When observing what has become of American society, I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz when she said: “I don’t think this is Kansas, Toto.” Our country is no longer the America I grew up in or that Alexis de Tocqueville claimed “Is great because it is good.” Due primarily to the nefarious machinations of the left, American society has been coarsened to the point it is unrecognizable to anyone over 60 years of age. In fact, we have developed what Governor Mike Huckabee calls “a culture of crude” (See his new book God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy). American society now actually rewards crudeness, particularly on television and in the movies. Gratuitous violence, vulgarity, and lewd behavior have now supplanted well-written scripts and talented acting in the entertainment industry.
Commenting on how television and movie stars are rewarded for coarseness now that America has developed a “Culture of Crude” Huckabee writes: “…the next generation of young stars were making their mark in the entertainment industry, not for any display of exceptional talent, but for the shameless and tasteless display of their quite ordinary private parts. Every human has sexual parts but not every human is endowed with truly great talent for singing, dancing, acting, or playing an instrument. Removing one’s clothing is not especially unique—most people do it every day. But to celebrate an especially vulgar and graceless way of undressing by making it the centerpiece of a stage act is a sad substitute for real talent. Even sadder is that our culture has sunk so low that lewd behavior is rewarded in the marketplace with increased sales.”
Governor Huckabee cites as an example of the coarsening of American society the shameless exhibition Miley Cyrus put on at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. According to Huckabee, “…Miley Cyrus contorted her barely clad, barely legal-age body in a disgustingly pornographic performance that showed just about everything she had—except talent—and focused national attention on a new term, ‘twerking,’ which describes a vulgar movement better saved for a stripper pole than prime-time television.” He also comments on how the great comedians were able to amuse their audiences with real comedic talent, but that today’s comedians—lacking any real talent—use vulgar language and coarse gestures as a poor substitute. Huckabee writes: “Today, smutty jokes that used to be relegated to smoke-filled clubs appear regularly on major networks during the former ‘family hour.’ If these comedians had to work clean, I don’t know what they would say. Their ‘stand-up’ would consist of nothing but them simply standing up on stage for twenty minutes.”
American culture has devolved to the point that what Huckabee calls “vulgar manure” and “linguistic slime” are now the norm along with “narcissism and exhibitionism.” It saddens me to think back to the television programs I watched as a kid and then compare them to what passes for network television these days. I liked Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Disney, the Ed Sullivan Show, Andy of Mayberry, Father Knows Best, and My Three Sons, to name just a few. These days I cannot even watch network television. Thank goodness for the few stations that show old movies and for DVD technology. Liberal critics try to tell me the programs I watched as a kid were not realistic. Maybe they were and maybe they weren’t, but that is not even the point. The point is that, realistic or not, they tried to lift the audience up to a higher standard rather than take it down into the gutter.
So why, you might ask, do I blame liberals for the coarsening of American society? It’s a fair question. I blame liberals for the coarsening of American society because:
Liberals have worked long and persistently to drive Christianity out of the classroom, out of the public square, and out of American life. The more genteel standards of decency we used to enjoy in this country grew out of a broad-based respect for Christian principles. Today Christians are laughed at, ridiculed, and abused by liberals who not only reject their values but work hard to see these values eliminated and even destroyed. When Christ is taken out of the life of Americans, a void is left and that void will be filled. Unfortunately, the void has been filled by those who reject the values of the gentle man from Galilee.
Liberals have done everything possible—including character assassination, coercion, and bullying—to suppress the views of Christians in all walks of life. Christians are now treated like the Jews of Europe in the months leading up to World War II. In fact the only people you can get away with discriminating against in contemporary American society are Christians. The clear message from liberals to Christians is this: “Keep your religion and its values to yourself or you will pay a price.” Want to see the difference between a society that respects Christian values and one that accepts the anything-goes values of liberals? Watch any episode of the old Andy of Mayberry show and then watch the “twerking” exhibition Miley Cyrus put on during the 2013 MTV awards program. Which do you find more uplifting?
Liberals have worked long and persistently to seize control of the public schools as well as colleges and universities and use these once venerable institutions to undermine traditional American values in general and Christian values in particular. Consequently, the majority of young people in America spend 12 years being indoctrinated by liberal teachers and professors who reject not just the Bible and its teachings, but traditional rules of decency as well.
What is ironic is to hear Hollywood liberals decry violence while turning out movies that have redefined the term gratuitous violence. It is also ironic to see liberals wringing their hands over other social problems such as crime, drugs, and fatherless families. Since they are unwilling to admit that their rejection of Christianity and traditional American values coupled with their secular humanist principles are the authors of these problems, they are forced to lamely blame guns for violence and poverty for all the other problems. You reap what you sow, and thanks to liberal hegemony in American society, we are doing just that. God help us.
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Dr. David L. Goetsch is a retired college Vice-President and professor of business and political science, a business consultant, and a widely-recognized public speaker. He is the author of more than 70 books on leadership, management, business, and political commentary.
Reprinted with permission from PatriotUpdate.com via LibertyAlliance. Emphases added by TRS editor.
Photo credit nathaninsandiego
