Onslaught

Michael Sa-Ngoun, of Seattle, Washington made the news a few years ago when his mother adopted a tough-love policy and left him in a remote village to be cared for by Buddhist monks to save him from his self-destructive behavior  ....in Cambodia.

When he came back to the U.S. after 2 years in the Buddhist temple, one of Michael’s comments was regarding feeling overwhelmed by all the noise, activity and ads encountered in America.  Can you imagine it?    Going from  relatively silent contemplation, service to others and eating simple meals in a rural Cambodian village to disembarking at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport?

It is much in this same vein that I view educating our children, particularly our daughters, in the mechanical, sometimes maniacal,  world of advertising.    I have frequently used a video titled “Evolution” by the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty for educational purposes, and I plan to incorporate this one titled “Onslaught” as well.  It’s a power packed message in a mere 80 seconds.  If we, as parents, don’t talk to our kids about what real beauty is, that they are created in the image of God and have a purpose other than self,  the “beauty” industry will ...and sooner than you think.

Viewers may find some images offensive.