reb•e•lu•tion (reb’el lu shen) n. a teenage rebellion against the low expectations of an ungodly culture.

3/31/2006

Merchants of Cool: Teens, Culture, and MTV

In January of 2004, David Kupelian, vice president and managing editor of WorldNetDaily.com and Whistleblower Magazine, published a shocking, but excellent, exposé of modern youth culture (Link: Part 1 - Part 2), based in part upon a 2001 PBS Frontline documentary (Link: The Merchants of Cool).
CAUTION: Due to the nature of the topic, Mr. Kupelian's article and the Frontline documentary (linked to above in order to give proper credit) contain graphic language, as well as disturbing themes, images, and descriptions. This post includes choice excerpts, in hopes that you won't have to dig through any grime to find them yourself.

Both article and documentary were targeted at an adult audience, however, much of the information is of arguably greater importance to young people themselves. In this post I will be letting Mr. Kupelian and others speak for themselves, with brief additional commentary. Please consider carefully what they have to say:
"They want to be cool. They are impressionable, and they have the cash. They are corporate America's $150 billion dream."

That's the opening statement in PBS's stunning 2001 Frontline documentary, "Merchants of Cool," narrated by Douglas Rushkoff. What emerges in the following 60 minutes is a scandalous portrait of how major corporations – Viacom, Disney, AOL/Time Warner and others – study America's children like laboratory rats, in order to sell them billions of dollars in merchandise by tempting, degrading and corrupting them.

Think that's a bit of an overstatement?

It's an understatement.
Both Mr. Kupelian's commentary and the Frontline documentary confirm many of the messages we've written about here on The Rebelution. They do so by going in depth and undercover into modern, media-defined youth culture:
"Today," [Frontline correspondent Douglas Rushkoff] discloses, "five enormous companies are responsible for selling nearly all of youth culture. These are the true merchants of cool: Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp, Disney, Viacom, Universal Vivendi, and AOL/Time Warner."

"The entertainment companies, which are a handful of massive conglomerates that own four of the five music companies that sell 90 percent of the music in the United States – those same companies also own all the film studios, all the major TV networks, all the TV stations pretty much in the 10 largest markets," University of Illinois Communications Professor Robert McChesney reveals in the documentary. "They own all or part of every single commercial cable channel."
Professor McChesney echoes the theme of The Rebelution's post My iPod Is My Best Friend, explaining how the entertainment companies use all forms of media to shape and mold the character, and consequently, the desires of young people:
"They look at the teen market as part of this massive empire that they're colonizing... [A]nd their weaponry are films, music, books, CDs, Internet access, clothing, amusement parks, sports teams. That's all this weaponry they have to make money off of this market."
And as The Rebelution wrote in The Myth of Adolescence:
[M]edia-saturated youth culture, not only follows trends and fads, but it creates them. Classrooms, TV shows, magazines, and websites, are not only addressing us at the level of social expectations, but they are in fact dictating those expectations.
Mr. Kupelian agrees, describing the same concept with even greater candidness:
[C]ompanies are creating new and lower and more shocking... marketing campaigns, disguised as genuine, authentic expressions of youthful searching for identity and belonging, for the sole purpose of profiting financially from America's children...

This would be bad enough – if corporate America were just following and marketing the basest instincts of confused, unsupervised teenagers. But they are not following, they are leading – downward.
According to Rushkoff, it's a vicious cycle:
"It's one enclosed feedback loop," Rushkoff says. "Kids' culture and media culture are now one and the same, and it becomes impossible to tell which came first--the anger or the marketing of the anger."
And as Frontline reports:
[O]bservers say [that] as everyone from record promoters to TV executives to movie producers besieges today's teens with pseudo-authentic marketing pitches, teenagers increasingly look to the media to provide them with a ready-made identity predicated on today's version of what's cool.
Both Mr. Kupelian and the documentary spend a considerable time addressing two such "cool" creations of corporate youth-marketing: the "mook" and the "midriff."

The mook, Mr. Kupelian states, is a caricature of the wild, uninhibited, outrageous and amoral male. Take for instance, professional wrestling, the most-watched shows among teen males today.

