Chastity and Purity- The Challenges

How can a young person remain chaste when the media, music, movies, fashion and television promote everything that contradicts chastity? Turn on the television and everything from the advertisements to the cartoons promotes promiscuity. Society assaults us with sex, clothing advertisements, perfume, candy, lingerie and food. When did we reach the point where we need almost naked girls to sell water and pizza?

With respect to daily living, adultery and fornication are the media’s point of view. It’s undeniable. Most every daytime soap and evening show treat premarital sex, promiscuity and indecent behavior as just a normal daily routine in life. It’s so routine that you can compare sex to like taking a shower, its part of our daily routine. Some argue that television is simply our lives shown on the big screen. It’s a frightening thought to think that this is indeed how many choose to live their lives. Today I like Jim and so we sleep together, I get mad at Jim so to get even I sleep with his best friend John. Then when I get tired of Jim I simply like Bill and so the saga continues. Sex is seen as nothing more than something used to manipulate and control people, often times brutal and animal like. Immorality and promiscuity are as normal as having a cup of coffee in the morning. Do we ever see anything that even remotely suggests that morality and loyalty do exist? A lot of us who do know better sit and watch this trash. We are bombarded with it so instead of not watching it we just settle in and get comfortable on the couch. I mean we have to watch it because it’s all that is on.

So we decide okay we wont watch the soaps or the sitcoms, we are going to watch music videos. I mean its just music videos, how bad can it be? Well you turn on MTV and its girls grinding and shaking and doing nothing short of seduction. The lyrics, the suggestive dancing, the clothing, in all honesty how much different is watching these videos than watching pornography? Its all about what a guy wants to do to a gal or vice versa, listening to the lyrics is like listening to the script of a porn flick. So we can’t watch music videos cause to see one good video you have to see like ten more of these videos to every good video there is out there.


On average a young person spends say 25 hours a week viewing television from ages 5 to 17. This is the kind of junk that we are subjected to, is it any wonder why we are confused? Compare this to one maybe two hours of religious instruction if we had any. We have a media that condones adultery, promiscuity and violence. The media portrays a family as my two moms or my two dads and even the real families with a mom and a dad, the parents are portrayed as being idiots. I can’t name three shows that portray parents as moral, wise and being supportive to each other and their children. Everyone seems to manipulating each other to have their way. But somehow children are portrayed as being wiser than their parents. The rating system used for the media is so bogus. It’s basically saying that it’s okay to add trash to your food, its just a little trash so it won’t hurt you in any way. Rite! Wrong!

We pick up a magazine. On the front cover the feature articles,” how many partners have you had?’, “100 ways to cheat without your partner knowing”, “rate your love life”, “10 new ways to arouse and excite your partner.” So we flip pass all this to the fashion section. Ahhh the less is more concept, what I like to call brand name floss, the scraps that are being worn today costs more than actual clothing. To find actual clothing one has to search high and low. Everyday chores become that more difficult.

Is it any wonder that in this world devoid of morality and common decency that our youth struggle so? I encourage the young person who decides to stand against the common thinking of the many and rise to follow the simple teachings of a man who lived more than two thousand years ago. I entreat the youth of today not to listen to a society who portrays and treats you as animals unable to control your urges but to rise and set a new standard, one that will see this debased society stop and listen to the wisdom that comes from you who choose to submit yourself to the will of Christ, using Him, His Holy Mother, Mary and the Saints who mirror their beloved Savior, as your guide, your examples and the Holy Spirit as your strength.