It's Time for a Media Clean-up

The Church of England drew its General Synod to a close last week with a debate on whether standards of decency were falling in the British media in the aftermath of the Celebrity Big Brother race row and growing concerns over the increasing presence of sexually explicit images and violence in the media.

Just some of the programmes under fire from Synod members were Big Brother, Strictly Come Dancing and Little Britain, which some feared were lowering standards of behaviour and exploiting the humiliation of human beings for "ratings and sales".

Although the Church of England voted against a call for the Government to launch an inquiry into media standards, it was nonetheless a positive sign that the Church was even holding such a debate.

One Synod member called it "timely". Overdue might be more fitting.

The Church of England rightly voiced concern at what it called the "worrying tendency to exploit the humiliation of human beings for public entertainment" - referring particularly to Celebrity Big Brother.

But Synod members also criticised the alarming proliferation of sexually explicit male magazines, or 'lads mags' like Nuts, Zoo, Loaded and FHM. These magazines, once banished to the top shelf where no self-respecting man would dare cast his eyes, have slowly crept their way down to prime positions directly eye-level with children.

And what's more worrying, these magazines are now online with no measures in place to prevent children from accessing them. In its Google tag, Loaded describes itself as "the best UK men's magazine, now online with more exclusive, sexy girl galleries, hot new games and gambling" - how base. FHM is only slightly better but still boasts that it features the "best girls". Well, the eyes may be full but the heart is empty.

These magazines exploit women and reduce them to fodder for men's sexual fantasies, and yet they have become a regular feature in the bedrooms of men and boys across the country. And the sexually graphic images once confined to the inner pages are now liberally and unavoidably splayed across the front covers - anything to make the sale.

Even the very term 'lads' mags' irks. As if to say, 'It's ok, they're just lads'. 'Oh don't get so upset that they drool all over these lurid magazines, they're just lads'. 'Don't get upset that there are magazines with almost naked girls on the front in full view of children, they're just lads' mags.' 'Lad' has redefined what it is to be a young man and what is now acceptable from young men to the point where their tastes and lusts are now going completely unchallenged and are in fact being promoted by the booming lad mag industry. What the word 'lad' obscures, however, is the fact that these are actually young men who do not know that God made them to live for love and not for lust.

The demand for such sexually explicit material has to be tackled by churches across the country. The church has to dedicate itself to the education of young people in particular on the need to keep the eyes and the heart pure.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (NIV Matthew 5:27 - 28)

The sin of the heart is serious and it starts with the eyes. This is the kind of education that is not taught in schools and the church is the only institution that can fill that gap. We need to tackle the demand for such material by educating people about purity and true love, about living for the spirit and not for the flesh.

Media needs a clean-up and the church, with its millions of members, has the means to do that. One Synod member called on Christians to "inundate" newspapers and other media with the Good News of Jesus Christ. What a wonderful idea.

The Church of England General Synod rejected a call for the Government to launch an inquiry into programme standards but it did give the go ahead for more research into effects of humiliation TV and the influence of media on behaviour.

This is a good step forward. The church needs to provide a real alternative to the use of sexually explicit images and violence in media and that alternative should be filled with the truth and the light.

If we clean ourselves of the ignoble things God will use us for noble things. The same goes for all kinds of media. Let's get active in using existing media to spread the Good News of Christ and glorify God, to turn the darkness into light and the false things into the truth. I would love to see more churches charging at this issue with as much zeal as they have embraced modern day slavery and William Wilberforce. Today's slavery is also the slavery of the body and soul.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." (Matthew 5:8)