While I was shocked by this, perhaps it should be expected. Youth Specialties has once again proven its lack of sense when it comes to appropriate content and given in to the culture's drive to constantly push the envelope. Here you can see the list of free resources from YS, including a "Bible" study built around the film The Brothers Grimm and another on MTV Music Video Awards. While I would never ignore the culture in addressing the issues of today's youth, when your "Bible" studies come with a disclaimer as theirs do, I think we ought to have second thoughts about what we are doing and why.
Taking kids to see The Passion was one thing, but finding "truth" in these stories crafted by Hollywood in Grimm is clearly inappropriate. The Bible verses "used" in the study are nothing more than proof-texting the ideas that are supposed to be "found" in the movie. Just because it is contemporary doesn't make it relevant or useful. In fact, if we teach kids to find religious truth in culture and then "prove" it from their Bible, we have done them a disservice. And to evaluate MTV videos by showing them, is NEVER appropriate. Do know how many youth pastors would get fired if they showed those videos at a youth event? And they should if they do, by the way. It is one thing to prepare our kids to deal with the sinfulness of the world, it is another to steep them in it.
What YS is continuing to do is a shame. That they would be so far from the mainstream now makes me wonder if they were ever there to begin with, and it is a tragedy that a potentially valuable source of quality, engaging, fresh materials would cave to the pressures of what is "trendy".
(Of course, this does not even address the issue of EmergentYS, but that is merely the head feeding this decline amongst the rest of the body I think. A tragedy!)
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