The Pastor's Corner

Please Let my Child be a Child
December 11, 2003
By Rev. Todd Crofford
Sr. Pastor
Laurel Wesleyan Church

Looking forward to an enjoyable couple hours of family entertainment, we were excited to hear that The Cat in the Hat was coming to theaters this Christmas season. Soon all hopes of a night with popcorn and the kids at the movies were dashed when multiple reviews made clear this movie was far from innocent children’s fare. With warnings flashing like red lights at a railroad crossing, parents were cautioned that this movie deserved a PG-13 rating and was nothing short of vulgar. Even the normally liberal Los Angeles Times recommended parents keep their children away, bemoaning “Why, O why did they make it like that? Why did they ruin the Cat in the Hat?”

On another front, consider the popular and yet despicable company Abercrombie and Fitch. Known for four years now for putting out pornographic catalogs to sell clothes, their clothing lines enjoy significant popularity with kids of all ages. Since Abercrombie and Fitch recognize this, inside this prurient catalog is found clothing largely marketed to a younger generation. One issue even advertises thong-style panties for seven year-old girls with the slogan “eye-candy” on them. That is beyond inappropriate… it is disgusting.

Today’s parents already face tremendous challenges in raising respectable children, so why must Hollywood and Fifth Avenue promote such trash? Certainly our young children do not need these types of influences thrust at them by overzealous adults looking to turn a buck. Besides, when did it become necessary to “push the envelope” just to achieve success? For decades parents have bought their children shoes, jeans, lunchboxes, videos and all the rest without needing to have them marketed through nudity or crudity.

But here’s the problem- as long as the product continues to sell, it is what will be offered. The first weekend of the Cat in the Hat brought in a hefty $40 million dollars. All the platitudes about cleaner programming for our kids means nothing if parents will not show the restraint to say “no” to their children and just stay away from such films.

We need parents to stand up to Abercrombie and Fitch and say, “Until you stop advertising this way we won’t buy your clothes, and if it’s under our Christmas tree from someone else, it’s coming back to your store!” If dollars drive them, then loss of dollars will deter them.

In our church there is this important line in our baby dedications where parents agree to “restrain their child from evil influences.” Though this may be getting harder and harder to do, our children are precious treasures for which I will lay down my life. I want my child to be able to be a child. Soon enough they will find themselves soaring through teenage years and battling in this oversexed culture. But for now, I have a message for actor Mike Meyers, Abercrombie and Fitch, and anyone else trying to promote their immoral agenda to my children… “Leave my kids alone. You can’t have them and they don’t want you!”

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