Princess Perils for Vanessa Hudgens

I don't usually pay attention to the scandals that the mass media produce. This time I have to say something. I saw on Twitter a couple of days ago that Vanessa Hudgens was a "trending topic". Trending Topics on Twitter give you an idea of what the users of Twitter are talking about. Sometimes, it is nothing at all, but when a star's name begins to appear, there is usually an event in that person's life that people are talking about and thus the trending topic.

I followed the trending topic to see what the conversation was about and learned that Princess Vanessa has yet another set of risque photos making the rounds of the internet. This happened in 2007, and she promptly apologized for her mistake. It was handily dealt with as a lapse of judgement and Disney didn't even bother slapping her wrist.

From what I've read, Hudgens' lawyers are saying that the new set of photos are from before the first set surfaced on the net. (As if that makes it all better?) The scandals and the reactions of the people around them say a lot about our attitudes toward purity and standards of behavior! It begs the question, "Why?!" Why would she take the pictures? Why would she show anybody else? Why can't Disney react with anything more like guidance? Why is she still a role-model for tweenies?!

I wanted to comment briefly on the "Why did she do it?" question here today. Vanessa Hudgens started acting when she was 8. I am not saying that 8 year olds should not act. I am saying, though, that it is the job of an eight-year-old's parents to keep them grounded in reality. At some point, it became more and more important that Hudgens follow acting. That is when the grounding in reality starts to become more and more important.

I have a lovely 13-year old daughter. She has always been the apple of our eye. From her early days, we have praised her for her intelligence and personality. I never wanted to see her develop the attitude that being pretty is the final measure of a human being. If we are not careful, that is the message we send to kids, and I wonder if that isn't the message that Vanessa Hudgens began to get.

Disney liked her. Zach Efron liked her. The cameras were always rolling. Was that enough? Maybe just a little experiment with the cameraphone. It is a private matter. Nobody will know. *POOF!* Innocence gone.

On the first occasion of pictures finding their way onto the net, her lawyers expressed dismay that a "private matter" was making it into the public arena. Who could control such things?! Well....Vanessa could've controlled the matter. She could have not taken the pictures.

Once upon a time, you had to take pictures on film. You had to have the film developed. You knew that someone handled the photos, and would see them. Now, we think we can take risks that aren't really necessary because, "Nobody will know." Ask Vanessa Hudgens if anybody knows about the photos she took in private.

I am writing this post for parents. Teach your kids values that will keep some degree of purity as a characteristic of their lives! If anybody has a problem with that word "purity" showing up multiple times in this post...then we really ARE in trouble!

Unfaithful Blogger

I just looked at my archives and realized that I have not been particularly faithful to blogging for the last few months. It can get tricky sometimes keeping track of all the options for communication. Some of the options are so similar, I sometimes blur the lines a bit.

Let's see....there's Twitter, there's Facebook, there's my blog, there's e-mail updates, there's Skype...the list seems endless. Each serves its purpose, but at times I think there might be just too many options. Each comes with its own set of expectations, and something has to give. Hmm...did I mention face-to-face communication, telephones, letters...etc...? I think that is probably what suffers. As we develop the habits of virtual communication, we need to make sure we retain the connections that I like to call "analog" (as opposed to digital).

Do you ever struggle to keep up with your communication? What do you do to keep the tensions in check?

Watch that e-mail, watch what you forward

I read an interesting article in Christianity Today and it hit a nerve for me. Our actions in the e-mail world probably don't match our actions in the real world. The things we say in an e-mail, we may never in person. It is just so easy to click "Send". Some people forward every little thing without thinking twice. I used to reply to forwarded e-mails with a tearjerker of a story by replying, "Yes, thanks, I'm doing well, how are you these days?" because they seldom bothered to talk about anything related to me or themselves.

However, this story is about something much more hurtful than having to click delete, or having to reply and say, "No Madeline Murray O'Hare isn't trying to get James Dobson off the air..." This couple had to face a court trial, a conviction and now a fine an jail time! All because somebody decided to take matters into their own hands and "help".

After you've read the story, perhaps you'll agree that the mission workers in the story had a bit of culpability in the "poor choice of words" department. Perhaps you'll agree that the person who forwarded the e-mail had a significant degree of culpability as well. Perhaps you will feel the government is over-reacting. If so, you might be missing the most important point -- "What do I do with e-mail?"

As the article points out, information that is shared with you is shared with YOU -- not with everyone in your Address Book. We have to be discreet in the way we handle information. I have known of several people who worked in locations that required they use a lot of discretion in how they talked about their work. They felt safe in talking to churches in their home country, and the church naively put their prayer letters on their website, with their name and picture as well.

Why is that so bad? Well, a hostile government official cannot do a keyword search from his desk on printed prayer letters, the e-mail in a churches inbox, or telephone conversations. He can do a keyword search from his desk and find the letter when the church has posted his letter on their website!

Many churches also list their missionaries' e-mail addresses in plain text on their website, so members can write to the missionaries. This is not the best idea, but not because of hostile governments. In this scenario, the "bad guy" is the spammer who scoops up the address with a little piece of software that scours the web looking for just such a thing. Soon, the workers' inboxes are full of invitations to buy medications they never thought they needed...

Christian workers are supposed to put their trust in God to look after them. This is right and true. However, it would help them a lot of their brothers and sisters would slow down, take a minute and ask their opinion before sharing sensitive information...even if they do it for all the right reasons with a good heart.

Christian workers should also ask God to "set a watch over my lips" so that they don't leave themselves open and vulnerable by words mis-spoken. This couple are paying a very dear price for a mere joke in an e-mail! It was only a lighthearted moment, but it has come back to haunt them now.

God will look after you. He will meet your needs. He will protect you from harm. He wouldn't mind if we joined in the effort with Him, though!