Here we are just past the long Thanksgiving weekend, launching the big American secular holiday season. Readers under 30 may not remember those times when greeting cards still said “Merry Christmas,” instead of “Happy Holidays,” and the story of the first Thanksgiving, as proclaimed by Governor Bradford, actually named who was being thanked (God—if you were in doubt). Through the tireless efforts of pro-atheism organizations including the ACLU and the ill-named American Jewish Congress, that even got Hanukkah displays banned in Beverly Hills, most public displays of religion have disappeared from American life.
Not surprisingly, situational ethics, if-it-feels-good “morality,” and rationalization of salacious acts in the Oval Office quickly followed. During the Clinton impeachment, it was not difficult to find clergy of all denominations on the tube attempting to explain away his peccadilloes by vague references to “being human” or perfection as an impossible goal. Sadly, many were fooled—perhaps permanently—by such nonsense. After all, if any of these same clergy had received less than perfect change at a store, or had landed “close” to their desired airport, or had their power on for 23.5 hours per day, I doubt that these imperfections could have been so easily accepted.
It took the empowerment of the Internet to break the stranglehold of the Information Mandarin Class, also known as the elite media. It saved an election for us, and who knows, we may just get back on track with values, as well.
Even the libs are talking about these “new” values voters, although it is always disparagingly, and with bad statistics. Some note that Massachusetts, definitely a blue state, has a low divorce rate, when compared to the national average, implying that the Godless blues do have morality. The pathetic New York Times recently noted that violent and sexy TV shows are more popular in red states, than wholesome fare.
For all their crowing about being intellectual, the Lefties really ARE quite stupid. The most obvious answer among many to the low Massachusetts divorce rate is that given the libertine modality, fewer people are getting married, and this becomes a selection process for those who are truly committed. As to the TV ratings, just because a state voted Republican, that doesn’t mean that everyone in the state is Republican or prudish, or even watches TV. Moreover, why can’t someone vote values and still enjoy racy entertainment? It is the libs who insist that the crappy pop culture, including all forms of entertainment, is unrelated to personal behavior.
Chalk up another sociological miscue to the Left, in their never-changing penchant to group people into (hopefully) manipulatable tribal factions.
Finally, as was pointed out recently by Michael Medved, a large stake was put through the heart of the most fundamental precept in all modern (since 1900) Liberalism. This precept, of course, is that money—ideally provided by the taxpayer—and money alone, will solve all social problems. One would have thought that this has already been proven, with the stunning failure of the so-called War on Poverty. Here, it was adequately demonstrated to anyone with an open mind that money cannot even cure poverty, in light of endless transfer payments spawning feckless attitudes, burned-down housing projects, and a poverty mentality.
Still, a recent lesson from the pop culture seems more telling in our short attention span era. The incessantly broadcast NBA brawl pitted multimillionaire players against each other, and against affluent fans (who could afford the minimum $300 courtside tickets). A more flagrant example of low-class thuggish behavior could hardly be cited.
While we don’t know the histories of the fans involved, we do know that many of the players, including chief perp Ron Artest, came out of impoverished backgrounds. Dare we suggest that all involved, especially the players, were flush with cash, but weak on values?
We might ask, though, where anyone could learn about values these days, in any place other than a conservative religious setting. Such discourse has been virtually driven to the catacombs of the 21st century.
Here’s hoping that it will soon see the light of day.