Published November 15, 2004 - Confusing heroes and villains
One of the major issues from this year's election was moral values. Many Americans believe that we need to abandon our morals and get on board with the world in their thinking. Have we, as a nation, lost our sense of moral direction? Would we rather be popular and accepted by the world than be right and just in our causes? What about our domestic values? Can we tell the difference between acceptable and unacceptable anymore?
When are we as a nation going to stop idolizing our criminals and our degenerates? We have developed a habit of standing behind our criminals and going against our authorities. From Jesse James to Janet Jackson, Americans have a history of turning losers into folk heroes. Sadly, we also have a history of turning our heroes into losers.
Jesse James was a bank robber and a murderer, yet many in this country still consider him a hero. There were also Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. They were all criminals, yet many people have great affection for them. We read our books and sit at the movies feeling bad about what happens to these guys. Some of us even go to the extreme of yelling at the screen, "Don't go out there, it's a trap!" Why do we tend to root for the bad guys and against the good guys?
Despite her indecent and intentional act at last year's Super Bowl, Janet Jackson has been exalted by a number of organizations. Her brother Michael is up on child molestation charges and yet is hailed as a hero wherever he goes. Within moments of Martha Stewart's conviction, someone in the crowd yelled out, "Free Martha!" What kind of lessons are we sending to our children?
Why do we condone the actions of criminals and degenerates, while condemning our authorities? Americans have made it all but impossible for police officers to do their jobs without fear of persecution and lawsuits. Some police officers involved in a shootout in Southern California a few years ago are still suffering the consequences of doing their jobs. Although those gunmen shot a number of people and showed no intention of giving up, their family members sued just about everyone they could because the gunmen were killed by the police. Individual police officers have paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to defend themselves. How wrong is this?
During the events of 9/11 we began to truly recognize our police officers and firefighters as true heroes. We lifted them up and praised them for their efforts and their sacrifice. Yet, as the emotion of that day wears off, we are slipping back into our old ways of thinking. There is a lot of talk about how the authorities are taking away our civil liberties. We don't want to be searched at the airports. We don't want the police to take preemptive measures against would-be assassins and potential terrorists. We don't want to do anything that might mean sacrificing any of our civil liberties for the sake of a more secure nation. We have turned the police officers and security forces into the bad guys again.
One of these days, we Americans will suffer the consequences of our choices. We will pay a huge price for being so selfish and so diluted in our thinking. We will stand around bewildered and wondering, "What did we do to deserve this? Where did we go wrong?" America needs to realize these inevitabilities and take corrective action immediately. We need to improve our way of thinking and put things into proper perspective. We need to adjust our attitude and our behaviors before they adjust us.
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