Hurtful Heroes

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            When people adopt the wrong heroes, they make a fatal mistake. We invariably become like the God we worship, and heroes can become our gods before we realize it. A whole nation of decent men can be transformed into immoral, ruthless, genocidal criminals when the wrong hero is adopted and blindly followed, as illustrated by Nazi Germany. We need to take a serious look at our heroes, and especially at those of our children.

In the 1940s, the men who risked their lives on foreign soil for our freedoms were the heroes. Since that decade, many of the heroes have been on the wrong side of the law, of morals, and of general wholesomeness. In the 1950s, the heroes of the kids were other kids who dared to rebel against the law and society by wearing the ducktail haircut, motorcycle jacket and boots. In the 1960s, the news media made heroes out of campus rioters and long-haired rock music groups. The campus riots have largely ceased, but the rock groups have continued to proliferate and infringe further on the borders of sanity.

            I do not expect these comments to endear me to some of the teenagers who might read them, but I believe they need to be said. Just what sort of heroes are these rock “idols”? Anyone who reads at all knows that hardly a major rock group has escaped bad publicity for their illicit drug usage and their sexual escapades. Many rock stars have died from drug overdoses. But let’s take a closer look at the popular group called “KISS.” They are easily recognized by their extremes in dress and facial painting, but on the surface, appear to be little better or worse than other groups. Perhaps they are, however. Read on.           

            KISS stands for “Kings In Satan’s Service.” In their concerts, it is said that they openly ask their audience to follow them in serving Satan because “You can see us, we are here; but you cannot see God. Why follow or believe in him?” Such is the damnable philosophy of this group of “heroes.”

            Perhaps our young people who proudly buy the albums and display the posters, t-shirts, belt buckles, etc., emblazoned with “KISS” were not aware of what they were supporting. Even if one doesn’t agree with their philosophy, he is helping promote it by purchase of such items. Teenagers, isn’t it time to select more appropriate heroes? Parents, isn’t it time to be more interested in who our children’s heroes are?

[Note: I wrote this article for, and it was published in the August 24, 1978, edition of the Granbury Gospel, weekly bulletin of the Granbury Church of Christ, Granbury, Texas, of which I was editor.

Attribution: From thescripturecache.com; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.

Author: Dub McClish

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