Hugh Hefner Was Wrong

Hugh Hefner, founder of the Playboy world empire, died last week at the age of 91. We all know the legacy he left behind. While rummaging through my files, I came across a quote from a 1964 Dick Van Dyke episode called “The Man from Emperor.” In it a longtime friend of Rob Petrie (played by Dick Van Dyke) shows up and offers him a job at a hugely successful but racy magazine called Emperor. Rob is interested at first until his wife Laura (played by Mary Tyler Moore) intervenes. The episode shows Rob sorely tempted by the wine, the women, and the promise of unbridled freedom. Here’s the kicker. The friend was intentionally modeled on Hugh Hefner, and Emperor obviously stood for Playboy. The episode comes to a climax when Rob explains his decision to turn down the offer. He tells his friend that marriage can be like prison or like Disneyland:

“Marriage has boundaries. To some guys those boundaries represent walls, and that makes marriage a prison to them. But to other guys those boundaries hold everything that is good and fun in life.”

Rob Petrie was right, and Hugh Hefner was wrong. God established the boundaries to protect the most valuable things in life. If we ignore what God says, we end up imprisoned by our own lust. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Marriage still works when a husband and wife follow the divine design.

October 6, 2017