My wife and I are hooked on old television shows and movies. We love to watch black-and-white films from the 1940’s and 50’s. They are, for the most part, clean and not graphically violent. They are delightfully melodramatic and often predictable, but that’s okay — there’s nothing wrong with a good ole mushy happy ending.
We are also amused at how they illustrate the way culture has evolved. For example, in that era smoking was considered elegant and even attractive. All the larger-than-life stars such as Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant would light up and puff away during poignant scenes. Even the glamorous women like Bette Davis and Lauren Bacall were commonly depicted smoking.
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In early television, tobacco companies were often the title sponsors for westerns and game shows. In reruns of “To Tell the Truth,” host Gary Moore can be seen smoking like a chimney while doing the show. In fact, the consolation prize for contestants who lost was often a carton of cigarettes!
As a child, I remember it was considered perfectly acceptable to smoke in somebody else’s house. Every end-table had an ashtray. My parents even put out matchbooks near the ashtrays in case a visitor didn’t have a lighter handy. I can still see (and smell) clouds of cigarette smoke wafting through our living room as friends came to socialize.
Today, of course, our culture has a far different view of this habit. Smoking is banned in virtually all public places. Tobacco products bear a warning from the surgeon general. Even those who smoke admit it is a disgusting practice and wish they could quit. You would be hard pressed to find a modern movie or television character who lights up on screen. Things have changed. Culture is constantly evolving.
But some things shouldn’t.
Morality doesn’t, and shouldn’t, evolve. What was right is still right. What used to be wrong is still so. The Bible teaches this very clearly. In 2 Timothy Paul writes, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Culture changes. God’s Word does not. Don’t let your Christian walk go up in smoke.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Ken Lass is a retired Birmingham television news and sports anchor and an award-winning columnist for numerous publications and websites.
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