Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Ex-Child star says "Cut AOL" (my title)
e-mail | 2/3/04 | Lisa Whelchel

Posted on 02/03/2004 8:55:08 PM PST by netmilsmom

Subject: Special E-Letter AOL/Lisa Whelchel

Special E-Letter

Dear friends,

I am deeply disturbed by what happened during last night’s halftime show of the Super bowl. I was downstairs cleaning up the kitchen when the halftime show began and when I overheard the lyrics of the songs I went upstairs to have the kids switch the channel. Too late! When it was over I called my mother and said, “Did what I think just happened, really happen?”

As a family, we immediately knelt down and repented on behalf of America and pled for mercy on our country. We prayed the scripture in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If My people who are ÿcalled by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

At the end of the game we had a family discussion and talked about how we could make our voice heard, that there were people in America who were not willing to stand back and watch our country go the way of cultures in the past who gave themselves over to the flesh and were destroyed.

MTV produced the halftime show but AOL was the official sponsor. We can’t boycott MTV because we don’t subscribe. But we can cancel our AOL service – and we did! When I called AOL this morning to cancel they asked me why I was punishing AOL instead of CBS or the NFL.

I explained that CBS would not know if our family never watched another show on their network because we aren’t a “Nielson” ratings family. Same goes for the NFL. I don’t hold within my hands any influence to impact CBS, NFL or MTV. But AOL does!

If enough people cancel their AOL subscriptions, you can believe me, AOL will go directly to CBS, NFL, MTV and any other acronym involved, and their voice (and pocketbook) will be heard.

May I share a personal aspect to this story? For over a year Haven has been campaigning for “Instant Messenger.” I have repeatedly said no, explaining that I felt it was a time-waster. Last week the subject came up again, but she had a fresh argument. She said, “Television is also a time-waster and you let me watch that after all my school work is done.” I responded, “Good point. Are you willing to trade television privileges for IM?”

When she said that she would, she gave up watching television unless the whole family was watching something together, (which is very rare.) Tucker made the same choice and three days ago Steve loaded AIM, AOL’s Instant Messenger service. (We’ve had an AOL account for over ten years!) She has had the best time since then chatting with her friends and I was happy because, as many of you know, the kids have not made friends as quickly as I thought they would since we moved.

Last night when I put Haven to bed, I told her that I felt like we should cancel our AOL subscription but I would ultimately leave the decision up to Tucker and her because they were the most who would most be impacted by the choice.

With tears running down her cheeks and onto the pillow she said, “I will make the right choice, but it is so hard. I waited so long to get IM. I don’t want to, but I will do the right thing.”

I was so proud of her. (BTW, Tucker agreed, too, but he was more mad than sad.) Living in America, we don’t often have to suffer for our beliefs. I believe canceling our AOL account is a small way that we can take a stand for Christ and do our part in “turn(ing) from our wicked ways.” AOL may not hear, but God will and, perhaps, He “will forgive (our) sins and heal (our) land.”

Blessings,

Lisa Whelchel

www.lisawhelchel.com

P.S. Feel free to forward this E-letter to as many people as you know. Perhaps, collectively, our voices will be heard.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aol; lisawhelchel; superbowl
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-55 last
To: netmilsmom
"...Gee, somehow I thought this was a news site.
I think it was news.
You have lots of time on your hands..."
- - -
When I begin to believe that the emails in my inbox
are "news" that I need to post for everyone else to see,
THEN I will, indeed, have too much time on my hands.
41 posted on 02/04/2004 3:41:58 AM PST by DefCon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: PFKEY
We have quarterly gospel meetings

Quarterly? As in four times a year? To be honest, that does not sound like a very proactive method to attract new membership.

We invite people from the community by means of direct invitation.

Our Churches obviously differ. You probably would also be offended that the Church I attend:

** Has weekly Awana's meetings aimed at children from 3-12 yrs old. This is open to any who may wish to attend and the Churches facilities are used w/o charge.

