Propaganda

When a government is attempting to convince a man of something with all of its heart, it is a good idea to look at the reasons behind the decision. The truth, however sadly, is often veiled behind layers of lies that begin at a young age and continue well into adulthood.

Take, for example, popular shows. "SpongeBob SquarePants" is blunt and crude to the point of insult, glorifying prison, nudity, and idleness.

Tell, how many times has a sea sponge talked? How many times has his instructor been sent to prison? How many times has said sea sponge's anatomically-impossible rear been seen? How often has the starfish worked?

Most importantly, what does this say about our society, that we think nothing of letting our children see such profanity? Have we become incapable of seeing blunt propaganda? The competitor of the 'Krusty Krab" (which clearly represents the gigantic conglomerates like 'McDonald's' and 'Burger King') runs a local business and attempts to get the recipe to the 'Krabby Patty', on which the first restaurant holds a monopoly. Furthermore, the plankton is portrayed as rude, arrogant, and destructive. This situation clearly shows impressionable minds that irritating, lazy bums will win over determined businessmen any day. Furthermore, it makes the outlandish claims that all businessmen are destructive tycoons and that one company dominating a market is the way things should work. Ludicrous! Companies need to work together in order for an economy to progress and for scientific advancement. Who is to say that the plankton and the crab could not figure out a better recipe, one that sells even more?

Illiteracy is also clearly promoted. "Skool", "krusty", "krab"-only three examples of rampant misspellings. Poor grammar is featured often, as are SpongeBob's repeated failures in school. Such messages tell children that no matter how often they fail, nothing bad will happen.

Each person needs to hold their own in society. Valuing society means valuing self, and vice versa.

Moving into an example of propaganda for an older set, sex sells. Makeup commercials tell girls and women that if they can be beautiful enough (using the provider's product, in other words), they will be desirable. At the same time, modern advertisements aimed at men feature trim women in skimpy clothing and heavy makeup.

Often, propaganda crops up in the most insidious of places. Teaching young children to reject traditional values like reading, working and widely available information in order to promote advances in favor of illiteracy, misspellings, and monopolies creates a new society, one which should be neither indulged nor tolerated.

Suicide

Taking your own life-what cowardice is this? To have lost yourself so completely, to have lost sight of God so utterly, that death is the only way out-what selfish acts have led to such desperation? Has the man sinned so badly that he believes Hell is truly better than life on Earth? How has a man traveled so far from God's light that he believes he is responsible for his own life?

Said man must have created a trap for himself of his own misdeeds. Whether intentional or accidental, amends must be made for any mischief he might have caused. To take your own life is to take no responsibility for former actions, to attempt to escape justice. Justice can not be escaped; justice will live forever and die eternal, to exist in the afterlife and in life on Earth.

Suicide is becoming increasingly common; how has man created such problems? How has the devil crept so far into our culture as to be able to turn people from God's light?

The devil has crept in because we have allowed it; we have allowed him to take people from our Lord's grace and mercy and bring them to his own nefarious ends. We have allowed lost souls to slip through the cracks, which are becoming more chasms than all else. These chasms are stealing our wives, our daughters. They are stealing our fathers, our sons, our friends, our neighbors, and turning them away from God's holiness.

A man must put society on equal par with himself. Should he steal himself away from society, shall society steal the man? Of course not: Man makes his own decisions based upon society shifts, just as society shifts based upon men's decisions. One is dependent upon the other; without one, neither can survive. Neither can be stolen from the other without cataclysmic events occurring before and after the theft.

Suicide is akin to stealing a man's wife: Though the wife leaves the husband, she is unwilling. She wishes to go back to him. Like so, the soul never leaves society and yearns to return. This unfulfilled desire leaves behind a tangible split: the sadness of losing a relative or friend balanced with the guilt of not seeing such a tragic event occurring in the future. As they say, hindsight is twenty-twenty; many times, the person has left no trace in any person's mind of what he was planning.

Such a selfish act destroys families and splits society. To take the decision of life or death out of God's hands is foolish, sacrilegious, and abominable. Such selfish people deserve no compassion; they deserve contempt and scorn. Losing an admirable person is sad; losing a selfish one is a cause for rejoice.

Society's Morals

Society's morals have degenerated quite quickly. Man, as an immoral being, must fight against his nature most diligently to preserve his true self. Man must always do his best to keep his boundaries unstrained, lest he become a tool of the devil.

Today, sadly, man has given up. Infidelity, murder, corporate greed-all evils. All overlooked by society. Take Tiger Woods-he has committed adultery of the highest class, yet while some feel he must be punished for most acts, most willingly turn a blind eye or, worse yet, do not care. Uncaring is the worst act of all, for the entire society must be willing to punish wrongdoers in order for order to be kept.

Should a child misbehave, what should be done? Should his misdeed be ignored, or should it be punished? The answer, of course, is punished; for what follows ignorance but blindness? What follows blindness but destruction? Should a child's misbehavior be ignored (which happens all too often-"My little angel can do no harm!" as some foolish mothers say), should most children's mischief be ignored, as well? And that leads to immoral adults, does it not?

Murder is one of the highest sins. The taking of a life is no one's job but God's. God created us; God will destroy us when our time comes.

Man's malignant disposition has become more commonplace-look around you! Look at the political smear campaigns being launched against those in the noble profession of politics! Insults are hurled, baseless accusations thrown, reputations destroyed, in the name of what? Personal gain! Man should not be worried about himself over society; man should value self and society equally, as he values his wife and his children.

And where has the virtue of education gone? Colleges rejecting eighty-seven percent of their applicants, poor families unable to send their children to school, young men and women unwilling to go to college and further their knowledge-what a disgrace! Knowledge pays off in moral improvement; hence, schooling provides moral and ethical support for young minds. Young minds, as yet unravaged by hardship and despair, are at special risk for losing sight of traditional values. Young minds, still untroubled by the problems of adulthood, are more foolish, more likely to use injudiciously, more likely to create deep holes from which they can not crawl. Where, then are their elders? Where are those tasked with keeping them safe from the outside world and its predators, from information created with little knowledge? Where are those whose jobs they are to keep them safe from others and themselves? Why, those people are rejecting them, causing them misery, creating a cycle of hope and despair, creating that which they are tasked with preventing. Such a cycle produces nothing more than hopelessness and drudgery; few survive the brutality with a mind left open to science, to reason, to faith.

For in the end, that is what morals come to: Faith. Faith, which has been waning in recent years. Faith in humanity. Faith in self. Faith in Almighty God. All faith has been chipped at until it is nothing more than the tattered flag of a once-proud institution. Faith and morals are one, inseparable, divine. To lose one is to lose the other. Sadly, we are losing one; must we continue down this path, or can we, as a whole, turn back the clock?