Pure Choices

Influences of the Media

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Danielle Harrison (Host), Wayne Blakely, Ron Woolsey, Michael Carducci

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Series Code: PC

Program Code: PC000121A


00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues.
00:03 Parents are cautioned that some material
00:05 may be too candid for younger children.
00:40 Hello, and welcome to Pure Choices.
00:42 My name is Danielle Harrison.
00:44 And I am with Coming Out Ministries.
00:46 Today we have the whole team here.
00:48 And I want to welcome each one of you guys.
00:50 Thank you for coming.
00:52 Thank you.
00:53 Good to be here.
00:55 All right, so today I'm really excited
00:57 to be talking about the influences of the media
01:00 in the last few generations,
01:01 especially on the way that we view homosexuality
01:04 and transgenderism in the church.
01:07 So, Wayne, I'm going to direct this first question to you.
01:11 And I just wanted to ask you
01:13 if you think that there is an element in the media
01:16 that really has been pushing to make
01:19 sexual perversions more acceptable
01:21 just among society over, you know, the last century?
01:25 Yeah, absolutely.
01:27 I think it's part of Satan's counterfeit.
01:30 And I think he started, you know, a long time ago.
01:34 When I make presentations,
01:36 I talk about starting as early as the 1920s
01:39 to see what he started to do through print, radio,
01:42 even black and white films,
01:45 and the element of, like the flapper girls,
01:49 and kind of pulling men away from their marriage,
01:53 and getting them engaged
01:55 with the view of the female body.
01:58 And we slowly progressed from there into the '60s
02:01 and even into television
02:03 where we introduce gay characters
02:06 in order to get normalization you get it through the...
02:09 All in the family, the Archie Bunker
02:11 would be the least
02:13 likely candidate to accept homosexuality.
02:16 And then music, I mean,
02:18 it just goes on continuously
02:21 how people get shaped through media.
02:25 I agree. I agree.
02:26 So do you think that there's an element of this,
02:28 an aspect that's actually done underhandedly meaning
02:31 that it's done like on a subconscious level
02:34 where we don't realize that it's affecting our views?
02:36 I do, because we forget that
02:39 Satan knows the gospel better than we do.
02:42 And so he knows how to go about deceiving.
02:46 And look what happened in the Garden of Eden,
02:47 you know, it caught Eve off guard, you know,
02:51 she looked at the dazzling beauty of things,
02:53 some of these things sound good, feel good.
02:56 And we even put a Christian label
02:59 on some of those things
03:01 before we realize that
03:02 we've been influenced by the type of beat,
03:06 the type of look,
03:08 whether some things, you know, modest or not.
03:11 The enemy just spirals in through us
03:14 if we're not paying attention
03:16 and abiding in Christ and knowing,
03:19 you know what would be honorable by God.
03:23 Amen.
03:24 You know, Wayne, I was actually shocked
03:27 when I started looking into media
03:29 and the influence that they have...
03:31 They've made really sex a weapon.
03:34 We all know the term sex sells.
03:36 But I didn't realize how much
03:39 subconscious manipulation there was going on.
03:42 And when I started to really see
03:45 more of that information, I was truly shocked.
03:49 I've recently got my hands on a documentary
03:52 and this was put out a few years ago.
03:54 It's an older documentary, it's called Merchants of Cool.
03:57 And this is a pretty vulgar documentary.
04:01 I mean, it has a lot of vulgar content.
04:03 So I wouldn't really recommend it
04:05 as proper viewing material for most audiences.
04:08 But it was really eye-opening for me
04:10 because I saw that my life was a product
04:13 of what they were, they were revealing,
04:15 they had been doing,
04:17 and this was just a secular perspective.
04:20 So in this documentary, I'm going to read a quote here.
04:24 And this man was talking about the five enormous companies
04:28 that have pretty much driven
04:30 and been responsible
04:31 for selling youth culture over the last few generations.
04:35 And they said or he said,
04:38 "They look at the teen market
04:41 as part of this massive empire to be colonized.
04:45 You should look at it as the British Empire
04:47 or the French Empire in the 19th century.
04:49 Teens are like Africa.
04:52 That's the range that they're going to take over
04:55 and their weaponry are
04:57 films, music, books, CDs, internet access,
05:02 clothing, amusement parks, and sports teams.
