“Father jailed for U.S. mutilation”—“Swakop Man Sets Himself On Fire”—“Man dismembers girlfriend in Quarter; cooks body parts”—“Tomato diet model dies”—“Cattle mutilation stuns ranchers”—“Man held for German ‘cannibal killing’”—“Police: Man Hides In Bathrooms, Drinks Boys’ Urine”—“Teens Turning to Mutilation.”

These are real headlines found in newspapers around the world. More and more, the everyday reader is confronted with odd and bizarre behavior. Things unheard of a decade or two ago are becoming commonplace. How many times have you found yourself saying, “Sick! I have never heard of that before!”?

What have become twisted minds throughout society are exhibiting some of the most perverse behavior. This series will reveal that what was once deep in the sewer of mankind’s conduct is now beginning to boil over onto the streets. Through the Internet, the most degenerate human beings now have a forum—people they relate to, and people who can relate to them.

Bizarre behavior and actions among all age groups are on the rise. What you will read will stun you, and leave you wondering, “What’s next?” and “What is the solution to this nightmare?”

Advancement—and Degeneration

The world continues its scientific and technological advancement. Each day, technology improves, information exchange speeds up, cities expand. Beautiful large houses are found all over the planet. Luxuries of every type are available. New devices promising to make life more efficient and entertaining are released daily.

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Taking a superficial, skin-deep look at society, it would seem that mankind is doing well. But with all the advancements in technology, science and other areas of civilization, is the human race truly improving? Are man’s institutions able to clean up and prevent bizarre actions and behavior? The track record of history answers this clearly: Humanity cannot solve these problems! Leaders are helpless to curb an ever-worsening, sick society. People cannot control their lives, thoughts and emotions. Bizarre behavior and trends continue to come to the fore.

In some regards, the general public is gravitating toward these extremes. True life stories of the weird, odd and bizarre are extremely popular. Now Reuters has devoted a whole section of its website to odd news reports. And readers are mesmerized and engrossed by the outlandish things people do. In years past, circus “freak shows” were a popular means of entertainment. Today, these shows are out in the open and seemingly everywhere.

The proverbial envelope of decency and taste is being continually stretched. Things that are displayed in public would never have been discussed in ages past. It is as if any type of standard one holds is doomed to be attacked and thrown away.

The term “alternative” has become fashionable. “Alternative lifestyles” of every shape, flavor and color are now discussed openly and accepted generally. The line drawn between what is acceptable and what is not is blurring and quickly disappearing. Decency, propriety and normalcy have become relative terms. What was once fringe and extreme is now mainstream.

A Preview

This series, Society’s Spreading Cancer – The Twisted, Perverse and Bizarre, will address various areas of society that are moving toward the strange and extreme. Of course, there is a reasonable and natural limit to such a topic, but below are some of the subjects that will be discussed.

• Appearances: What people choose to wear and what they are doing to their bodies, often solely for “shock value.”

• Media: Movies, television shows, popular music and other media continually push the social, ethical and moral boundaries, twisting the fringe into the norm in pop culture.

• Sexual perversions: While our report The IMMORALITY EXPLOSION! thoroughly addresses this topic, this series of articles would not be complete without highlighting the growing acceptance of sexual perversions.

• Bizarre crimes: The current explosion of odd and weird crimes, and the resulting court decisions and lawsuits that are often just as ridiculous and bizarre.

• Religion: The beliefs many hold are gravitating toward the extreme—even to the unimaginable.

Understand. The very worst of the nauseating aspects of human nature and its twisted byproducts cannot be discussed in this article series. The Holy Bible explains that “it is a shame [Greek root: filthy] even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret” (Eph. 5:12). Therefore, this report barely skims the surface of what could be reported. Many stories literally cannot be told because a line God established would be crossed.

At the outset, understand that this is not intended to attack any individual. It is meant to paint a picture of the strange things now being done by human beings.

Over the coming months, as you read this series, consider the following points:

• What has happened to the natural order of things?

• Will these bizarre trends end—or grow worse?

• Are there any standards in life, or can anyone do whatever he wants? Does a free society mean that anything can, and should, be done?

• Are there any limits? Are there lines that should never be crossed? If so, who defines them?

• What are the consequences—and how will all this conclude?

This series will paint a stunning, but sickening, picture of a new kind of cancer spreading throughout society.

A Dangerous Tool

Realize that the spread of the bizarre has been made worse because of a tool that literally defines our age: the Internet. Its international reach has played a significant role in spreading what could only be called spiritual cancer. Never has it been easier to find information for every perversion under the sun. For those seeking the bizarre, grotesque and perverse, the Internet provides every sick idea men could devise—and with just a simple search.