** Has weekly AA meetings open to the general public w/o charge (donation only is asked).

** Has periodic "Coffee House", where Christian themed bands perform, free of charge, coffee and snacks are provided. Again, open to anyone who wishes to attend.

I find the idea of an "invitation only" method of outreach to be counter productive to what an outreach should be.

42 posted on 02/04/2004 7:27:29 AM PST by Michael.SF. (We found Sadaam faster then Hillary found the Rose Law firms billing records,)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: DefCon
Information never hurt anyone i.e. AOL was the sponsor.
43 posted on 02/04/2004 8:52:36 AM PST by netmilsmom (God sent Angels- Homeschooling 1/5/04-6 yr.old now 2nd Gr./3 yr old now K)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: Michael.SF.
>>But then I quickly realized how wrong that would have been. I also knew that it was also wrong to throw insults at people based simply on a lack of knowledge or prejudice based on that persons location. <<
I apologize for the CA church remark. It is not based on your name alone, but from my personal experiences in CA churches. I lived there a while and my family is there.
Your church sounds like it is doing a great job of fellowship, but I put it to you, did you know that MTV was going to host the half time? Did you know Nellie would perform? I do not find basketball or soccer to be offensive as a group sport at a church, God wants us to keep our bodies healthy. With past experiences of major sporting events on tv, I do find that inappropriate. I guess your focus was to get the kids talking and not pay attention to the screen. It may have worked, but I'm sure that while they may have missed the breast, other things were seen.

>>Were we to assume beforehand that the baring of a breast was to occur? If it did, would it not be best for young kids to be around people who found it inappropriate? As it was, no one noticed. We were all talking to each other, as I pointed out.<<
You are personalizing a bigger picture. There was so much more going on during that game then the Janet Jackson deal. Your experience was that no one paid attention, so it was overblown. For those who did not have the same experience, it was not. That is who I posted it for.

You came onto something I posted and made light of the information that was presented. I handled it wrong, but sir, so did you. You said that this Lady had "some ears", basically exagerated her story (I see this as a hint of "lie"). Perhaps I read it wrong.

While you may see this as blown out of proportion, I see it as the straw that broke the camel's back. We have overlooked f-bombs and near nudity before and it has continued. I don't care what these people show on MTV or any other pay station, but especially in CA where you had this on near to prime time, this was not appropriate.

A short time ago, a FReeper named "Trappedinliberalhell" suicided. One of his final posts was regarding how mean FR had gotten. I apologize for anything you were insulted by.
44 posted on 02/04/2004 9:18:33 AM PST by netmilsmom (God sent Angels- Homeschooling 1/5/04-6 yr.old now 2nd Gr./3 yr old now K)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: netmilsmom
The fact that the event featured Nellie was a clue that children shouldn't be watching it.

We had it on, but our son was not watching or listening, he was engrossed in Gameboy... tried to talk to him, and he didn't even hear me. :)

The sad thing is that next year, everyone will be wary of the Superbowl. And their ratings will plummet. So much for family entertainment.
45 posted on 02/04/2004 9:25:35 AM PST by Pan_Yans Wife (Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.'--- Kahlil Gibran)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: Pan_Yans Wife
As always, you are the voice of reason!!
I feel that the worse part of this is that a family had to put research into the viewing of what is normally a family program. Really, when it comes to MichaelSF, I feel for him in that it should have been EASY to assume that the Superbowl would be appropriate for a church event. Who would have thought that this would turn to a mature event especially when it was being aired during the family hour? Why wouldn't we naturally assume that even if MTV was doing it, they would tone it down for family viewing? They release G rated songs for the radio, even if one can buy racier versions on CD.
You are absolutely right, many families will tune out next year. The funny thing was Nick was showing a SpongeBob halftime show. I bet tons of families would have switched if they had suspected it would go this far.
I have less of a problem with the breast than the surprise the whole show was.