05:06 These are the weaponry that they have used
05:10 to make money off of this market."
05:13 So, Michael, I just want to ask you,
05:15 you know, based on this quote, a multi-billion dollar industry
05:20 that looks at the teen market as Africa to be colonized.
05:26 You know, when we think about that
05:27 as our youth in the church, as a church, as a family,
05:32 what do you think our responsibility really is
05:34 to prevent this manipulation that they're trying to do
05:38 to keep them from stealing our youth away from us
05:41 and away from loyalty to God?
05:44 You know, it's interesting
05:46 how we're bombarded constantly by images.
05:48 And when we speak to young people you can,
05:51 you know, you can start to see the trends
05:53 that are going on and the latest color,
05:55 and the media, and the fashion industry,
05:57 they control all of that.
05:59 You know, the latest color now for this year is this color.
06:02 And the next thing you know
06:03 you see it in all the department stores,
06:05 you see all the kids wearing it.
06:07 Even gang related things in high schools
06:10 have to do with a certain brand of tennis shoe.
06:12 And they marketed that if you have this tennis shoe
06:15 that you'll jump higher, you'll be faster.
06:17 If you use this toothpaste, people will want to kiss you.
06:19 If you wear this bra,
06:21 people want to like touch you and so.
06:23 You know, we're bombarded by that constantly.
06:25 And I remember that for me
06:27 as I was coming out of the gay culture,
06:31 I was, you know, very new in my walk with God.
06:34 And so the Lord had removed my boyfriend.
06:36 And here I am one night, Thursday night
06:39 watching "Will and Grace".
06:40 It was a story about a gay man that had a straight roommate
06:43 that was a female.
06:44 That was me.
06:45 I did great with, you know, female roommates
06:47 that were straight.
06:48 And so even though my life was moving towards God,
06:51 on every Thursday night at 8 o'clock
06:53 there I was watching "Will and Grace".
06:55 And one night, the Lord just spoke to me.
06:57 And so maybe that's the first, you know,
07:00 the first step is to be open
07:02 to what the Holy Spirit is speaking to us.
07:04 And the Holy Spirit said, "Mike,
07:05 why are you watching this?"
07:06 And I was like, "I'm just watching my favorite show."
07:09 And the dialogue to me was,
07:11 "How can you expect me to help you
07:13 if you keep your foot stuck in this one thing."
07:16 And so I really struggled that I knew, you know,
07:18 being a TV-baby, I was raised with television.
07:21 I knew that there was no way
07:22 that I can just turn the channel,
07:24 because the way my mind was
07:25 I was only always looking for the smut
07:28 that was on TV or sexual situations,
07:31 because I had totally bought in
07:33 to what the media was feeding me.
07:35 And so the only option for me is I had to make a decision to
07:37 not only turn off the television,
07:39 I had to disconnect my cable
07:40 and get the television out of my house.
07:42 Because I knew that personally I was powerless against,
07:46 you know, what the media was putting out there for me.
07:48 Amen. Amen.
07:49 So do you think us as parents,
07:51 there's something that we can do
07:52 to help shepherd our young people?
07:57 Absolutely, Danielle.
07:58 And I think it's not enough to just turn your TV off.
08:01 And I think that's not fair,
08:02 if you've got children that are used to television,
08:04 and used to the media,
08:05 or even the fact if you're trying to guard them from that,
08:07 you've got to give them an alternative
08:09 that's going to not only occupy their time
08:12 but for them to find interesting
08:15 and something that they enjoy doing.
08:16 And you have to present it in a way
08:18 to elevate them higher than what they would get with media.
08:22 You know, it's not just enough like on a Sabbath afternoon
08:24 to take a nap, you know,
08:26 and then expect your kids to love the Sabbath.
08:28 You know, you have to be invested with them.
08:30 You have to show them and spend time with them.
08:33 And teach them the benefits of changing your plans,
08:37 and getting the television out.
08:38 Amen. Amen. I agree.
08:40 And, you know, I think as much as
08:42 we need to educate them,
08:46 we need to not just hide them away from the world,
08:50 we need to give them that education,
08:51 so that they know how to navigate in the world.
08:55 And I think it is important for us
08:57 to protect them and shelter them,
08:59 but we have to be the place where they're getting
09:01 their education first.
