Jesus is on every cruise ship as he is on land. But the nature of a hedonistic leisure cruise filled with every sort of overindulgence known to man all in one capsule as it where, poses a number of issues for Christians.
I'm sure most go for the sun, ocean and to fill up on disgusting and delicious delicacies - and not to be indoctrinated but let it be known that indoctrination happens and you'd have to have your wits about you to escape it.
I'm not talking about the arts and crafts group or the poker players. Nor am I talking about cabaret singers. I'm taking only a little bit about the daily LGBT meets that they just have to have on a cruise of just under 1, 500 people. I'm not sure what the percentage of LGBT passengers are but I'm sure the group would accept you no matter what sexual perversions you're sporting. After all, it's rarer in this age not to have a sexual perversion than to have one (and I'm speaking as one previously amongst the perverted mind you, sadly).
No, the mini cruise ship Pride fests are not what I'm calling into question. What I'm calling into question are the 'Origins talks' that I've seen listed on the activities list of a recent cruise someone in my family went on. Now hang on… since when did evolutionary geologists replace dance instructors and mariachi bands? Apparently since fattening up the mindless cruise ship drones wasn't enough when they could brainwash sad mindless drones as well.
Keep 'em unquestioning
Yes, I'm being harsh and I'm pretty sure not everyone sailing the seas in luxury is a mindless drone. And they try to slip evolution (the theory of, not natural selection. Don't be deceived by the constant equivocation of those terms) into most movies and media nowadays anyway so what's the big deal on having lectures on a cruise ship?
The big deal is this: it's nothing short of the Kim Jung-Il kind of indoctrination except with tan lines in place of military garb. Yes, there are some Christian proponents of the evolutionary theory and that's fine by me. But it's indoctrination when they refuse to tell the whole truth that it's only one view on origins and there are many (or at least one) more.
I feel passionate about this because I was once brainwashed too. Not on a luxury liner but instead in a classroom. I went to a Catholic school in the Brisbane suburbs but not one time in my high school career was I ever exposed to the theory for special Creation by God. I'm not even talking about the evidence for it; I mean even a mention of it! The alternatives to the theory of evolution were not mentioned and so I grew up believing that they didn't exist. Of course in my twenties I found I had been fed countless half-truths and had information omitted in my science and religion classrooms but since then I was able to weigh the evidence for myself.
That's what people should be able to do. Weigh evidence themselves but these indoctrinating origins talks don't even present the other side. Who wants to think about God while pampering themselves on a cruise? Conviction is not popular and less popular to the overindulged. They do however have little religious gatherings for all the little religious people (multi-faith they call it, religious pluralism I call it) on the cruise but again, what group is omitted but the fundamental Christians (ones that take their faith as a little more than empty affirmation). Which is all well and good because we need to be set apart in truth.
Evangelism is moot
Yes, it's a novelty and no, I'm not condemning you if you happen to go on a cruise and neither would Jesus condemn you. But keep in mind that they want to keep you entertained, they want to keep you full and contented and they want to keep your mind off God and when that doesn't work, they want to undermine the existence of God at every turn by propagating their naturalistic religion all over the place.
So we have Second Life evangelists but who is ready to take on being a cruise ship evangelist? If you got money to burn, why not? But would people really be able to give up a life of gluttony to follow Jesus when everything there is what the world tells you you're entitled to for being born into such privilege?
Would anyone listen to the words of Jesus when they don't need Him, being pampered and pandered to at every turn? Would anyone give up the entertainment to read the Bible and pray? Not many, I'd say. And why should they? Self-sacrifice doesn't exist in such an environment, nor does the virtue temperance.
So just "eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die!" and work on your tan lines while you're at it.
But, perhaps this is the ideal place to be 'salt'!
Bridget Brenton has spent seven years in China and currently lives on the Gold Coast with her husband Steven. Over the last decade she has been studying all things philosophy, apologetics and the supernatural and now is endeavouring to put that knowledge into ministry. She writes a blog on the paranormal and it's relation to practical Christianity.
Bridget Brenton's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/bridget-brenton.html