Me, Myself, and Mine

Have you thought maybe, just maybe, that Web 2.0, despite its purported relation-promoting interactivity is reducing people's personal interaction skills ...particularly those of GenYs?

Might Web 2.0 be turning you and old into relational cripples in real interpersonal situations?

Worry on, then! For you will be sure to find scary, as I do, the new rage sweeping Japan's teenage girls.

Webkare, Web Boyfriend in Japanese, is a mix between a social networking and dating simulation site. You can read more about it in this article on TechCrunch. The latter is a Blog devoted to comment on Web 2.0 developments, companies and products. Webkare is Japan's newest web sensation. You'll be amazed at the number of young women who signed up within just 5 days of its release on September 10th, and the incredible number of page views it had in that period.

Do we really wonder that Webkare's male equivalent will not be far behind? Or how long this will take to spread to Canada and the U.S.?

Now It's Your Turn! Please share how you feel and what you think about the issues and/or what the article writer says about Webkare. For example: "Is this healthy teenage, female entertainment?" or "Is the activity a dangerous sexually-titilating waste of school-goers limited, study time?" How do you feel about the decline in relationship skills many argue is being caused by Web 2.0? Get emotionally involved, please!(My 'Comment Section', in which you may share anonymously, will open to you when you click on "comments" immediately below this post. The simple “Word Verification Procedure” there before you can post is included to prevent spammers from spoiling your enjoyment of my site.)

Until next time, how can I help you? (You can contact me by clicking here. Also, you can contact me directly to be added to Patton Associates S-M-A-R-TBriefing™ Mailing List. Check out recent samples here.)

Labels: Guard Your Family, Japan, TechCrunch

"For years, Chuck Norris has been a vigilante for justice, rounding up the bad guys in various films and TV shows such as 'Walker, Texas Ranger'. Recently, he embarked on a whole new crusade – challenging TV’s resident daytime diva, Oprah Winfrey. In a WorldNetDaily exclusive commentary this week, Norris authored 'Oprah’s New Easter', addressing her recent and ongoing promotion of spiritual self-help guide 'A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose” by Eckhart Tolle'."

When I read this introduction to an Editorial on the Church Solutions website today, the Bible story about David and Goliath jumped into my mind. (And I chuckled ...for obvious reasons. "Sorry, Oprah!")

You can read the rest of the article here. It's well worth your time if you're concerned about the subtle, demonic creep of secular humanism clothed in Christian garb rapidly wraping itself around North America, particularly.

Hopefully, the stones Mr. Norris puts in his sling shot will be as empowered by Holy Spirit as were David's and enable him to fell, with our prayerful help, the billion dollar Tolle/Winfrey colossus. "Those who have the ears to hear, let them hear!"

Now It's Your Turn!: Please share how you feel and what you think about what you've just read. For example: "Is Norris wasting his time fighting against the spread of secular humanism, especially when, in this case, it's being driven by Ms. Winfrey's tremendous resources? " or "Is Oprah's 'soft Christianity', as it's called by some, really dangerous? " (My 'Comment Section', in which you can share anonymously, will open to you when you click on "comments" immediately below this post. The “Word Verification Procedure” there before you can post is included to prevent spammers from spoiling your enjoyment of my site.)

Until next time, how can I help you? (You can contact me by clicking here. Also, you can contact me directly to be added to Patton Associates S-M-A-R-TBriefing™ Mailing List. Check out recent samples here.)

Labels: Guard Your Family, Spirituality

Heard about the new movie, "The Golden Compass" yet? Set to be released worldwide on December 7th. as part of Hollywood's Christmas offering, the buzz is building.

Before buying into the marketing hype though, you may wish to do a little research about this movie yourself ...certainly before taking or letting your kid(s) go and see it.

Here's how one plot summary writer, Tom Aylward-Nally, describes this movie on it's own site: "Adaptation of the Carnegie Medal-winning novel by Philip Pullman, the first volume in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy. In a parallel Oxford, young Lyra Belacqua begins a dimension-crossing odyssey that builds from a merely atypical children's adventure into a complex (and frequently quite dark) philosophical epic."

The movie has been described by some concerned writers as "atheism for kids" and Pullman, as the writer "atheists would have been praying for, if atheists prayed". Pullman is a self-proclaimed militant atheist and secular humanist. He despises C. S. Lewis and the "Chronicles of Narnia" calling the latter "religious propaganda". Others argue that Pullman's motivation for writing "His Dark Materials" trilogy was specifically to counteract Lewis' symbolisms of Jesus the Christ that are portrayed in the Narnia series. One British journalist and author, Peter Hitchens, claimed that Pullman actively pursues an anti-Christian agenda and, in an article in 2002 when Pullman's first award was announced, called him "the most dangerous author in Britain" while warning parents to beware the book.

The official Golden Compass movie site is veeery slick. It has an exciting trailer featuring the movie's major Hollywood stars Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards, and Sam Elliott. It's a different and "darker" trailer than the one at the movie site.

You also may find it foreboding that the Official Site includes a section, entitled "Daemons", where your kids can connect with their own personal demon that they then can "take with them out into their world".

Now It's Your Turn!: Please share how you feel and what you think about what you've read. For example: "Is Pullman dangerous?" or "Should Jesus Followers bar their still-impressionable children from seeing "The Golden Compass?" (My 'Comment Section', in which you can share anonymously, will open to you when you click on "comments" immediately below this post. The “Word Verification Procedure” there before you can post is included to prevent spammers from spoiling your enjoyment of my site.)

Until next time, how can I help you? (You can contact me by clicking here. Also, you can contact me directly to be added to Patton Associates S-M-A-R-TBriefing™ Mailing List. Check out recent samples here.)

Labels: Guard Your Family