09:02 So they're not just
09:03 only getting education from the world,
09:05 so I appreciate you bringing that,
09:07 the necessity to educate out.
09:10 Now in this documentary,
09:11 they go on to show how MTV
09:14 which was one of the most popular stations
09:17 had actually hired people
09:18 to go into the homes of the youth.
09:21 And to study them,
09:23 and to ask them what they liked,
09:25 what brands they liked,
09:26 what they did to hang out or whatever.
09:27 They invested a lot of time and money
09:29 in studying the young people and how they ticked.
09:32 And as a result of those studies,
09:35 they actually came up with characters
09:38 that they would put in the forefront
09:40 of all of their TV shows.
09:42 And this was a personality type
09:46 that they saw was extremely effective
09:49 in selling their,
09:51 whatever they were selling to the young people.
09:54 And they saw that the guy characters
09:59 would always be perverse, unintelligent, and immature.
10:03 Now these characteristics were
10:04 what drove the younger mentality,
10:07 sparked their interest, kept their interest.
10:09 So this was the personality type
10:11 that they put on to the male character
10:13 is perverse, unintelligent, and immature.
10:16 And for the women characters, it was premature,
10:19 like maturing before they should,
10:21 and very seductive, and sex symbols.
10:25 Now, Ron, I want to ask you, you know,
10:27 when we look at the design that God has for the structure
10:30 and the purpose of the home.
10:32 When we have these kind of personality types
10:34 presented to our youth,
10:36 what does that do to degrade the minds of the young people?
10:40 I think it does a great deal
10:41 to degrade the minds of the young people.
10:44 As you're reading that, sharing that information,
10:47 I just immediately,
10:49 I pictured one of the very popular television shows,
10:54 not just one but several
10:57 where that very thing is portrayed throughout.
11:00 And as young people are to find these
11:04 television characters physically attractive,
11:08 then they tend to want to emulate
11:10 the behavior as well.
11:12 And in a lot of these...
11:13 Even the family shows,
11:15 the father is usually the buffoon.
11:18 Yes.
11:19 He's the one that they all deceive
11:21 and they play tricks on
11:23 or they keep him out of the discussion.
11:25 He is the butt of all the jokes, right?
11:26 That's right.
11:27 And the children kind of rule the roost.
11:29 And the mother is the one
11:31 that they go to for counsel or whatever.
11:34 The father pays for everything but he's not respected.
11:37 He's totally disrespected.
11:41 And when you see that over and over and over,
11:44 this is a brainwashing of our children.
11:46 By beholding, we become changed.
11:49 And of course, it's very important
11:51 in television programs
11:53 that the characters are attractive,
11:57 sexually attractive, physically attractive.
11:59 And so then that behavior
12:01 is associated with being attractive.
12:05 Yes, that's a profound thought.
12:07 I think that there's so much manipulation going on.
12:10 That is so underhanded
12:12 and even in these things that they were,
12:14 the way they portray these characters.
12:16 So I remember you, Ron,
12:18 you talked about in your testimony
12:21 how you saw the cover of a Time magazine
12:25 and how that cover jumped out at you.
12:27 And you really started considering
12:31 accepting these thoughts
12:33 that you had had and pulled away.
12:35 So I appreciate you talking about
12:38 the impact of the media on you
12:40 turning and walking out into the gay culture.
12:43 So, Wayne, I'm just, I'm curious
12:45 do you remember that there was necessarily
12:48 anything in your experience
12:51 that you saw from the media that encouraged you
12:54 to turn and to walk out into the world?
12:56 Well, you know, I was pretty sheltered
13:02 with respect to, you know,
13:03 what we could watch having been raised
13:05 in a Christian home.
13:09 And so it wasn't until I left home
13:12 that I began to look at those influences
13:16 that were coming through.
13:18 You know, obviously through "The all in the family" program
13:22 that I was mentioning with Archie Bunker.
13:26 And then I began to see in the sitcoms
13:27 that it was starting to be...
13:30 Homosexuality was beginning to be accepted.
13:34 And so I think that really did have an influence to me
13:38 that this was okay,
13:40 this was something that I could accept
13:42 if society was beginning to accept it.
13:45 That was half the battle
13:46 because now I didn't have to feel ashamed.
