Cultural wars in quickstep.

• Author: Kreyche, Gerald F.
• Position: Parting Thoughts - Social values

CULTURAL CHANGES ARE OCCURRING ever so quickly, at least as compared to eras past. In the Middle Ages, two to three centuries went by before different values surfaced. Back then, religion dominated everyday life from the baptismal font to the graveyard. Most art depicted the holy--that is until the Renaissance came along and secular values came into prominence.

The status quo of Victorian times lasted about a century before a shift in mores and morals took place. Although begun in that era, the Women's Rights Movement, for example, took a dozen decades to make its case. Citizens of those times themselves seldom realized the momentous changes that were aborning. Not so now! Almost daily, revised values are trumpeted as replacing old ones, much as new fashions make the previous ones outmoded. What was bad becomes good and vice versa, as, for example, virtually enforced diversity at all levels and merit being replaced by ethnic quotas as the basis for reward. Let's take a look at some important cultural shifts that have taken place since the 1960s.

Protest plays such as "Oh! Calcutta!" and "Hair" spoofed and shocked the complacent middle class. This was a rode awakening to the fact that changes, some symbolic (like men wearing long hair, necklaces, and earrings), others substantial (such as cloning and stem cell research), were in the offing.

Civil Rights belatedly were pushed, but quickly provided a rich field for pure demagoguery, as the Rev. Al Sharpton exploited it to the hilt in the Tawana Brawley case. A black teenager, she claimed to have been raped and mutilated by whites, when, in fact, she inflicted the wounds on herself. For months, Sharpton made it an anti-white cause celebre, despite the police investigation concluding that it was a hoax. Yet, Sharpton never apologized and even had the temerity to run for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. What chutzpah!

Middle class societal standards were shucked aside as vulgarity came to know no bounds. Rappers now scratch their crotch while pouring out lyrics that desecrate motherhood and dehumanize women. The TV viewing public witnessed Janet Jackson having her breast exposed on national TV during the 2004 Super Bowl. Apparently, there no longer is such a thing as bad publicity. All in all, I guess such actions serve as a substitute for talent. There may be some hope, though, as the Mardi Gras in Brazil prohibited a float featuring sexual intercourse. Then there is Madonna, a...