In a Moral World
As we wait for word on the Pope, SC&A thought a word of morality would be in order. Not to worry, we will, as usual, not exempt anyone from critique. We will of course, not critique ourselves, because as usual, our critique and positions are the correct decisions.
There have been some voices heard that have made the not so subtle point that those who were so 'worked up' by the Terri Schiavo matter, seemed not to care one bit about the millions of starving children world wide.
Aside from the utter stupidity of those statements, the hypocrisy is stunning. If the concern for world hunger were so real, how is it that billions of dollars are spent on 'progressive' art and entertainment that denigrates women and extols violence (rap, for example), or monies spent on alternative 'art' (crucifixes in bottles of urine or smeared with feces, or subsidized performance art where the audience is sprayed with HIV tainted blood) and not on the starving children they seem to be so concerned with? Why is there silence from some quarters when it comes to pornography?
We are not in favor of limiting self expression (after all, how would you discern good art, if there wasn't really bad art?), but let's get real. The loudest of those who question the morality of those who took a certain side in the matter of Terri Schiavo, have proven themselves to be hypocritical idiots. They don't give a damn about starving people- save themselves, when they're hungry.
Tim Russert noted on his news program a statistical reality: People from the 10 poorest states (red states), gave the most per capita, to charity. People from the 10 richest states (overwhelmingly blue), gave the least per capita, to charity. The numbers don't lie.
SC&A are not happy about the hypocrisy that has become a way of life for many Americans- a hypocrisy that envelopes all sides of the political spectrum and has managed to compromise morality as a matter of course.
Let's look at the left, first, and then the right.
Some on the left want to see Caterpillar sued because their tractors/bulldozers were used by the Israelis to bulldoze homes of suicide bombers. Caterpillar they say, is complicit in 'atrocities' (as if the loss of bricks and mortar were comparable to the loss of life).
These hypocrites refuse to make the connection- if you want to sue Caterpillar, why not sue the computer manufacturers, on whose products are written and disseminated some of the most vile hatred, extolling the virtues of the slaughter of innocents, the promise of rape (real rape) and pillage and religious hatred gone wild? Oh, that isn't on the agenda? Why not, hypocrite? Or is some hate OK? What kind of hate might that be?
While we are on the topic of the Middle East, the word 'genocide' and 'ethnic cleansing' are thrown around, as if they were adjectives describing a Celine Dion concert or a Gilbert Godfrey sitcom.
While the Israelis are usually at the receiving end of those epithet's, reality never seems to make an appearance. Real genocide is what the Janjaweed are doing to the Darfurese- including women singing as their men rape (real rape) Christian and animist women. The civil war in Sudan has come at the cost of 2 million lives over the years. Real ethnic cleansing happens in Mauritania, as Arab slave traders still enslave hundreds of thousands of blacks. In East Timor, Christians were forcibly converted and forcibly circumcised (men and women) by Radical Islamists. Genocide is what happened when Hafez Assad slaughtered as many as 20,000 people in Hama, Syria. Funny how none of that seemed to bother a lot of people. In the real world, there is something called triage- prioritizing- and that is sorely lacking. Obsessing about Israeli treatment of Palestinians is like obsessing over a paper cut as the patient is having a heart attack or stroke.
SC&A can only conclude that either, a) many politically left leaning persons were not aware of those facts or, b) they are aware of these realities, but choose for some inexplicable reason to deceive themselves and others. We can only believe that no one would so willingly choose to deceive others, so we accept the fact that most of those people are simply uninformed. That said, until those people become better informed, their opinion is meaningless and irrelevant. Shut up, stay home and watch cartoons.
The right too, has plenty to answer for. Simply prospering and professing faith in a democracy imparts no moral superiority. Real people of faith do so under the most adverse of conditions, under threats we here no nothing of. Money that is spent on spectacular Cathedrals with million dollar sound systems is not a testament to faith- it is a testament to selfishness. Millions that are spent to have 'bigger' or 'better,' 'newer' or 'faster,' is money thrown away, a monument to hubris. How very Christian of you.
For the non Christian right, it is no surprise that many on the right lose sight of the balance. Spoiled, uneducated athletes are paid 100 million dollars a year to play a game. Jennifer Lopez's bottom and Britney Spear's navel guarantee them hundreds of millions. While many would say this is capitalism and a free market economy, it isn't hard to understand how Coke paying millions for a 30 second spot, doesn't come across all that well in countries where starvation is a fact of life.
In the world of apple to apple comparisons, our excesses must scream like an obscenity to most of the global community. In a world where children starve to death in their mothers arms by the tens of thousands daily, our nutrition and health compared to so many others, makes us arrogant, uncaring and obnoxious.