13:48 Right. Wow.
13:50 So what about you, Michael, do you remember media
13:52 playing a part for you?
13:53 I remembered just as you asked Wayne that,
13:55 there's totally different image came in my head.
13:57 I was about 20.
13:59 And I remember there was a television show.
14:02 It was made for TV movie
14:04 and it starred my favorite movie star,
14:07 Kate Jackson.
14:08 I don't even know why her name is still in my head.
14:10 But so here she played a wife of a husband,
14:13 her husband was a doctor, young, good looking.
14:16 And he ends up secretly going to the gay bars.
14:20 And it was a story back in the '70s in 1970s,
14:23 about a couple
14:24 how he transitions to be open about his homosexuality,
14:29 falls in love with a very good looking man,
14:31 and it was just too much for the media.
14:34 I've read a book recently talking about the gay agenda.
14:36 And what they've done...
14:38 What the book said was that they introduced, you know,
14:41 gay characters or gay scenario very easily into the media.
14:45 And then based on the reaction from the media,
14:48 they determined whether they can push
14:49 the envelope more.
14:50 When they showed that movie back in the early '70s,
14:53 the reaction was so abrupt and negative
14:58 from the Christian community
15:00 that it was just too much and they realized that.
15:01 So what they did is they pulled back.
15:03 They didn't show anything that had gay content for a long time
15:07 and then there was a comedy show called "Family"
15:10 that actually had a gay character
15:12 represented as...
15:13 And it was a comedy program so that actually introduced
15:16 the whole homosexual idea a little bit more.
15:19 For someone like me, you know, I was looking for affirmation.
15:22 I was looking, you know, for those ways
15:25 to solidify my direction,
15:29 to solidify my acceptance,
15:32 and the fact that this was an okay thing.
15:34 I remember that movie in particular
15:36 having an impact on me
15:37 for someone in my very early '20s.
15:39 And I can see how the gay agenda
15:41 has also infiltrated and triumphed in the media.
15:44 Yeah.
15:46 It really has and you know being a kid in the '90s
15:50 and going through high school and all of that
15:53 during the turn of the century,
15:55 you know, for me I was in that realm
15:59 where homosexuality was really starting to be promoted
16:04 and celebrated more and more.
16:07 As I got older, and I look back and I really see how, you know,
16:12 music videos, Hollywood movies, fringe cultures and then,
16:17 you know, pop culture as I started to get older
16:19 really has presented it in a greater light.
16:23 And that's one of the things that documentary
16:26 really opened my eyes to is
16:27 of how much media really does drive
16:31 even the fringe cultures.
16:33 Because we think about the media driving pop culture.
16:36 But that documentary showed me how much the fringe cultures
16:39 really are driven by the media too
16:40 and we don't realize that so.
16:44 Well, as we're going to look more into homosexuality here,
16:50 Wayne, do you think that the media really
16:53 has played a significant part
16:57 in the acceptance that we see today,
17:00 the grand acceptance of homosexuality?
17:03 Over the course of time,
17:06 the lyrics of songs have become more bold
17:11 and accepting homosexuality
17:13 and programming people to believe
17:17 a certain way outside
17:19 of what they might have thought or believed,
17:22 especially those who had been raised
17:25 in Christian environments
17:26 and part of the breaking free and going out
17:29 and doing your own thing,
17:31 you start listening to another brand of music,
17:33 another kind of music.
17:35 And artists are aware of this
17:37 and so they start imposing
17:40 lyrics and songs
17:42 that are going to shape you and mold you
17:45 as you dance to the music or as you listen to it.
17:47 The music...
17:48 Even music that doesn't have strong beats
17:51 but that has romantic implications.
17:56 Softer music, still the lyrics in those songs start shaping
18:01 how you think in your mind
18:03 and about the acceptance of self,
18:05 about the acceptance of behavior
18:09 that isn't condoned through the Word of God.
18:12 So I've really noticed that over the last few years,
18:16 we've seen an influx
18:18 of same sex couples
18:23 in advertisements,
18:25 and same sex weddings in advertisements.
18:27 Do you think that what came first the chicken or the egg?
18:31 You know, just when you said that I recently...
18:34 Well, we fly a lot
18:36 and what I noticed on an airline was that
18:40 where you might normally see, you know,
18:42 husband and wife taking their seat on the plane.