The midriff, on the other hand, is a mini Britney Spears, obsessed with appearances — a sexual object, but proud of it. While the mook is arrested in adolescence, the midriff is prematurely adult. As was written in The Myth of Adolescence:
In what could be considered the most maddening aspect of this crisis, not all areas of maturity are being stunted... It is heartbreaking that so many young girls, while constantly pressed to become more and more sexually alluring, are not expected to attain any notable level of character beneath the surface.
And of course, the media is very careful to undermine the young person's ability to receive and benefit from the wisdom and experience of their parents and other God-established figures of authority:
[S]ays Miller, "it's part of the official rock video world view, it's part of the official advertising world view, that your parents are creeps, teachers are nerds and idiots, authority figures are laughable, nobody can really understand kids except the corporate sponsor."
The purpose of Mr. Kupelian's article (and the purpose of this post) is not to create a feeling of hopelessness, but to call us to action — to wake up and recognize the lies of our culture for exactly what they are: lies. As Mr. Kupelian concludes, our only hope in combating the culture is to "create (or plug into) another culture entirely - a subculture."

Mr. Kupelian, sir, thank you for stating the truth with such boldness. Allow me to introduce you to The Rebelution.

For those of you who have been around since the beginning, you may remember the post "Rebelize" Your Youth Group, where the following was written:
The only way to truly combat cultural expectations is to create a [counter] culture that results in an entire community of mature and responsible young people.
Brett and I believe that it was for that very purpose that this blog, and now the conferences, came into existence. Our sidebar of links to fellow rebelutionary's blogs and websites (like Regenerate Our Culture) is just the beginning of an online counter-culture that is quickly becoming a very real Christian youth movement — a movement of young adults rebelling against the rebellion and corruption that is being constantly thrown at them.

Thoughts, ideas, or questions? The comments section is open.

3/19/2006

Terri Schiavo: Teen Blog Roundup (Part 2)

Karen of Rhetorical Response reminds us of why she is one of our favorite teen bloggers:

In The Abolition of Man, CS Lewis correctly predicted the moral state of the western world. With the decline of firm belief in absolutes, the modern world has been left with a moral code that is little more than a frail shell. This code cannot stand against serious onslaughts and shatters when the need for strength and resolve is greatest.

Perhaps the most tragic example of the consequences of weakened principles is the life and death of Terri Schiavo, the woman who, one year ago, was starved to death by the will of her own husband. At a time when protecting those too weak to protect themselves ought to have been the primary concern, America's moral code betrayed some of its greatest principles: the sanctity of life and the defense of the weak and helpless... [read the rest]
Catch Word puts forth an excellent critique of a culture that has deified the Enlightenment concept of reason:
In a world defined by reason and feelings, there is no room for humanity. Reasonable people should think it only sensible to let Terri go. She was in a vegetative state that any reasonable person would abhor. Think of all that she had been. And now to be confined to this broken, twisted body… How could we let her go on like that? What reason was there? With Terri’s right to die we have carried, “I think therefore I am,” to “We can see that you think, therefore you are.”

What reason? That is where the paradigm of Reason breaks down. It is an unanswerable question. Why are we here and what makes us human? For what reason? Humanity is more than reason, and we know it. That’s why we go away from a book of logical plots and cardboard characters unsatisfied. In a world devoid of spiritual realities though, “I” is the only logical answer to the meaning of life. But as nice as that sounds, it is not at all fulfilling.

Humanity is more than rational thought. Life is more than happiness. “I think therefore I am” is not enough to explain the love of a mother for her difficult child or helpless laughter at your best friend’s stupid joke or the sacrifice of patriots for generations they will never meet. These belong to the realm of something bigger than reason… [read the rest]

3/18/2006

Terri Schiavo: Teen Blog Roundup

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the court-sanctioned removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. Over the next thirteen days bloggers across the blogosphere will be remembering Terri's fight for life.

Good friend and rebelutionary, Agent Tim, has taken the iniative to head up a blog roundup for teen bloggers and will be posting links on his blog later this evening. For now, here are a few posts by teens Brett and I have managed to find. Be sure to check out Agent Tim Online over the next two weeks for further posts and links on the issue.

Agent Tim Online has posted a summary of the events surrounding and leading up to Terri Schiavo's starvation and death:

It was only one year ago today that it happened. Really, it’s hard to believe that’s true, but it is. Terri Schiavo’s life is a reminder to us how precious each of days are, and how quickly it can be taken–or stolen–from us. The day Terri’s tube was taken away from her and she was starved to death is a hard and sorrowful thing to remember. It makes you shut your eyes and bury your head into your hands wondering why something like this could happen, and how many times it has happened without us knowing it.

Today, we’re going to take a trip back in time. It starts on March 18th, 2004... [read the rest]
Spunky Junior serves us all an excellent reminder regarding the ongoing battle for life in our world today:
Let's take a moment to remember what happened one year ago today. We prayed, cried, blogged, and continuely paid attention to the news, hoping that she would live, hoping that this innocent woman would be pardoned from her death sentence. When she died, we were saddened by the state of our country. And then we moved on.

