To a young New Zealand teenager, the answer is YES! She auctioned off her virginity to a stranger for over $45,000 to fund her university tuition fees according to a New Zealand news headline story. The 19-year-old Northland student, who listed her virginity to an unpopular auction website i need.co.nz, even thanked more than 30,000 people who viewed her ad and to the more than 1200 offers made.
Is this a growing trend? Are teenagers resorting to a high class prostitution taking advantage of the advancing technology and the obscure legality of prositution? Earlier this year, In the United States, a Fox News Story reported a 22-year-old woman, Natalie Dylan, is selling her virginity online — offering her body to bidders nationwide in an auction that reportedly has netted a $3.7 million offer — and the law isn’t doing a thing to stop her. Then another teenager Alina Percea, 18, in the United Kingdon auctioned her virginity on a website so that she could afford to pay for her computing degree. Percea said she was inspired to auction herself on a German erotic website after reading how American woman Natalie Dylan, 22, from San Diego, had put her virginity up for sale for £2.5million. Percea even revealed her “first time” story to be published.
What’s going on? Have we lost our sense of morality in our society? Our once “daddy’s little girls” are now putting their “fresh meat” on the market! Yes, these young girls obviously needs money. Yes, they have their own private and personal reasons to do it. And yes, they are no longer “minors.” But what is disturbing is the apparent laxity of concerned parents, government officials, and unmindful businessmen. Is our world now so wicked to tolerate and allow these things to happen right before our eyes?
To some governments like New Zealand, prostitution is legal. But we have to understand that what is legal is not necessary moral. I lived in New Zealand for several years and I have witnessed how government officials tolerate scandalous and obscene activities like the yearly “Boobs on Bikes” at the heart of Queen Street in Auckland. That despite several killings of prostitutes in its major cities, the New Zealand government is not doing much to address the perils of prostitution. I wonder how many teenagers are working in various brothels, dim streets, and even public toilets.
But what about the auction website ineed.co.nz? Are the owners of this website just trying to gain publicity or just plain insensitivity? Of course, this is a “little known” auction site knowing that “Trade Me” is so popular in New Zealand. All I can say is, shame on this website! Kiwis shouldn’t be patronising such irresponsible auction site.
To the young teenager, I hope you realise the moral consequences of your actions. I hope that the winning bidder does not have AIDS, Syphilis, or any STDs. I want to tell you that God loves you despite of what you’ve done. God does not condemn you. Jesus Christ can make you clean as white as snow. He can remove even the toughest stain of sin if you are willing. May you encounter the love of God and realise that He has great plans and purpose for your life. Repent and put your trust in Christ.
Finally, to the patron bidders of this young girl’s virginity, I hope one of these days you will not be bidding on the virginity of your daughters, grand daughters, sisters, or even grandmas. Seek the Lord while He may be found.
I have to agree with Marcia Hines’s comment that something very special happens when Stan Walker stands on the Australian Idol stage. If you are a christian, you know what it means. Glory to God and thanks to Stan Walker for standing his christian beliefs.
Stan Walker’s interpretation of this song “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen is one of the best. He really sang it from his heart not only to please the fan base of the Australian Idol but also to glorify God. Stan is a messenger, a vessel, and a light connecting Jesus Christ to the Australian Idol viewing Australians.
“Hallelujah” Lyrics Leonard Cohen
Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord That David played, and it pleased the Lord But you don’t really care for music, do you? It goes like this The fourth, the fifth The minor fall, the major lift The baffled king composing Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah
Your faith was strong but you needed proof You saw her bathing on the roof Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you She tied you To a kitchen chair She broke your throne, and she cut your hair And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
Baby I have been here before I know this room, I’ve walked this floor I used to live alone before I knew you. I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch Love is not a victory march It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah
There was a time you let me know What’s really going on below But now you never show it to me, do you? And remember when I moved in you The holy dove was moving too And every breath we drew was Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah
You say I took the name in vain I don’t even know the name But if I did, well really, what’s it to you? There’s a blaze of light In every word It doesn’t matter which you heard The holy or the broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah
I did my best, it wasn’t much I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you And even though It all went wrong I’ll stand before the Lord of Song With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
This is a very interesting e-mail I got from a friend. You’ve got to read this! It’s worth more than few minutes of your time spent reading this article. Here it goes.
One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.
They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”
“It was great, Dad.”
“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.
“Oh yeah,” said the son.
“So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.
The son answered:
“I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.
Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.
We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.
We buy our food, but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”
The boy’s father was speechless.
Then his son added, “Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.”
Isn’t perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don’t have.
Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!
A galant act of popular artists to raise money for Haiti. George Clooney hosts a star-studded telethon feauring Madonna, U2, Bruce Springsteen and dozens more to raise money to help earthquake victims in Haiti.
In 1950’s America, the equality of man envisioned by the Declaration of Independence was far from a reality. People of color — blacks, Hispanics, Asians — were discriminated against in many ways, both overt and covert. The 1950’s were a turbulent time in America, when racial barriers began to come down due to Supreme Court decisions, like Brown v. Board of Education; and due to an increase in the activism of blacks, fighting for equal rights.
Martin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist minister, was a driving force in the push for racial equality in the 1950’s and the 1960’s. In 1963, King and his staff focused on Birmingham, Alabama. They marched and protested non-violently, raising the ire of local officials who sicced water cannon and police dogs on the marchers, whose ranks included teenagers and children. The bad publicity and break-down of business forced the white leaders of Birmingham to concede to some anti-segregation demands.
Thrust into the national spotlight in Birmingham, where he was arrested and jailed, King helped organize a massive march on Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963. His partners in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom included other religious leaders, labor leaders, and black organizers. The assembled masses marched down the Washington Mall from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, heard songs from Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, and heard speeches by actor Charlton Heston, NAACP president Roy Wilkins, and future U.S. Representative from Georgia John Lewis.
King’s appearance was the last of the event; the closing speech was carried live on major television networks. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King evoked the name of Lincoln in his “I Have a Dream” speech, which is credited with mobilizing supporters of desegregation and prompted the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The next year, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.