"Miley Cyrus & The Pharisees" Or "What About the Man?"

I confess, I did not watch the music award ceremony that Miley Cyrus performed in and caused such a ruckus.  I've never seen one of those ceremonies yet, in which someone did not try to 'push the envelope' either in their performance or their attire.  I've seen enough of those award shows to know that I really don't want to watch any more of them.  We complain every year about someone's 'shockingly crude act', yet we don't bother turning the t.v. off, and we keep watching it year after year and wonder why they don't stop?  But, that's not what this is about.

What I have seen is Facebook status after Facebook status posting pictures and comments of the performance.  I think I get the idea without having to watch the actual video.  It was lewd, crude, vulgar, trashy,...am I forgetting a word?  Using words I would tell my children, it was inappropriate and unacceptable.  How could the Disney created image of Hannah Montana do something this low?  Wait...what?  Hannah Montana was a Disney created image, not who the actual person was?  You mean we've trained our daughters to idolize a fictional character that just so happened to make concert appearances?  And she didn't stay in that character forever?  SHOCKER!!!  Perhaps we ought not to put such fictional personifications on real life pedestals.  But, that's not what this is about.

This whole situation has brought to my mind the story of the adulterous woman who was brought before Jesus.  You can find it in the Holy Bible in the book of John, chapter 8, verses 1-11.  Jesus had gone to the temple to teach, when the Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery.  They reminded Jesus, (as if He needs a reminder), that the law states that a woman caught in adultery is to be stoned and tested His reaction, trying to find a reason to incriminate Him.  Jesus bent down and started drawing in the sand, then said, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her," then continued to write in the sand.  One by one, the Pharisees left.  And Jesus looked at the woman and asked where her accusers were, then said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."  (Quotes taken from the English Standard Version.)

When the Pharisees quoted the law about a woman being caught in adultery and the consequential stoning, they forgot something.  According to the laws of the time, both the woman AND the man were to be stoned.  Why did they not bring the man participating in this act of adultery to be stoned, as well as the woman?  Why did they ignore the man's participation and not the woman's?  Why did they incorrectly misquote the law that they knew all too well?

Getting back to Miley...everyone has been so quick to condemn her behavior, but NOT ONE status that I saw said ANYTHING about the man that was on stage performing with her.  From the pictures I've seen, he wasn't trying to get away from her, but he was actively participating in the crass behavior and encouraging Miley to continue.  He was just as guilty!!  Why are we ignoring that?

I know we want to protect our daughters.  We want them to act and dress respectably and tastefully.  We are quick to point out how Miley failed and use her as a bad example.  Should we not be teaching our sons how to act respectfully?  Should we not be pointing out that the man that was with Miley failed, also?  That a gentleman would not, should not encourage that kind of behavior of their female friends?

The man is Robin Thicke, but it gets lost in all the talk about Miley.

Thousands of years later, we are still acting like a bunch of Pharisees.  We are still holding the girl accountable but not the boy.  We hold our daughters to a standard that we don't expect our sons to rise up to.  "Oh, but we do expect our sons to behave!"  Then WHY did I not see ONE facebook status about HIS crude and trashy behavior?  Thousands of teenagers have learned from our reaction that, yes, girls should not behave that way.  But, I hope and pray that somewhere out there a parent was telling their children that boys should not behave that way, either.  Otherwise, we have learned nothing in all these thousands of years.

I pray that Miley and her male counterpart will seek the Lord's forgiveness and find a more respectable way to represent themselves.  And I ask the Lord to forgive us for continuing to hold double standards when Christ set the standards equally for us all.  I pray that He forgives us for our part in encouraging these young stars to act in such sad ways and then condemn them when they do.  I pray that we find ways to love them and encourage what is acceptable in His sight.

As always, tasteful and respectable comments are always welcome.

God bless,
Beth