"You must be kidding," you say? Well yes, actually, I am. Truthfully though, if we wanted give a real boost to the Food For Thought ratings, it would be a great idea to reserve ample space for daily -- maybe even hourly -- updates on Paris Hilton. You know -- fascinating stuff such as what she ate for breakfast, how much she paid at the pump on Rodeo Drive, and other fascinating bits of information we simply must know.Four months ago, our airwaves and front pages were saturated with minute-by-minute updates of Britney Spears' latest hair-do, and constant updates on the Anna Nicole Smith case. I wrote an edition of Food For Thought in February dealing with our world's obsession with celebrity gossip, and since the Paris Hilton saga is making the Spears & Smith cases look like they were virtually ignored by the media, I thought it might be beneficial to consider some of these thoughts again.
As best I can tell, the culture in the United States has lent itself to an extreme celebrity obsession for many generations now. Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Joe Dimaggio, and others from previous generations were all idolized by a significant portion of the public. However, recent generations have accelerated celebrity infatuation to soaring new levels. The populace wants to know as much as possible as quickly as possible and as often as possible about their favorite actors, sports stars, and musicians. What is even more amazing about this culture's obsession is that more and more people are famous for nothing more than being famous.
Think quick...why is Paris Hilton famous? Sure, she has appeared in films and on television programs. That is not how she became famous, though. She is a celebrity because of her fame. Huh?? To put it simply, publicity stunt after publicity stunt has kept her in the limelight -- the latest being her incarceration. You have to give Ms. Hilton and her publicist credit for how well it is working, though. Or should we give credit to the tens of millions who are duped into thinking this whole thing is something other than a "real-life," one-woman soap opera with all the convincingness of a pro wrestling match?
It used to be the case that those of us who wished to ignore such "junk food news" were required to do little more than pass tabloid publications by at the grocery store check-out line. However, today's mainstream media is filling our pages and airwaves with less real news and more frivolous scandal and innuendo. The "pornification of America" (as Laura Ingram has coined it) is being augmented by news outlets that we once relied on for actual news! When we get in the car and turn on the local news radio station and hear 20 or 30 minutes of every hour devoted to Paris Hilton, there is something severely wrong.
Okay, so what (if anything) does the Bible teach in connection with these matters?
"They learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not."
1 Timothy 5:13, ESV
Bearing in mind the context in which these words were written (instructions to the church about widows), there is a principle here that most certainly applies to the situation at hand. Does anyone actually believe God is glorified or pleased when we go about contributing to the longevity of celebrity gossip? Does righteous character include gossipping about someone, regardless of whether we know them personally or not?
As we have already noted, more than a few celebrities have been known to manufacture scandals (many of which, by the way, involve gross immorality) to "jump-start" fledgling careers. Regardless of the situation, Christian character demands out abstinence from perpetuating gossip and profitless trifles.
The truth of the matter is, we have too much honest and productive work available to involve ourselves with idle talk. If I find myself with enough time to know what flavor cream cheese Paris Hilton had on her bagel yesterday morning, it may very well be the case that I have become an "idler" (see verse above). God expects us to be good stewards of the resources He has given us -- including time.
"Let none of you suffer as a murder or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler."
1 Peter 4:15, ESV
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