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When sending letters to the editor,You must include your name, telephone number and physical address in the email or postal letter before it will appear. We will only print your name and city on-line. A Culture of
Confusion It was recently
broadcast on a radio program that Vanna White has a following of “cult”
proportions. She is so popular that millions
tune in to the TV program “The Wheel of Fortune” to observe her dress, makeup,
etc. Vanna turns alphabet letters after they
light up. She smiles and walks back and forth
and does little else. The radio commentator
had declared that an entire generation has been reduced to idiots based on the high degree
of Vanna’s popularity. Critical
thinking skills are not a prerequisite. Other signs of our
cultural confusion emanate from the recent and tragic death of a giant celebrity hero -
Dale Earnhardt - professed by many to be a select individual with an incredible degree of
skill to maintain a high speed vehicle for a considerable length of time. That is the culture of America’s love affair
with the automobile, high speed, and instant death. What can be more
confusing than what is called “professional” wrestling and its current
counterpart, the eXtreme Football League. This is our current representation of the loudest thugs and criminals who get the most attention…not
to mention the talented professional basketball players who have been released on bail to
play the next game. It is presumptuous
to suggest that any one person is responsible for all this confusion. We’re all responsible. We’ve been seduced by the culture and our
sensory appetites. It’s the culture of
the outrageous - the more outrageous, the more popular.
Most notable are the current crop of “survivor” programs. Survivors, at one time, were those who returned
from the wars after defending all our liberties. Now
we witness the liberty of confusion. A recent report
from a church in Texas indicates that the pastor is bringing a national coffee franchise
inside the church in order to have an “awake” congregation - so much for the
business of religion. Or there’s the
Rev. Jesse Jackson, who promotes his racial agenda with moralist intonations and his brand
of mixed messages and moral confusion. So we
live without a moral compass or one that has been compromised. It is ironic that many of these folks refer to the
children - the supreme contradiction and the ultimate confusion. How can those who practice a lack of standards,
both moral and ethical, suggest that they are “the way” and “the model?” And then the most
current of all confusions: A man who has
practiced traitorous acts, fled the country, and remained gone for 18 years – is
pardoned by the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the land – the same man who gave new
meaning to the word “IS.” The
culture of the present tells us that personal behavior matters not – as long as the
country is going well. We are witnessing the
results of that belief. The greatest
confusion in the state of WV is its Senator, former governor of the state, saying that he
has no position on the regional airport, but he’s for economic growth in the state. And the people remain silent. It appears that the culture and wisdom of the past
have been lost. And the best reflection of
that comes in the words of Abraham Lincoln: “Fame
is vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wing. Only
one thing endures – and that is character.” Don Mega, Huntington, WV
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