LOST SHAME COMES HOME TO ROOST

I wrote the following article in December 2003 and it deserves to be reprinted in light of President Obama’s recent apology tour of Europe, and more specifically as a philosophical/socio response to his recent words before the Turkish Parliament.

More Than Lost Shame

Recently Martin Kelly wrote an article entitled “The Death of Shame” in which he claims our moral decline comes from the death of shame. And, interestingly, Bill O’Reilly soon followed with his own spew that the loss of shame is negatively shaping America. It’s not that simple.Yes, virtuous shame is dwindling-- I will guarantee you there were no braggart bumper stickers in 1960 that -shamelessly- announced, “My child made the honor roll at ... .” But the loss of virtuous shame is a by-product; one of many by-products of the loss of humility.The seven deadly sins are growing in popularity: PRIDE, magnified by LUST and ENVY for everything that satisfies our GREED, fueled by GLUTTONY, made more desirous by our ANGER for not “keeping up with the Joneses,” has required us to lose our humility because we are dwelling in our on SLOTHfulness. We are much more than (perceivably) a country without Christian roots; we are a country specifically turning our backs on obvious Christian roots—a very different psychological/socio condition. And in our need to ignore the related shame, we are evolving into materialistic and bombastic relative individualists with the knack (desire?) for ignoring the obvious.We exhibit loads of shame: We must not be seen without our makeup, or WITH our hair combed. We must not be seen holding a Bible or suggestively praying in public. We are regularly shamed into not speaking out against homosexuality for fear of being labeled homophobic. We suffer from all kinds of image problems due to shame over excessive body fat, being too short, too tall, too thin – our society is full of shame, its merely changed it’s orientation from a spiritual to a physical foundation.Neither is it the loss of shame that misdirects our compassion. A Cardinal recently was heard stating that he has a “sense of compassion” for Saddam Hussein; based on the humiliating photos of Hussein with matted hair while having to submit to a physical. Compassion, for a dictator who use to slide human beings down the shoot of a giant plastic shredder? Compassion, for one who murders his detractors? Compassion for an exterminator and a philanderer? Tis my guess this Cardinal has a head full of book learning and a heart totally lacking in real-world experience; an all too often recipe for progressive, secular, intellectual leadership. The recent images of Saddam provoked loads of shamefulness from the Islamic world; shame is in our face everywhere.What is waning is THAT which gave us DIRECTION for our compassion and our shame; we are losing touch with our western Instruction Manual: the Bible and its principles. What we are losing is that line in the sand, the one we use to know should not be crossed. Once the majority chooses to no longer serve God, they shall serve Man; serfdom renewed, and shame redefined. -----end.

Obama, and the world of Islam, and apparently too many Americans, are not aware of a simple concept America was built on; a democracy within a republic. Our democracy, or rather, our constitutionally created democratic process, is where our government exists. That part of Americana is not specifically Christian, or Jewish, or Islamic for that matter, for it has no soul, but merely specific tasks to perform in aid to our republic.However, America is not defined by its government; it is defined by the precepts upon which it stands. Those precepts are not Shariah law, nor the dogma of Buddhism, and not even the Catholic Canons , but the precepts of judeo/Christian values. In that sense, as noted by our first Supreme Court Chief Justice, America was founded as a Christian nation. A little honesty and a little research will bare this out.



Powered by counter.bloke.com