Taking Back Our Culture: A Proposal

The diminishing of right and wrong in our culture is like an anchor around our collective necks pulling us to the bottom of the river. Each time our cultural moral standards are ignored, or rejected we sink a little further, into the dark cold abyss headed to the bottom. Some examples of the rejection of right and wrong are clear for all to see while some are more subtle and not so easy to expose to scrutiny. On a daily basis we have to choose between ethical and unethical behavior. Cutting off the car in the next lane or being patient and letting the driver through is a moral choice, albeit subtle and one we may not pay much attention to.
In contrast to subtle choices, Peter Singer is a bioethicist and DeCamp Professor in Princeton's Center for Human Values and he writes "But sex with animals does not always involve cruelty. Who has not been at a social occasion disrupted by the household dog gripping the legs of a visitor and vigorously rubbing its penis against them? The host usually discourages such activities, but in private not everyone objects to being used by her or his dog in this way, and occasionally mutually satisfying activities may develop." [Singer]
The column this professor wrote is an outright attack on the moral fabric of our culture and our sense of right and wrong. This is a man who is employed by an Ivy League university, works as an educator, openly rejects very basic ideals of knowing right from wrong and is willing to forward those ideas in the public sphere. Professor Singer serves as a clear and obvious example of what moral relativism looks like today.
These attacks by our cultural leaders, whether they seek that leadership or not, happen all too often in our society. They have the effect of dragging down our culture to its lowest form and it is damaging too many. We have the means in all of us to be free from the anchor around our necks, to swim back to the top and get ourselves back to the safety of decency. We as individuals have the responsibility to think beyond ourselves, and should expect others to do the same.
Many people in our culture are brought up with some knowledge of religion and often that is some form of Judeo-Christian belief. Not everybody chooses to accept these beliefs as their own, but it would be difficult to be a part of our culture and not gain some understanding of morals and the importance they serve in our everyday lives. Throughout our history we have had icons of ethical behavior even if they were not perfect. Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa, and countless others have demonstrated how valuable and meaningful a life can be when it is used to improve our culture rather than debase it. Each of us has, at some level, an understanding of right and wrong and why it is important to live our lives as ethically as we are able.
For example, I do not believe that you have to be a parent to know that exposing your child to images of sexuality and violence is harmful to a healthy mental and emotional upbringing. We as a society do not condone sexual activity in children yet that is exactly what some people want for themselves, and everyone else. They are trying to achieve this by altering our culture, fundamentally through the media. Judith Levine a feminist author and journalist, who wrote the book Harmful to Minors about adult child sex is forwarding the agenda of moral relativism. In her book she states, "Often the sex is better than it would be with a peer who has as little skill as they do. For some teens, a romance with an older person can feel more like salvation than victimization." She also writes, "Sex is not harmful to children. It is a vehicle to self knowledge, creativity, adventure, and intense feelings of aliveness. There are many ways even the smallest of children can partake of it." (Bruce) Ms. Levine is not the only morally challenged person pushing an agenda to sexualize our children, NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love Association) and periodicals like The Advocate push this agenda to serve the selfish desires of disturbed adults.
Robert E Rector, a senior research fellow in domestic policy studies for the Heritage Foundation states, "A study reported in Pediatrics magazine found that sexually active boys aged twelve through sixteen are four times more likely to smoke and six times more likely to use alcohol than are those who describe themselves as virgins. Among girls in this same age range, those who are sexually active are seven times more likely to smoke and ten times more likely to use marijuana than are those who are virgins" (Rector). Despite this, The Advocate magazine prints an article enthusiastically supporting both the likely gay child character Justin on the television show Ugly Betty and Maxi the twelve year old boy in a new movie The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (Dukowitz 28). Not only does The Advocate support the idea of sexualization of children, but the same issue has a glowing obituary about Gerry Studds, the openly gay congressman who had an affair with an underage congressional page (Kuhr 41).