Capitalism is not a replacement for moral behavior.
There have been some voices heard that have made the not so subtle point that those who were so 'worked up' by the Terri Schiavo matter, seemed not to care one bit about the millions of starving children world wide.
Aside from the utter stupidity of those statements, the hypocrisy is stunning. If the concern for world hunger were so real, how is it that billions of dollars are spent on 'progressive' art and entertainment that denigrates women and extols violence (rap, for example), or monies spent on alternative 'art' (crucifixes in bottles of urine or smeared with feces, or subsidized performance art where the audience is sprayed with HIV tainted blood) and not on the starving children they seem to be so concerned with? Why is there silence from some quarters when it comes to pornography?
We are not in favor of limiting self expression (after all, how would you discern good art, if there wasn't really bad art?), but let's get real. The loudest of those who question the morality of those who took a certain side in the matter of Terri Schiavo, have proven themselves to be hypocritical idiots. They don't give a damn about starving people- save themselves, when they're hungry.
Tim Russert noted on his news program a statistical reality: People from the 10 poorest states (red states), gave the most per capita, to charity. People from the 10 richest states (overwhelmingly blue), gave the least per capita, to charity. The numbers don't lie.
SC&A are not happy about the hypocrisy that has become a way of life for many Americans- a hypocrisy that envelopes all sides of the political spectrum and has managed to compromise morality as a matter of course.
Let's look at the left, first, and then the right.
Some on the left want to see Caterpillar sued because their tractors/bulldozers were used by the Israelis to bulldoze homes of suicide bombers. Caterpillar they say, is complicit in 'atrocities' (as if the loss of bricks and mortar were comparable to the loss of life).
These hypocrites refuse to make the connection- if you want to sue Caterpillar, why not sue the computer manufacturers, on whose products are written and disseminated some of the most vile hatred, extolling the virtues of the slaughter of innocents, the promise of rape (real rape) and pillage and religious hatred gone wild? Oh, that isn't on the agenda? Why not, hypocrite? Or is some hate OK? What kind of hate might that be?
While we are on the topic of the Middle East, the word 'genocide' and 'ethnic cleansing' are thrown around, as if they were adjectives describing a Celine Dion concert or a Gilbert Godfrey sitcom.
While the Israelis are usually at the receiving end of those epithet's, reality never seems to make an appearance. Real genocide is what the Janjaweed are doing to the Darfurese- including women singing as their men rape (real rape) Christian and animist women. The civil war in Sudan has come at the cost of 2 million lives over the years. Real ethnic cleansing happens in Mauritania, as Arab slave traders still enslave hundreds of thousands of blacks. In East Timor, Christians were forcibly converted and forcibly circumcised (men and women) by Radical Islamists. Genocide is what happened when Hafez Assad slaughtered as many as 20,000 people in Hama, Syria. Funny how none of that seemed to bother a lot of people. In the real world, there is something called triage- prioritizing- and that is sorely lacking. Obsessing about Israeli treatment of Palestinians is like obsessing over a paper cut as the patient is having a heart attack or stroke.
SC&A can only conclude that either, a) many politically left leaning persons were not aware of those facts or, b) they are aware of these realities, but choose for some inexplicable reason to deceive themselves and others. We can only believe that no one would so willingly choose to deceive others, so we accept the fact that most of those people are simply uninformed. That said, until those people become better informed, their opinion is meaningless and irrelevant. Shut up, stay home and watch cartoons.
The right too, has plenty to answer for. Simply prospering and professing faith in a democracy imparts no moral superiority. Real people of faith do so under the most adverse of conditions, under threats we here no nothing of. Money that is spent on spectacular Cathedrals with million dollar sound systems is not a testament to faith- it is a testament to selfishness. Millions that are spent to have 'bigger' or 'better,' 'newer' or 'faster,' is money thrown away, a monument to hubris. How very Christian of you.
For the non Christian right, it is no surprise that many on the right lose sight of the balance. Spoiled, uneducated athletes are paid 100 million dollars a year to play a game. Jennifer Lopez's bottom and Britney Spear's navel guarantee them hundreds of millions. While many would say this is capitalism and a free market economy, it isn't hard to understand how Coke paying millions for a 30 second spot, doesn't come across all that well in countries where starvation is a fact of life.
In the world of apple to apple comparisons, our excesses must scream like an obscenity to most of the global community. In a world where children starve to death in their mothers arms by the tens of thousands daily, our nutrition and health compared to so many others, makes us arrogant, uncaring and obnoxious.
Capitalism is not a replacement for moral behavior.
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