Are You Paranoid If.....

I was pretty disturbed at this news this morning. Yes, to the outside world it might seem like the not-so-surprising expansion of the American Idol franchise into summer camps.

What disturbs me is that this is on the campus of Northfield/Mt. Hermon. This is a school that was founded by Dwight Moody. From the website:

When Moody founded the Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies (1879) and Mount Hermon School for Boys (1881), he selected students who were talented but came from impoverished backgrounds. As he did in his revival campaigns, Moody drew his students from all over the world, from all over America, and from every race.

Dwight Lyman Moody died in Northfield on December 22, 1899. Condolences were mailed and wired from around the world, and an estimated 3,000 people were on campus during the day of the funeral, held on December 26 in the Congregational Church. He is buried on a hill called Round Top on the Northfield campus, the site of both his birth and death.

I know that there were other options for this unused part of the campus, including an international missions center.

So, a school that was set up by Moody with the intent to fuel international revival and missions is now being used to fuel "American Idol". Hmm.... no, that's not disturbing at all.

I've always been torn about American Idol. The name always makes me cringe. But, then there are some people that have come out of it who say that they are Christian and have released Christian (or crossover) music (Carrie Underwood and Clay Aiken, for example). Then there is the Canadian Idol who took a stand and sang "I Can Only Imagine" on Canadian network television. It seemed like God was playing a good joke by using American Idol to allow Christian young people to talk about their faith on popular television.

But this just really hits me the wrong way. Somehow it just screams of the work of the enemy. Laughing at the godly tradition of this place and twisting it.