By Helen Bricker, Patriot Academy Alumnus
“Objectophelia”. That is a word. And until writing this article I had no idea it existed.
I had some reasonable idea of what it meant when I decided to read an article on Snapchat from a news outlet called “Pinknews”, with the headline “This woman married the Eiffel Tower”, and much to my lack of surprise the article definitely lived up to its headline, mentioning several people who had this “objectophelia”.
A man has a relationship with his car, apparently he found his “mate” at a junkyard and began the relationship after he bought the car. Then there was a girl who married the Berlin Wall, and a man who married a character from a Nintendo PS4 game. And last but not least, a girl who married the Statue of Liberty.
You can not make this stuff up. I was reading with a very puzzled expression I am sure, but the fact is, this is going on around us right now. And not only that, but it is being put on a media platform like Snapchat, which has direct access to millions of youth, over or under 18.
That sickens me. To think what media outlets so willing put in front of youth does not shock me, because this world is out to destroy good, and so, destroying the healthy growth of youth is a pretty powerful place to start.
I am not a parent, but we can all agree that any parent who allows unmonitored access to these types of media platforms should beware.
Personally, this is not the kind of information that I would want around my kids. But how can we fight such an overwhelming wave?
That is a hard question. The only answer I have is this: the Bible and Christ.
Society will forever push against Biblical living. It will always try and bend truth and wisdom. As Christians we must forever be armored with spiritual strength to endure what is being thrown at us.
I encourage everyone to pray fervently for the young Christians growing up in this ever increasingly sexually-saturated society. Pray for strength, wisdom and faith to follow Christ regardless of the names they will be called and the things they will be told are acceptable.
We should also pray that they learn how to use social media wisely, and to learn to refrain from it when it is no longer healthy.
I am not saying social media is all evil, but it is one of the main outlet that this world uses to push agendas. So if you have children, if you have siblings, or if you are young yourself, choose wisely what to allow into your heart and mind.
We all struggle to follow Paul’s admonition to think only on things that are “true, noble, pure and lovely” (Philippians 4:8). However, that should be our goal whether it be on or off of social media.
We should all strive to be wise and continue to monitor what we allow into our life.
