We are reduced

For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation, brought low everywhere in the world this day because of our sins. Dn 3:37

This morning I caught an article in the Milwaukee JournalSentinel about a new line of swimsuits produced by Abercromie & Fitch. The swimwear is geared toward 7-14 year olds and includes a push-up top the likes of Victoria’s Secret intimate apparel. Here’s an excerpt from the story:

“The Ashley is the latest in a line of provocative products from the popular retailer. Abercrombie & Fitch enraged parents in 2002 by introducing a line of girls’ thongs with the words “eye candy” and “wink” printed on the front.

After the Journal Sentinel broke the story, the company was forced to pull the thongs off the shelves when parents in Milwaukee and across the country flooded the company with complaints. They also boycotted Abercrombie, including stores at Mayfair and Brookfield Square malls (the stores at Brookfield Square closed in January).

Before that, the Ohio-based company caught heat from parents over catalogs that showed college-age and younger models nude and in close embraces.” http://www.jsonline.com/features/fashion/118818774.html

One of my Facebook friends shared the link to this article on her page and wrote the following comment:

“Who does this sound like? ‘It’s no problem if we outrage the parents,’ Garrett said of the campaign. ‘They (Abercrombie) still have the kids.’ The Evil one! PARENTS! You wouldn’t let another human “MOLEST” your children, why let SOCIETY!”

She’s right. We wouldn’t want anyone to molest our children, but what about the children of others? It’s not only parents who will see their little girls dressed up like prostitutes; it’s all of the people on the way to the pool or beach, at the pool or beach, romping around on the sand or playground, and at the ice cream stand the family stops at on the way home from swimming. It’s the people who peek in the store windows, view the advertisements, and peruse the catalogs. It’s the people who smile at our young people (both male and female) adorned like hookers as they pass them in the mall or on the sidewalk. It’s the people who sit next to them in the pew and look the other way without letting them know that they’re far too valuable in God’s eyes, in our eyes, to clad their bodies in that way.

We all need to be concerned about this trend, even if we aren’t parents. Companies like Abercrombie & Fitch want to instill in our next generation of women and men that the only way to be worth anything is to have something to flaunt and to flaunt it with zest (or lust, more appropriately). It isn’t enough to simply look away, we need to speak up – to parents who dress their babies like this, to companies who sell this kind of “clothing”, and to others who don’t see the danger in it. When we allow the children of a society to become corrupted, we all become corrupted. When a voluptuous bust line (or lack thereof) defines the dignity of a human being, we’ve got a serious problem.

The prophet Daniel could have been talking about the USA and any other country that allows these moral atrocities to continue. When we permit this to go on without contesting it with our prayers, our voices, our example, and our dollars, we are carving a world for our children that is wrought with degradation and destruction and forming a nation that is reduced beyond any other nation, brought low everywhere in the world because of our sins.