18:44 This was a gay couple.
18:46 Where the man, you know, instantly, you know,
18:49 put himself over on to his significant other.
18:53 You know, it began to be something
18:57 that this is the shaping of society
18:58 that you will accept, you know,
19:00 these things and then, you know,
19:02 as I was looking in magazines on the plane,
19:06 I could also see again through media,
19:10 same sex couples promoting that
19:13 this is just as normal as heterosexuality.
19:15 That's right.
19:17 Could I insert here that
19:18 it's not just the television programming
19:20 and advertising but in the news media,
19:24 this is being so propelled through the news media
19:28 as well as the regular television programming.
19:30 That's right.
19:32 That's right. Yeah.
19:33 And, you know, Michael, I remember
19:35 in one of your presentations on transgenderism,
19:38 you showed a clip that included Bruce Jenner as Caitlyn
19:42 and he was saying, "I'm the new normal."
19:45 And how do you think it is that
19:47 that this is where we've come to in our society
19:50 where an image like "Caitlyn Jenner"
19:53 is the new normal?
19:55 Well, because again based on how much of the media
19:59 you've been exposed to and for someone like me
20:01 that's lived a long time, I remember being 15 years old.
20:04 And seeing Bruce Jenner on the cover
20:06 of the "Wheaties box"
20:07 after he won the decathlon, you know, in the Olympics,
20:10 he was considered
20:13 the best athlete of the world, right?
20:15 The most healthy or athlete man of the world.
20:18 And I remember looking at that and thinking to myself,
20:20 "Man if I could only be as masculine as Bruce Jenner."
20:23 And so I think that the media very carefully chose Bruce
20:26 because of his exposure, because he has previous shows,
20:31 and because of the fact that he was so masculine,
20:34 and then to come around with this transgenderism.
20:36 Even in that film clip advertising his show,
20:39 it shows like the birds, you know,
20:41 flying freely above the beach
20:43 and, you know, talking about the freedom.
20:45 Every single scene of the media is delicately produced
20:51 and put together in a way to influence you
20:53 whether you hear words or not.
20:55 So then when you see these birds flying in the sky,
20:57 then the next words that Caitlin says is like
21:01 "Well I'm the new..."
21:04 The new freedom, right?
21:05 Anyway, the new...
21:07 What was the word? Normal.
21:08 The new normal. That to me is so frightening.
21:12 You know, for all those people
21:13 that don't have another avenue out
21:15 and that to think that the only way
21:17 that you could be normal is by mutilating your body.
21:19 And going through this production
21:21 of putting in hair weaves and false eyelashes
21:24 and, you know, a lot of makeup,
21:26 then that's the only way that you can really be normal.
21:29 Wow.
21:30 Then it is, it is staggering to look at that
21:33 and as you're speaking about,
21:36 you know, the image of the birds flying,
21:38 it's really is an image of freedom.
21:41 But they don't show the dark storm clouds
21:45 that each and every one of us experienced in that journey
21:49 of not finding contentment
21:50 and not finding that peace in that place,
21:53 but they won't portray that side of it.
21:56 And I think that's interesting and I think it really shows
21:59 that it's not a balanced view
22:01 that they're trying to put forward.
22:04 And it's just a matter of time I think for him, unfortunately,
22:09 before it really starts to show that the facade can't remain,
22:15 that it's not just all birds and blue skies.
22:19 So I want to turn here and look at a quote.
22:23 This is a little bit more of a holy influence
22:26 than what we've been looking at thus far.
22:29 This is from the book "Patriarchs and Prophets"
22:31 written by Ellen White.
22:33 And she says that "The surroundings exerted..."
22:37 The surroundings that
22:39 the people saw around them
22:41 in the time before they crossed the Jordan
22:43 into the Promised Land,
22:45 "That these surroundings exerted
22:47 a polluted influence upon the Israelites.
22:50 Their minds became familiar with the vile thoughts
22:54 constantly suggested.
22:57 Their life of ease and inactivity produced
23:01 its demoralizing effect
23:02 and almost unconsciously to themselves
23:06 they were departing from God and coming into a condition
23:11 where they would fall an easy prey to temptation."
23:15 And there's two things that stick out here to me
23:17 very prominently.
