I was hanging out with some LDS friends a while back, and we were listening to my music when the song "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid came on. Now, I admit, I never liked that movie when I was little. Ursula terrified me, and besides, the movie was too kissy for me. But I don't have anything against it. Now that I'm older, I think possibly the most interesting aspect of the movie is watching Ariel's relationship with her father, who seems constantly angry with her and is a little overly protective, but is willing to sell both his crown and his soul at the end to keep his little girl safe. (All together now: "Awwwwww!")
Anyway, the song came on, and right away, the three girls I was with jumped at it and started talking about a lesson they'd had in church a while back in which they were taught what an evil movie The Little Mermaid is. "What the heck?" I asked. "It wasn't outstanding, but it wasn't bad!"
But no, apparently they had some teacher at church who taught them that Ariel was teaching children that it's okay to be greedy and constantly wanting more. I pointed out that what she wanted more of was knowledge, which is a good thing, and the girls said, "No, she didn't want knowledge, she wanted experience of bad things. She's teaching kids it's okay to smoke and do drugs."
...WHAT???
Oh, also, apparently she dresses like a slut. HELLO! She's a mermaid! What do you expect, a t-shirt? Be glad she's wearing anything!
I loathe it when church teachers abuse the power they've been given to try and pass off their own opinions as doctrine. If you think it's a corrupt movie, that's your prerogative, but for crying out loud, don't tell people the church backs you up unless it actually does! No matter what I said, I couldn't convince these girls that The Little Mermaid is not an evil show that corrupts children by teaching them to do drugs, because they had it stuck in their heads that the "church" teaches that it's bad, and the church is unquestionably true.
Next, I'm sure they'll say Beauty and the Beast teaches that it's okay to live with a man you're not married to. And Robin Hood teaches that it's okay to steal from people as long as you need the money more than they do. And Aladdin teaches that it's okay to have a pet tiger if you're a princess. What the heck, man.
Anyway, so if you have a position as a teacher, I implore you to please let your students know when you're teaching your own personal opinion as opposed to doctrine, because people will defend your opinions even unto death if they think it's a church teaching.
8 comments:
"And Robin Hood teaches that it's okay to steal from people as long as you need the money more than they do."
That's Obama's tax plan.
Yeah. We were taught that Puff the Magic Dragon teaches you to do pot. What the heck!? He's a freakin' imaginary dragon!
But Puff the Magic Dragon is about smoking pot...the artists have confirmed that!
But, like all the Beatles songs about drugs (which is to say, about half of them), you can still enjoy Puff in its own right.
Gohr!!!!
I haven't met a church-goer of any denomination that doesn't do that to some degree or another.
We just have to remember that people tend to do that and resolve to come up with our own conclusions based on our own experiences.
We have free will that way, you see. :)
Just my $.02 worth of blah.
Oh, my, goodness.
I had an English teacher that said Huckleberry Finn and the slave Jim were having a homosexual relationship because "what else could they do on those long, lonely nights on the Mississippi River?"
It reminds me of the joke you once told when you were ten: "It was a dark and stormy night. The man in the trench coat reached into his pocket and drew out.... a Twinkie!"
You SO upset a friend of mine who thought you were a horrible child for saying that -- but your thought process was pure. The Twinkie is the quintessential harmless kids' snack and it is a cool word in and of itself.
You were not allowed to play with her kids anymore because you were such an awful influence.
That kind of thing is in the mind of the beholder, and some people have their mind in the gutter more than they wish to admit.
You wrote: "I couldn't convince these girls..."
So I ask... why do you need to convince them? Let them be.
As you get older, you'll realize the futility of wrestling with pigs. How in the world do you think I can stand sitting through P/H meeting with Daddy Bill? Well, actually I can't stand it, and I try my best not to. But I've learned long ago the futility of trying to convince him of anything. So I don't try. And I'm a lot better off, just by saying, "yeah, a lot of people agree with you" and let it go at that. Try it. It'll prevent a lot of grief on your part. Leave the mud to the piggies.
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