THE VAST VORTEX OF LOST VALUES

I don't mean to sound overly dramatic, but do you ever feel like the world around you is a whirling, spinning vortex that's trying to suck you into its violent, common sense-deprived maelstrom?

I don't normally feel the need to play "King of the Hill" when it comes to the moral high ground. There's room for everyone on the mound, and I'm generally pretty tolerant of each person occupying their own place (wherever that might be) without input or judgment from my end. But events at work and in the world seem to be conspiring to pull me down to base level.

It was just starting to dawn on me, this need to dig-in my toes and try to maintain a firm foothold where I'm comfortable... in fact, it wasn't yet a fully realized posture, but more of a vague "the world's gone crazy" thought in the back of my brain. Then a couple of nights ago, I'm leaving the office and the radio station in the car is announcing the #1 song of the nightly "top seven at 7" and it's that ridiculous "I Kissed a Girl and I Liked It" ditty. I learned later that the singer is Katy Perry, the middle daughter of two pastors (they must be so proud). So as I drive, I'm marveling to myself, "Did the good people of northwest Arkansas really take the time to call in and make sure this song about "the taste of her cherry Chapstick" claimed the #1 spot? And then it dawns on me that the people who call in and vote for songs are teenage girls...

Brittnee and I had just been talking about the glorification of Jamie-Lynn Spears' in the media and how this 17-year old girl has basically pimped her story, photos and privacy to OK Magazine for a cool million. She's quoted as saying she had a "perfect pregnancy and a perfect delivery" and that being a mother "is so much fun... I just want to hug her and kiss her, and I'm happy all the time." That's good to hear, Jamie-Lynn, and I sincerely wish all parents felt like you do, but the simple fact is you are barely old enough to drive and take care of yourself. And the Zoey 101 crowd who looked up to you will probably think that getting pregnant at 16 is a pretty cool thing, because they can get rewarded with millions and magazine covers-- that is, if they aren't too busy calling in for songs about how "it felt so wrong, it felt so right" to kiss a girl and like it.

Laura Ingraham often refers to "the pornification of America" and that phrase kept coming to mind. I think that's a very apt way of describing what's going on in the world and in the media. As a society, we've become very de-sensitized to sexual innuendo and people who use their celebrity to promote all kinds of sleaziness. The media has shaped the cultural fabric of our country, and in fact are ripping it to shreds. You can't turn on the tv without seeing a couple of trashy reality-tv bimbos coming to blows over some unworthy thug or "news" programs that revel in celebrity mishaps, rehab, deaths, incarcerations, divorces and feuds. And the more outrageous the celebrity behavior, the higher the ratings. And this decay is at our fingertips 24/7, rebroadcast in perpetuity on the web. It makes me shudder to think how many kids are being raised without any real parental involvement, their moral codes being shaped by the things they see and hear on television and the internet. And while we're on the subject, commercials have gotten out of hand, too... Several years ago, cigarette ads were banned and Joe Camel came under a lot of scrutiny for the character's magnetism to kids. I think that's for the best. But I'm foggy on why it is now ok for half-naked babes to sell everything from hamburgers to domain-registration sites, while a garage band sings "Viva Viagara" and Smilin' Bob impresses the neighbors with his giant pharmaceutically-enhanced schlong. When did we turn into a nation of 13-year old boys?

So anyway, I get home (with the tune to "I kissed a girl" still stuck in my head) and flip on a little news. The buzz of the day is all about Reverend Jesse Jackson's off-mic statements about Barack Obama and how he wants to "cut his nuts off". What? I can't believe the Reverend JJ said that. This story got a lot of coverage, and not once did I hear anyone even question that a religious leader, one who has committed the past 40 years to equality and political pursuits, would suggest that kind of physical harm, even metaphorically. I kept trying to imagine other political/religious figures (Mike Huckabee or Martin Luther King, Jr., for example) making such statements. I just couldn't. I tried to envision my own father, an evangelist for the past 33 years, making such a statement... it flies in the face of everything that a spiritual leader embodies. How can you lead other people when that's what's in your heart? I'm not saying that this makes Jackson a terrible person, but it's certainly not befitting a man of his supposed stature.

The next morning, I came into work and the entire office was talking about Matt Jones' arrest. I don't follow football or athletes, but the name is vaguely familiar and apparently Jones, the former U of A quarterback turned NFL pro, was quite respected as a christian and role model for youth in this area. So it shocked and disappointed a great many people to hear of his felony drug arrest. Which leads me to think about rehab... it's become so very fashionable, despite Amy Winehouse's "no-no-no" protests, and I have to think that, for celebrities and people who live their lives in the proverbial fast lane, the prospect of chilling out for a few weeks (without all the pressure, the paparazzi and the constant scrutiny of living under a magnifying glass) has to be pretty appealing. But amid all the speculation about rehab and what will happen with Matt Jones, one thing stands out: there's always something really sad about a fallen hero. Especially one who is caught white-handed with six grams of cocaine.

No one's perfect. But guess what? No one's expected to be. I spent a lot of hours pondering "what I'm supposed to be" last month, before my class reunion. And I realize now that it was such a waste of time. So I guess the whole point of this insanely long rant is that, yes, it sometimes feels like people have lost their grip on good ol' fashioned right and wrong... on integrity and values... and mostly on accountability. The world is an imperfect place. But what we have control of, and in fact all we have control of, is ourselves. And right now, I think my focus needs to be on keeping a tighter grip on the values that the cherry Chapstick-flavored, drug-addled vortex is trying to wrangle from me.