Monday, February 25, 2008

The Mark of the Beast

I feel duped. Betrayed. Misled. All throughout the 70's, popular evangelicals everywhere obsessed about the Mark of the Beast. They insisted his mark was 666 and surmised about the various forms this Mark might assume.

But now, I know the truth. Finally. They couldn't keep it from me forever. The real Mark of the Beast is 360. Yep. 360.

Two beasts with this number entered our predominately-male household this weekend...X-Box 360 and ESPN 360. Can anyone deny that these are the tools of choice in the Anti-Christ's workshop! ;-/

What I can't figure out, though, is whether I won or lost this battle I've fought for so long!

The fact that my boys have never owned a gaming system before now is somewhat of a victory, right?

And the fact that they are both competent and frequent readers is something to cling to, no?

The fact that I have successfully negotiated a contract limiting their playing time to 2 hours per week means I haven't given them completely over to reprobation, right?

BUT....what about the bloody basketball court we installed so that they wouldn't need an X-box (and at nearly 5 times the cost!)?

What about the 763,241 Lego pieces we've purchased, organized, stepped on,and re-organized?

What about all the extra food and beverages I'll have to stock because now they'll actually want to have guys over instead of always going somewhere else?

What about the pleadings for "extra time" to which I'll have to say NO?

What about the pleadings for "extra time" to which their father will say YES?

Most importantly, will they ever read another book?

And how soon will they wear me down for a cell phone? Ah, this slippery slope is very slippery indeed!!!

O-K. I figured it out. I lost.

But, hey! I hear "Rock Band" is a blast. My ideal Rock Band? Hal Lindsay on bass, Jack van Impe on drums and Tim LaHaye on lead guitar...come on guys! Even though you made millions through your theological fraud, I wouldn't want you to be Left Behind! Let's party!

7 comments:

Bobber said...

I would really like to know how you held out so long. I plan on holding out as long as possible also!

Lori Waggoner said...

Guess I'm just a tough son-of-a-gun.

We just came up with other things to do. Between homework, reading for pleasure, playing and watching sports, listening to music and story CD's and playing table games, we've filled a lot of time over the past 14 years!!

Plus, the boys haven't rebelled and fought us over it, which made it easier to hold out. In the end, they saved up money and paid for it themselves, otherwise they would likely have NEVER gotten one!

Anonymous said...

Now watch their creativity and resourcefulness bloom as they figure out how to get more than two hours a week. One of our house favorites, "Can we just finish this game?" Innocent enough, usually lasts 20 minutes. Or, "Can I do a job for you for more time?" (I like this one). Or "I wasn't playing, I was watching, I still have all my time left!" which doubles their time in front of the 360 scourge...have fun! At least you know where they are!

Lori Waggoner said...

Oh, yeah...we have experienced the "can we just finish" tactic with computer time already.

They're all the same, aren't they? Masters at presenting their motives as pure, while hoping we are endlessly naive! Hey...they're just like US!

Anonymous said...

;) Isn't it great to be a mom? We get to see ourselves reflected in our children-the good and the bad.

jennifer h said...

I wish we had held out longer, but our boys still only have the x-box, so it is not as alluring ;)

You can pat yourself on the back for sticking to your convictions. Nevin spends a lot of time playing computer games, but he is a good student and reads every book he can get his hands on. So I think your good foundation will have lasting value, even when the next latest and greatest video game system comes out.

Lori Waggoner said...

Let's hope so, Jennifer!