Morality
Illustrations
The
father of some teenage children had the family rule that they
could not attend PG-13 or R rated movies. His three teens wanted
to see a particular popular movie that was playing at local
theaters. It was rated PG-13 or R. The teens interviewed friends
and even some members of their family's church to find out what
was offensive in the movie. The teens made a list of pros and cons
about the movie to use to convince their dad that they should be
allowed to see it.
The con's were that it contained ONLY 3 swear words, the
ONLY violence was a building exploding (and you see that on TV all
the time they said), and you actually did not "see" the
couple in the movie having sex - it was just implied sex, off
camera.
The pros were that it was a popular movie - a block buster.
Everyone was seeing it. If the teens saw the movie then they would
not feel left out when their friends discussed it. The movie
contained a good story and plot. It had some great adventure and
suspense in it. There were some fantastic special effects in this
movie. The movie's stars were some of the most talented actors in
Hollywood. It probably would be nominated for several awards. Many
of the members of their Christian church had even seen the movie
and said it wasn't "very bad".
Therefore, since there were more pros than cons the teens said
they were asking their father to
reconsider his position on just this ONE movie and let them
have permission to go see it.
The father looked at the list and thought for a few minutes. He
said he could tell his children had spent some time and thought on
this request. He asked if he could have a day to think about it
before making his decision. The teens were thrilled thinking;
"Now we've got him! Our argument is too good! Dad can't turn
us down!" So, they happily agreed to let him have a day to
think about their request.
The next evening the father called in his three teenagers, who
were smiling smugly, into the living room. There on the coffee
table he had a plate of brownies. The teens were puzzled. The
father told his children he had thought about their request and
had decided that if they would eat a brownie then he would let
them go to the movie. But just like the movie, the brownies had
pros and cons.
The pros were that they were made with the finest chocolate and
other good ingredients. They had the added special effect of yummy
walnuts in them. The brownies were moist and fresh with wonderful
chocolate frosting on top. He had made these fantastic brownies
using an award-winning recipe. And best of all, the brownies had
been made lovingly by the hand of their own father.
The brownies only had one con. He had included a little bit of a
special ingredient. The brownies also contained just a little bit
of dog poop. But he had mixed the dough well - they probably would
not even be able to taste the dog poop and he had baked it at 350
degrees so any bacteria or germs from the dog poop had probably
been destroyed. Therefore, if any of his children could stand to
eat the brownies which included just a "little bit of
crap" and not be affected by it, then he knew they would also
be able to see the movie with "just a little bit of
smut" and not be affected. Of course, none of the teens would
eat the brownies and the smug smiles had left their faces. Only
Dad was smiling smugly as they left the room. Now when his
teenagers asked permission to do something he is opposed to the
father just asks, "Would you like me to whip up a batch of my
special brownies?"
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