Posted by
flagwaver on Sunday, April 13, 2008 6:46:33 PM
Moral: 1:a: of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior:ETHICAL c: conforming to a standard of right behavior
Immoral: not moral: WICKED, LEWD, LICENTIOUS
Amoral: neither moral nor immoral; esp: outside the sphere to which moral judgments apply
In this day and age where so much seems to be going wrong, there have risen among a group of people who have anointed themselves “culture warriors”, and who believe it is their lot to somehow define what is moral for society. While their intentions are admirable, I have long found their existence to be a bit disturbing. While I may share many of their views on many issues, one thing that makes me uncomfortable with the “culture warriors” is their quest to use the legislative process to enshrine their views of morality in statutory form. While I understand that nearly every law that is passed has some moral component to it, I still am a bit unnerved with the idea of trying to enshrine Judeo-Christian morality into the laws of the land, since those views do not cover everyone that is a Christian, much less those that are Hindu, Buddhist, or Muslim.
One of the other problems that I have with the whole “culture warrior” mindset is that it tends to see America in the least moral light. Many of the “culture warriors” have a vision of American morality that is every bit as dark as the way that many liberals see the American conservative movement; where liberals see every move and position of the conservative as inspired by some sort of animus towards some special interest group, the “culture warrior” sees American society as bereft of any sense of morality at all. Hence, the liberal feels that it is his job to impose liberalism on a society that needs to be saved from itself, and the “culture warrior” sees his mission as one to save the American soul from its own depravity.
However, I cannot accept this view of the American soul as true, no more than I can accept that liberalism is the cure for the body politic. When I look at America, I know that there is much that needs to be improved upon and I know there are problems that must be solved. I have my problems with the promotion of the homosexual lifestyle, especially when it is aimed at schoolchildren; I object to the wanton slaughter of innocents that is called abortion; I stand against the attempts made to recast criminals as some sort of heroes, and I would like nothing more than to see the current system of “sex-ed” revamped. But even with those issues, I do not see a society that has lost its sense of morality, but a society that is struggling to define morality.
Contrary to the baleful cries of the “culture warriors,” America is not an amoral society…and that is why we have hope. Even as the society has slid towards a more immoral stance on many issues, there has always been a strong moral center in this nation. There have always been those who knew right from wrong, and have chosen to live moral lives. There have always been people whose lives we could look to be a guide to the types of lives we want to live, and whose ideals have shaped our society. We do not have to stand in fear of immorality, because the very idea of immorality means that our society still has a moral center; we still understand and recognize that right and wrong continue to exist, as they always have.
We have no need for the “culture warriors” because morality starts in the individual and then spreads to the society, and not vice versa. So long as we have people that are willing to stand for right, who are willing to do right, and live right we will survive. We are still a moral nation, regardless of the doom and gloom the “culture warriors” are selling as truth. And as long as one righteous, moral man lives, we will have hope.