The problem lies in the fact that twisted, bizarre desires and behavior now have a place to coalesce. With the Internet, people who hold weird ideas discover there are others who have similar ideas. These are then circulated among others who are interested. In time, people become curious and look for more. Of course, they do not have to look far, and essentially a “snowball effect” has been created.

To illustrate, the darkest depths of man’s thinking are interlocked, creating an efficient system that everyone can instantly access.

Part One: Appearance and Body Modification

The word bizarre means “Markedly unusual in appearance, style, or general character and often involving incongruous or unexpected elements; outrageously or whimsically strange; odd” (Random House Unabridged Dictionary). This is what many people are now proud of.

All sorts of looks are becoming more common. There is the Goth culture, in which people wear entirely black, including a lot of black makeup, hair dyed black, etc. Many high schools in Western culture have this style. Often, these types are depressed and angry—you can see it on their faces.

Then there is the gang style. Thousands of students want to appear as if they are in a street gang, even when they are not. Entire media outlets push this style. Young people look up to “artists” who promote the “thug” look, in which a person wears pants twice his size, hanging near his knees. In such a scenario, this person literally has to change his walk so that his pants stay up. Incredibly, this impractical and nonsensical—and lewd—trend is viewed as “cool.”

Where is the balance—the common sense?

Then there is a style derived from alternative rock music. This can be described as the unkempt, messy look. Some people go out of their way—and this means real extreme—to look like a mess.

The metrosexual style essentially has heterosexual men wearing feminine clothing. Alongside this is a subculture within the homosexual community in which people wear clothing that can only be described as outrageous. For example, two men will walk down the street with everything on their bodies purple or lavender, or wearing color combinations that assault the eyes.

Then there is the punk group. These often have odd hairstyles, including Mohawks, brightly dyed hair and endless body piercings.

Often the attitudes behind all these styles are worse than the styles themselves. Many who fall into these cultures are unhappy, angry with life or wish to be seen as nonconformists.

And then there is the ever more bizarre fashion industry, which leads society’s fashion trends. Models walk down runways in grossly impractical and weird outfits, to say the least—sometimes wearing only underwear and lingerie, which leaves little to the imagination. In the early 21st century, one trend is to wear outer clothing that looks like lingerie.

Related to this, people spend ridiculous amounts of money on clothing—for example, one company sells jeans for $350 or more! In a world where purses can literally cost up to $35,000, women can now rent expensive purses for special events or daily use!

Defacing One’s Body

Bizarre appearances are not just due to clothing or makeup choices. Piercings, tattoos and body disfigurements are popular today. You can walk down any small town street and see people who have done all these things and more to their bodies. Literally, the circus is now on the streets of every city.

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At one point, piercing the ear was enough. Now, it is popular to pierce anything that is thin enough to put a sharp piece of metal through. Studies reveal that one in seven has pierced something other than his earlobes. One person commented that some in society today, with dozens of piercings, look as if they fell face first into a fishing tackle box. How true! (Of course, many contract infections or diseases because of the strange areas they pierce. In one instance, a newspaper reported that a young girl’s piercing became so infected she had to have her breast removed.)

Then there are tattoos; 24% of Americans ages 18 to 50 and 36% of those 18 to 29 have tattoos, with the number accelerating. There are several television shows that document the culture of people who love to get one tattoo after another until their whole bodies are covered. Often the pictures, painted under the skin, are perverse and morbid.

To make it even worse and more bizarre, there is an entire body modification culture with body modification “artists,” in which customers pay for their bodies to be permanently mutilated. Scarification is where people are cut repeatedly until there is a permanent scar in the design of choice. There is branding as well. This is no longer something found just among livestock. There are also sub-dermal implants, where people literally put things under the skin to deform their shape. One man, inspired by the popular television show Star Trek, now has large ridges in his forehead—essentially jewelry that is implanted under the skin to make different shapes.

How much more extreme can society get?

When it comes to tattoos and marking the flesh, mankind has no regard for what the Creator of life said thousands of years ago. Notice what the Holy Bible says: “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord...They shall not make baldness upon their head…nor make any cuttings in their flesh” (Lev. 19:28; 21:5).

A Rotting World

Realize that we have barely begun to scratch the surface of the bizarre. By the end of this series of articles, you will clearly see the rot (Jer. 2:21, CEV) that results from the way many choose to live. The world is rotting—dying from every form of spiritual cancer—and the bizarre behavior and conduct of human beings demonstrate this.

(This series will continue next issue.)