Les B. Whitbeck performed a study and found that the primary indicators for early intercourse, among other things, are sexually permissive attitudes. When adolescents and children become sexually active things like depression, abortion, suicide all increase (Doak). All of this begs the question, who benefits from the sexualization of children? The answer is the adults who can not or will not behave with any ethical restraint. This behavior is damaging to our children and their families for the remainder of their lives. It affects their lives through the decisions they make and relationships they have in the future. The diminishing of right and wrong in our culture has allowed this propaganda to spread into our mainstream media.
Each of us has a responsibility to recognize right from wrong and to act on it to the best of our ability to ensure that we are not the cause of harm to others. None of us is perfect, and it is unrealistic to expect perfection. However, it is not that difficult to live in a morally responsible way to prevent our actions from causing ourselves and others physically and emotional harm.
There are many people in our society today that believe there is no absolute right and wrong. They believe that each of us owes our fellow citizens absolute freedom to do what they want. This attitude is growing in our culture today. It can be found in art like Andrea Serrano's "Piss Christ", a Crucifix in a jar of the artist's urine, or Chris Ofili's black Madonna festooned in elephant dung. Diminishing morals are demonstrated on television in the form of Sex in the City to Nip/Tuck, and telling us consequences should be stuffed in the closet do what makes you feel good mentality. Movies like American Beauty show us traditional values are outdated and Million Dollar Baby advocates for euthanasia when things get tough.
What I propose is wide ranging, rather simplistic, and accessible to each of us. All each of us needs to do is make an effort to make things better in our culture. One does not need to agree with the author to make a difference in our community or in the broader scheme of things. Simply following your conscience, doing what you know is right, and not accepting things you believe to be wrong.
Each of us can choose a path that suits us, choosing when direct action, indirect action or no action is the right thing to do. Some things we might find unacceptable, might require literally no action whatsoever. If a television show is offensive, you might simply choose to not watch. If that same program came across as unusually reprehensible, you might write a letter to the broadcaster, or the local paper. Each of us, it might seem, would need to take on the role of activist, but that is neither the case nor the direction I am pushing towards. Each of us can decide for themselves when and what action to take. It does not come much easier than that. The paradigm shift I am striving for is to inspire action. We do not have to accept educators or lawmakers who abandon morals and ethics in a school, be it a university or an elementary school. We can demand better from our society.
As a result we can each change the culture around us and as we come together on issues that power to affect change will increase. How involved we each choose to become is a personal decision we make every day in every situation. It does not take much effort to log on to a web site and leave a comment, write a blog entry, or craft a letter, each of us can do this with out a substantial change in life style.
For example, making the choice to vote can prove vitally important, as we have seen in recent year's election won by only a handful of ballots. How and where you choose to spend your money can speak volumes. Each of us has the ability to act on what each of us knows is right and wrong. Not acting or being frightened into inaction by those who wish to impose a world of moral relativism, will allow our culture to continue down a path where every thing is permissible, and traditional values are met with open hostility.
We live in a world that is methodically becoming intolerant of traditional or ethical values, and I see it in practically every facet of my daily life. This kind of behavior isn't going to get better with out someone saying, "We have had enough!" We deserve better, and I think it is time we expect better of not only society but of our selves. The time has come to break free of the anchor and swim to the sunlight.

Works Cited

Bruce, Tammy. The Death of Right and Wrong. New York. Prima Publishing 2003.

Doak, Melissa J. "Risk Factors for Early Sexual Activity." Teen Sexuality and Pregnancy. 2005. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. November 20, 2006.
< http://galenet.galegroup.com/>

Dukowitz, Gretchen. "Betty's Family Secret?". The Advocate. Nov. 21, 2006. 28.

Dukowitz, Gretchen. "Max's Gay 12-Year-Old". The Advocate. Nov. 21, 2006. 28

Kuhr, Fred. "Remembering Studds". The Advocate. Nov. 21, 2006. 41

Rector, Robert. Abstinence Education is the Most Effective Way to Protect Teen Health. 2005. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center November 20, 2006.


Singer, Peter. Heavy Petting by Peter Singer. March 1, 2001. Nerve.com.
November 20, 2006.