I posted this not because I needed another "Breast" article but rather to let everyone who is trying to get someone to curb the actions of the parties, that AOL was involved as well. Sometimes here, it's better not to try.
(How are ya lady?)
46 posted on 02/04/2004 11:20:07 AM PST by netmilsmom (God sent Angels- Homeschooling 1/5/04-6 yr.old now 2nd Gr./3 yr old now K)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: Michael.SF.
Quarterly? As in four times a year? To be honest, that does not sound like a very proactive method to attract new membership.

Besides regular weekly worship services and Bible studies classes and quarterly Gospel meetings what other outreaches might you suggest?

Do you get many non-members attending the Awana meetings and Coffee Houses?

I hope the AA meetings are more for the general public and not the members.

I find the idea of an "invitation only" method of outreach to be counter productive to what an outreach should be.

The invitation part is more for the members to get involved in getting the word out. Everyone is invited. An invitation is not required. No donations are every asked from anyone for any reason. The only monies collected are from members on the first day of the week.

48 posted on 02/06/2004 7:06:34 PM PST by PFKEY
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: PFKEY
Besides regular weekly worship services and Bible studies classes and quarterly Gospel meetings what other outreaches might you suggest?

I think our definitions of "outreach" differ. To me an outreach is a program designed to attract nonmembers to the Church. They might come for an event of some type and then find that they do in fact like the people. Hopefully this then results in their attendance at worship services.

One very successful program at our church is a "Ladies Tea." Each woman in the Church, who chooses to participate, 'buys a table' of eight for $40.00. They then invite seven friends (non church members). They set their tables in their finest china and they each bring two dishes of some sort, as agreed upon by the planners. A guest speaker is the main draw (which is what the $40.00 is for). Many of those who attend, do end up attending services as well.

Do you get many nonmembers attending the Awana meetings and Coffee Houses?

A number of the Awanna's are not regular Church members, but since I have no kids in that age range, I really do not know the overall make-up. The attendance at the Coffee houses is 50-50. Either Church members or friends of the Band.

I hope the AA meetings are more for the general public and not the members.

Why?

That sounds like a very judgmental statement to me. If a person is/was an Alcoholic and is fighting this affliction, what is wrong with that person both being a member of AA and a member of the Church?

Far be it for me to attempt to put God's thoughts as my own, but I would hope that God would be pleased that such a person has found comfort in his house and in his words. If this makes others in the Church uncomfortable, then I would think that those people, the ones who are uncomfortable with this, have lost sight of what a Church really represents.

49 posted on 02/07/2004 11:07:56 AM PST by Michael.SF. (We found Saddam faster then Hillary found the Rose Law firms billing records.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: netmilsmom
Our family has family altar every day and yes there is a neverending assault on the family so we do our part and encourage everyone to do the same! Jehovah Gira Bless & Keep you! His name means HE SEES!
50 posted on 02/07/2004 1:10:23 PM PST by winker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DefCon; Admin Moderator
We just haven't had enough of these yet, have we?

Speak for yourself, please. Had it not been for this thread, I would not have known to contact Lisa Welchel to give her my kudos.

This is not, as you so tackily put it, about JJs anatomy. If you can't see that, I feel deeply sorry for you.

51 posted on 02/07/2004 1:16:25 PM PST by LisaMalia (Buckeye Fan since birth!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: LisaMalia
Please try to keep up.
52 posted on 02/07/2004 5:05:34 PM PST by DefCon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: DefCon
Right back at ya.
53 posted on 02/07/2004 5:06:39 PM PST by LisaMalia (Buckeye Fan since birth!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: martin_fierro
Oh, plbbtt. Whelchel's family can not "repent on behalf of America." America has to repent on its own behalf.
54 posted on 02/07/2004 5:11:28 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Michael.SF.
A word of warning: PFKEY is very legalistic.
55 posted on 02/07/2004 5:14:42 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-55 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson