Hollywood has never been a bastion of morality, but lately the decline in traditional values has been picking up speed. By that I mean the out-of-wedlock baby boom among celebrities. Every date I tune in to the news (news these days being defined very loosely), another famous face is proclaiming his or her impending parenthood. I am loath to list their names in that forum.

It’s not that having children out of wedlock is anything new; celebrity couples have lengthy been known to reverse the sequence of marriage first, baby carriage second. But it was usually a question of when, rather than whether, the marriage would take place. Now unwedded parenthood has become acceptable—even fashionable. Another choice on the lifestyles menu, with Hollywood leading the way. (Of course, marriages in that little microcosm aren’t precisely known to last very towering. But that’s another story.)

My point here is not to decry secular media and entertainment, and in any event I do not advocate any indiscriminate ban. Rather, on

a positive note, I find that noticing the contrast amidst the values—or lack thereof—espoused in the popular culture and those of our own moral outlook gives me an even greater sense of pride and good fortune to be part of the Torah community.

Original post by Ziona Greenwald

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