all manner of rubbish, after which those wastes are stored in their flesh. Whoever eats the meat then gets an unhealthy dose of toxins.

Attempting to manipulate the genetic material that God created by splicing the genes of one plant or animal into another is stepping into dangerous territory. There is a reason God is the Creator and we are not. He knows more about it than we do!

To obey God's laws regarding clean and unclean meats and to stay in good health, it is important to pay attention to what goes into our bodies and to seek foods grown or produced as close to the way God created and intended them to be consumed. For more information, request or download What Does the Bible Teach About Clean and Unclean Meats?.

Super (Un)natural
God expressly forbids witchcraft and worshipping or communicating with demons. But the popularity of television shows and children's fiction that feature main characters who are witches (or who are deeply involved in witchcraft) have brought emphasis to the idea of witchcraft as a religious alternative, especially for young people raised in nonreligious households.

According to research by the Barna Group, 7 million teens believe they have encountered an angel, demon or other supernatural being. Two million teens believe they have communicated with the dead, and one in 10 has participated in a séance.

One out of 12 has tried casting a spell or mixing a potion, 30 percent have had their palms read, 27 percent have had their fortunes told and 9 percent have consulted a psychic. Almost 2 million youth claim they have psychic powers.

The Barna Group research found that teens who were connected to the Christian faith tended to be least likely to explore witchcraft ("Teens and the Supernatural," www.barna.org). Knowing the truth of the Bible regarding Satan, the demons and the sin that results from dabbling in witchcraft helps keep young people on the right path.

Just because it is popular with society by no means makes any activity, particularly a sinful one such as witchcraft, acceptable. As always, be on your guard for the wrong influence and actively seek God's truth. For more information, request or download Is There Really a Devil?.

TV, Another Source of Peer Pressure
A study was recently done on the influence sex in the media has on adolescents aged 12 to 14. The result was that the highest level of exposure to sexually charged media resulted in increased sexual activity among those studied.

Sex is continually portrayed in the media as fun and risk- free, and fewer parents are educating their children about the proper use of sex in marriage. As a result, the messages on TV and in other media become a "superpeer" that influences young people more intensely than regular peer pressure ("Study: Sex-Filled Media Linked to Promiscuity," Reuters, April 3).

Just like violence in media, sex in media is finally being officially recognized as a pervasive and dangerous influence on young people. It may seem a pretty obvious conclusion, but as always, the society around us influences us more than we realize.

Guard your mind and seek to watch, listen to and read things that reflect respect for marriage and sex in the context God intended. For more information, request or download Marriage and Family: The Missing Dimension.

The Cost of Youthful Addictions
Young people who start alcohol or drug dependencies early on have a much harder time breaking the cycle of addiction. Almost half of regular drinkers who start before age 14 will become alcoholics.

Recent brain-imaging studies are showing that the teenage brain is a rapidly changing organ, and drugs and alcohol disrupt the renovation of the brain that occurs during adolescence.

The drugs or alcohol set up mistransmissions of the brain from an early age, making the possibility of addiction much greater (Tina Saey, "Drug Use Can Damage the Brain and Lead to Addiction," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 1).

Genes have long been blamed for alcohol dependence, but recent studies in Finland and Missouri show that alcohol dependence can be developed simply by starting at an early age, regardless of a genetic tendency.

To keep young people from becoming addicted to brain-destroying substances requires strict parental monitoring and strong personal responsibility by the teens. Young people who don't start abusing a substance don't get addicted.

Footprints of History?
In the complex business of trying to find human tracks in the evolutionary record, there seems to be some dispute. What were reported to be human footprints in the ash of a volcano are being contested as to their cause and their date of origin.

Two researchers, Michael Waters and Paul Renne, claim that prints found in Mexico and first dated to be 1.3 million years old are actually marks made by the tools of modern workers who quarry the stone with crowbars.

On the other hand, Silvia Gonzalez, an archaeologist from Liverpool's John Moores University, claims that the prints were formed in sediments that date from 9,000 to 40,000 years ago. Gonzalez' team of archaeologists continues to excavate; team members do not believe the footprints to be formed by modern workers (Bradley Lepper, "Cloud of Scholarly Dust Rises Over Ancient Footprints Claim," The Columbus Dispatch, Jan. 31).

This interesting quibble adds detail to a larger issue, which is the varying degree of accuracy of dating methods. Many have become critical of claims made in the interest of evolutionary ideology and are wary of manipulation or mistaken facts. For more information, request or download Creation or Evolution: Does It Really Matter What You Believe?.