Yet the fight for human life is not yet over. 234,851,023 children have been killed since January 2001. More will die today. More will die tomorrow. Each, like Terri, had a life that was cut short. The fight for life should not be forgotten for their sakes.

Are you willing to take a stand to preserve human life?
Jennifer's Musings makes the observation:
The Schiavo case was a sad reminder of America’s carelessness and disregard for human life. To us Christians, human life on earth is precious, belonging to God… to those who deny any supernatural presence, a beating heart is simply another mass of tissue… just another unfortunate occurrence. [read the rest]
Mission Amare encourages her fellow bloggers:
I urge all of you bloggers out there today to write a post about Terri. About life... We can't bring Terri back. But hopefully we can prevent this from happening to other people.

3/17/2006

Rebelution Tour: Conference Recaps

Several conference attendees/bloggers have posted recaps of the first Rebelution Tour conference (with a few pictures!).

Lydia Takeoka: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

Brian Whalen: The Rebelution: A Report

Lindsey Wagstaffe: Rebelution Recap

Brett and I are at the Portland airport, getting ready to board our flight to Orlando, FL. We'll be in Orlando until Sunday, to meet our host team and build support for the July 22nd conference, and we'll be flying to Alabama on Monday morning. Prayers are most appreciated.

3/15/2006

Regenerate Our Culture: Launched

Regenerate Our Culture

The countdown has ended. Regenerate Our Culture is here.
The Magazine: The first issue of Regenerate Our Culture Magazine (Online Edition) features articles on literature, forensics competition, theology, and culture, written by some of The Rebelution's favorite young writers, including Karen Kovaka, Alex King, Tim Sweetman, and David Ketter.

The Blog Network: The ROC Blog Network is here. It's really cool. Syndicating some of the best teen bloggers online, the network is designed to make keeping your finger on the pulse of the Christian teen blogosphere a whole lot easier.

3/12/2006

Praise Report: Snow Update

The Night Before the Conference: On Friday evening, Brian Whalen and Jason Battaglia from Georgia were having dinner with our family and the Stewards (our host family and local coordinators). It had been snowing off and on all Friday, but in the evening it began to build up. There were about three inches of snow when Brian, Jason, Brett, Joel, Kimmy, and I prayed that God would not allow the snow to cancel the conference, while acknowledging His complete control over whether the conference happened the next day.

The Morning of the Conference: When we woke up early Saturday morning, we found that it had not snowed at all during the night. There was still about three inches of snow, but not enough to keep us from leaving. When we arrived at Foothill Christian Fellowship (the conference facility), we were amazed that it had no snow. It had fallen just below the snow line. Very few people cancelled because of the snow, the weather was perfect (if slightly cold), and the facility was crowded.

The Night After the Conference: Yesterday evening, the snow was gone. We went to bed.

The Morning After the Conference: When we woke up this morning there was over six inches of snow. There was also six inches of snow at Foothill Christian Fellowship, forcing them to cancel their service. We were amazed at God's display of His goodness and sovereignty. It could just have easily snowed six inches on Friday night and forced us to cancel the conference. We are so blessed to be able to see the hand of God in everything that happened yesterday. Soli deo gloria!

3/11/2006

One Picture: Rebelutionaries

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One of the highlights of the conference for Brett and I was meeting many of our "blogging friends" in person. Here is one picture we managed to get together.

From left to right: Brian Whalen of Zealous Endeavor, Lindsey Wagstaffe of Daughter of the King, Brett Harris of The Rebelution, Sarah Harris of Fearlessly Feminine, Alex Harris of The Rebelution, Lydia Takeoka of tapiocapuddin, and Jamie Kiley of Jamie Kiley.

Update: Soli Deo Gloria

Thank you all so much for your prayers. God was incredibly good and the conference was amazing. Soli deo gloria! More details to come...

3/10/2006

Update: We Have Arrived

Thank you all for your prayers! Our trip was quite eventful, but God was gracious and we arrived safely around midnight.

Part One: Snow — It was snowing yesterday morning when we left our house, which was quite unexpected. We knew snow was forecasted for the Sacramento area, but not for our area in Oregon. As we made our way south on I-5, the snow steadily increased and visibility went down. Thankfully, the pass over the mountains was unobstructed.

Part Two: Broken Alternator — As we entered California our car's battery suddenly died, the lights went out, and the speedometer started jumping. Although the car was still running, we knew that if we stopped or slowed down, we might not be able to start up again. For some reason, the battery wasn't being recharged. There was something wrong with the alternator. Thankfully, we were able to contact a repair shop in Redding that had a replacement alternator. We barely made it to the shop, after being forced to bring the car to a stop twice at traffic lights. The last time, we were afraid it wouldn't make it across the intersection.