23:19 It says that their life of ease and inaction and inactivity.
23:25 It was demoralizing,
23:27 especially on them
23:29 not just that they were seeing these things
23:31 but that they were inactive and dormant
23:32 and they weren't really,
23:34 you know, doing much of anything.
23:36 Then it goes on to say that
23:37 it was almost unconscious to them
23:40 how much that was impacting them.
23:43 So I just wanted to bring that up
23:45 and then invite you guys to just
23:47 maybe comment on something that evokes in you.
23:51 Well, one of the sins of Sodom was idleness.
23:56 And it's been interesting to me to notice
23:59 where the great meccas of homosexual culture are.
24:03 And they tend to be the places, the resort areas
24:07 where there's much leisure, much entertainment,
24:11 much social activity, a lot of idleness there too.
24:17 And we know of the old adage
24:19 that an idle mind is the devil's workshop.
24:23 And it also comes out of the Bible
24:24 about the story of the demon that was cast out.
24:31 But the void was not filled.
24:35 And so the demon comes back
24:37 and finds the house swept and garnished.
24:40 It says and he goes and invites seven other friends, demons.
24:43 And they come in
24:45 and then the situation is much worse off,
24:48 seven times worse than before.
24:50 So yes, this idleness is a very dangerous thing
24:56 to let our minds just wander.
24:58 We should make a concerted effort
25:00 to fill our minds daily
25:01 through our devotions, our reading,
25:03 and our various activities with the things of the Bible
25:08 and things of nature, things that are wholesome.
25:10 Amen.
25:12 I think there's such a thing as discipline viewing
25:15 and there are still good things on television today.
25:17 I mean look at 3ABN,
25:19 Dare to Dream, Christian programming.
25:22 This is where God can bring into our lives things
25:25 that we don't get through reading,
25:27 through the experiences of other people, testimonies,
25:30 things that direct us back to God's ways
25:32 instead of the world ways.
25:33 But we have to be careful because I refer to this
25:38 as it can be a bad tool today too.
25:40 So some people have that...
25:41 Like Mike and I, we've pulled the plug, you know,
25:43 but yeah,
25:45 let's talk about what can be done
25:47 through media in a good way.
25:49 Amen.
25:50 And I think that's very, very important for us to touch on
25:53 because we wouldn't be here today filming programs
25:56 to be aired on television
25:57 if we thought that the TV was only something
26:00 to be used for the enemy.
26:01 I think that just like anything else in the world
26:05 that God has intended to be used for a blessing,
26:09 Satan tries to make a counterfeit
26:10 and that can be used for evil
26:12 but it can also be used as a powerful witnessing tool.
26:15 And it can be a blessing that enriches us as well
26:18 through the things
26:20 that are made available through media.
26:21 I have an intense love for videography
26:25 and an interest for going to school for that,
26:27 you guys know that.
26:29 I know that
26:31 and I have a love for art also and for photography
26:33 so these things can be used in a beautiful way
26:36 to really share the Lord
26:38 in a powerful and profound manner.
26:41 Now I want to kind of wrap things up here
26:43 with this quote.
26:44 This is also from the book, Patriarchs and Prophets.
26:47 It says, "Satan is using every means
26:49 to make crime and debasing vice popular.
26:52 We cannot walk the streets of our cities
26:54 without encountering flaring notices of crime
26:58 presented in some novel or to be acted in some theater.
27:02 The mind is educated to familiarity with sin."
27:06 But it goes on to say on page 460,
27:09 "We must be aided by the abiding influence
27:12 of the Holy Spirit
27:14 which will attract the mind upward
27:16 and habituated to dwell upon pure and holy things.
27:21 And we must give diligent study to the Word of God."
27:25 And so I think that that's the important thing
27:27 when we invite the Holy Spirit
27:29 to be an active part
27:31 of the things that we're viewing,
27:34 that we're looking into, that we're appreciating,
27:38 that we're sharing through our ministries,
27:40 we can be using the media to uplift the cross
27:43 and to share Christ through the Holy Spirit.
27:46 And to bring people into having a mind
27:49 that is habituated
27:50 and stayed upon the pure and holy things
27:52 especially upon the Word of God.
27:54 So thank you for joining us today.
27:56 God bless you.


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Revised 2017-08-03