On the way home, he mentioned that the packages also contained comic books. I told him that I would have to preview the books to see if they were acceptable reading material. Based on the route into extreme violence many "children's" cartoons have taken, I wanted to make sure the comics met our family's standards.

My caution was warranted. I was shocked at what I found when we got home. In the first comic book, I read a female character saying, "I guess a big brain does it for me" and "I'm fine, sweetie. Just thinking about how sexy big brains are . . . mmMMMmm . . . " One comic in the trash. Two more to preview.

I opened the second and found a couple kissing, followed by drawings of another female character dressed in a leather bustier and thigh-high boots. All of the female characters in the book were dressed in sexually-provocative clothing and were portrayed in seductive roles. Two comics now in the trash. On to the third.

The third comic was slightly more benign than the previous two, but the sexual overtones and objectifying of women made it, again, worthy of nothing more than our trash can. If I had to classify them, I would label them borderline pornographic.

I was astonished, amazed, at these "comics." Further, I was amazed that such trash was marketed to young children - through your friendly, neighborhood Wal-mart. I am left to wonder, How many parents unwittingly purchase such garbage for their children?

Through this experience, I was reminded of the warning found in I Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"

So much of what is marketed toward children today is nothing short of filth. A parent has to be discerning in what a child is allowed to watch on TV, listen to on CD or radio, read in comic books . . . The list could go on and on.

Oh, and that reminds me. I recently decided to let the boys have their own AOL screen name. I chose the "Kids Only" setting that AOL markets to "Kids 12 and under." This setting is described by AOL as "providing entertaining and educational content on AOL's Kids Only Channel but limits access to inappropriate websites."

I signed on under the boys' new screen name, and found that "KOL" offers children

1) the daily horoscope,

2) sexually explicit music videos, and

3) extremely dark, violent literature on the welcome screen.

Children don't have to go looking for these. They are right there - offered up with ease and convenience.

I could write more, but that will have to wait for another day . . .