Part Three: "Bowling" — While our car was being worked on, we had two hours to kill. We went to a nearby restaurant and noticed a bowling alley up the road. We finished eating quickly and made our way there, only to find that all the lanes were full. Instead, we spent our time enjoying some classic arcade games (i.e. The Simpsons).

Part Four: Fever — With the alternator replaced, we were on our way again. However, our little brother's temperature had gone up to 104.6º, requiring a quick stop for some children's Tylenol. By God's grace his temperature dropped.

Part Five: Hairpin Curves and More Snow — We finally reached Sacramento and began to make our way to the home of our local hosts. After navigating through incredibly curving roads in the dark, it began to snow again. But finally, at 11:30 PM, we arrived at our destination... About 5 hours later than we planned.

3/08/2006

Sacramento, Alabama... Here we come!

Everything is crazy here at the Harris household as the family prepares for tomorrow's 10-hour drive south to California for The Rebelution Tour's first stop: Sacramento, CA. In just three days (Saturday, March 11th) 475+ people will join together at Foothill Christian Fellowship for an exciting day of worship, teaching, and fellowship.

Last night we finished printing and stuffing 475 nametags. This morning we folded and stapled 500 conference workbooks. This afternoon we picked up 150 conference t-shirts, which joined the nametags, workbooks, and stack of Regenerate Our Culture flyers on the table of "conference stuff."

Current Sacramento Weather Forecast (for Saturday):
High Temp: 43º F - Low Temp: 29º F - Rain and Snow Showers
Prayer RequestsUPDATE: Play particularly for our five-year-old (almost six) brother, James. He currently has a 102.4º F temperature.

Please pray for safe travel for our family and the rest of The Rebelution Tour team members. Pray for health for everyone involved. Pray that the weather will not disrupt the conference in any way. Most importantly, pray that God will prepare the hearts of everyone attending (the audience, the speakers, and the conference team) and that He will accomplish His will through (and beyond) our efforts.

What's With Alabama? — Next weekend (three days after we arrive home from Sacramento) Brett and I will be flying to Orlando, Florida, with our father to meet the local host team for the July 22nd conference. Brett and I will then fly to Montgomery, Alabama, to assume our positions as grassroots campaign managers for several candidates in the upcoming statewide elections, remaining for three months until the primary election on June 6th. Please be praying for us as we quickly change our focus after the conference.
We plan to post pictures and a recap of the conference next week. Thank you all for your prayers!

3/05/2006

Happy Birthday! - Agent Tim

Today is the 16th birthday of an excellent blogger and rebelutionary, Tim Sweetman of Agent Tim Online. Be sure to visit his great blog, wish him happy birthday, and check out Regenerate Our Culture.

Happy birthday, Tim! May God bless you richly!

3/02/2006

Scripture Memorization: An Update

I wanted to let all of you know that, by God's grace, I was able to complete my memorization of Romans 8. It's really such an amazing thing to have God's Word constantly "at hand." I've been amazed at how often my conscience has instructed me by reminding me of a passage. And that's just from one chapter! Isaiah 53, here I come.

I encourage any of you who are busy or discouraged, keep persevering! With the conference coming up, it's been hard for me to stay consistent, but when I stop and remind myself of the importance of memorizing God's Word, I know it's more than worth it. How's it going for all of you?

Read the Original Post: Do Hard Things: Scripture Memorization

3/01/2006

Regenerate Our Culture: The Countdown

www.RegenerateOurCulture.com
After what we know took months of planning and hours upon hours of work, Brett and I are excited to announce the launch of the all-new organization Regenerate Our Culture. Dedicated to changing our culture from the inside out, its mission is to take our nation's worldview from unbiblical back to biblical.

Regenerate Our Culture was founded by some of the best young writers in the Christian blogosphere: Tim Sweetman of Agent Tim Online, Kristin Braun of Spunky Jr., Jake Smith of Mission 3:6teen, and Alex King of SmartHomeschool.

Today marks the start of the two week countdown till the launch of their online magazine and super-cool blog network. While you're waiting, they've got a whole countdown site up for you to explore. Be sure to read about their vision, listen to the podcast, and join the team.

Brett and I are honored to serve as launch sponsors for this exciting new development in the Christian teen blogosphere. Alex, Tim, Jake, and Kristin are a great example of the character, competence, and collaboration that The Rebelution is all about.