Disney theme parks are advertised as the happiest place on earth. It is a place that was designed to give people an immersive fantasy experience. There are rides, parades, music, Disney characters, shows, fireworks, and all kinds of other things that allow people to forget all their troubles for the day and just have fun.
However, there have recently been some issues that have disrupted the experience for some people. There have actually been fights, and even an all-out brawl, on the park grounds. It has been enough of a problem that Disney actually released a statement, including a warning, on its website. The warning reads:
Be the magic you want to see in the world. You must always remember to treat others with respect, kindness, and compassion. Those who can’t live up to this simple wish may be asked to leave Walt Disney World Resort.
To me, this is quite a shocking thing. I live in Florida and have been to Disney many times throughout the years, and it’s hard to imagine anything like that. Sure people sometimes get tired and frustrated waiting in line. But fights? Really?
Of course, society has changed a lot over the last few years, and I must say Disney has too. They have gone from having a complete focus on making people’s experience the best it can be, to emphasizing profits to the exclusion of everything else. On top of that, they have gone big time woke.
But as I see it, the fights, the corporate greed, and the wokeness are all a part of the same phenomenon. The rot that is causing all of these things is the same. What we see in all of them is the natural expression of naturalistic values coming home to roost.
When society was dominated by a biblical worldview, biblical values were regarded as the ideal people should strive for. This doesn’t mean that everyone was a Christian, or even that all Christians lived their lives according to biblical values. What it did mean, though, is that biblical values were regarded as the way things “should” be, and as a result most people tried to express those in their lives – at least in public.
But society is now dominated by a naturalistic worldview, and naturalistic values come from an entirely different place. Since Naturalism doesn’t recognize the existence of a god, there is no place for objective values to come from. The values in the Bible are seen to be merely one option among many. Rather, everyone has to come up with their own ideal values. And in society, societal “consensus” is the optimum source for determining values.
Now Naturalists don’t acknowledge this, but the fact is, human beings are fallen creatures. We have a sin nature that puts in us a natural tendency to sin. So when we are responsible for creating our own value system, our focus is on what we desire for ourselves, not on what pleases God. Self-centeredness rules the day.
What is happening at Disney is a result of less and less people caring about being kind to others. At the same time, more and more people are only concerned about what advances their own personal desires. So when they get tired and things don’t go exactly their way, they do what sinful creatures do – they sin. This may result in people exchanging harsh words, getting into fights, or even brawls.
This is a heart problem that is infecting society, and the only thing that can fix it is a change of heart. And the only way people can have a change of heart in that way is for them to have their lives transformed by Christ.
As Christians, God wants to not only change us, but also to use us as instruments of his love. The entire focus of our lives should be to allow ourselves to be used of God that way.
AMEN !