In Doug Wilson’s book, My Life For Yours, there is a chapter on The Bathroom.

It begins,

We are working our way through a biblical home, and as we come to the bathroom, the universal response of readers is perhaps less than enthusiastic. And all God’s people said, “Oh, dear.”

Yesterday I went for one of my run/walks. I call it that because I’m so out of shape, I only run a quarter of a mile, at most, and then walk (kind of fast) another mile or so. Anyhow…

I saw a sticker on someone’s mailbox that said…

Blacks didn’t choose Slavery
Jews didn’t choose Genocide
and Babies don’t choose Abortion!

And I thought, most of those things aren’t true.

Of course, it is true that black slaves in the US did not choose to be slaves, and the Jews did not choose to be systematically killed off by the Nazis (and Babies definitely don’t choose abortion).
But, ‘blacks’ are still choosing to enslave people in Africa. And, I don’t know for certain, but my guess is that most of the black slaves brought to the US, had they not been kidnapped (a crime I’m not overlooking, mind you), would have favored slavery of other people in the same way it is a reality today.

Likewise, Jews did choose genocide… just not their own. It is common for many critics of the Bible to attack it because it prescribed genocide. Jericho being one example. Psalm 137 is also a common reference.

At least the third line was accurate.

Anyhow… Just what I thought when I saw that sticker.

So, we watched Hitch last night. I thought it had some very funny parts, and was basically a fun movie. Pretty predictable, but still interesting. The funny parts were some of the funniest things I’ve seen in a movie for a while. Probably since we saw Elf. I was laughing pretty heartily for almost one entire scene.

There was some trite, trashy dialogue thrown in here and there. Some of it had a purpose in character development, but those aren’t the more offensive moments. The offensive parts, as best as I can guess, are there to get a few laughs. Especially since this movie is a chick-flick morphed to be more open to male viewers. I was impressed, though, that neither of the two couples the film focuses on sleep together.

There was a conscious attempt to make the film anti-misogynist, and that is a message delivered on the surface. The comments I referred to above, though, contradict that sentiment. So, while it tries to respect women, and say that guys that sleep around without any commitment are jerks, it fails to thoroughly communicate this, from top to bottom. Several times, women exclaim about their lack of coitus for X length of time. These are the comments that are supposed to be funny, but really aren’t. Instead, they make the women appear to be like the male jerks the film condemns. I’m sure there’s a touch of feminism in there… but in the end, I think it objectifies women and makes them sexual toys. These, again, are the conclusions I draw from some of the foundational things the filmmakers chose (probably unconsciously) to do, and you really only notice if you think critically about the film. And that from a Christian perspective. But, the primary message of the film is a good one, for the most part.

I enjoyed how the film showed that women want to be respected, and want to be honored. In our day and age, it is common to think that women are just the same as men. Egalitarianism and all that rot. But the film struck at the truth when it made ladies fall for the men that listen to them, think about them, and work hard at pleasing them. When the man cherishes the woman, she reciprocates.