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It is a law of physics that every action produces an equal and
opposite reaction. If the same is true of American culture, we may soon be
treated to an interesting demonstration.
The closest real life comes to physics might be the so-called
pendulum effect. Our attitudes dangle left and right, conservative and liberal,
religious and worldly, pushing back and forth more like linemen in a scrimmage
than the neat arc of a pendulum. While these trends are rarely equal and
opposite, most spark a response.
For as long as I recall, American values have been shifting toward
the secular. By the end of the last century secularism was so pervasive that it
had become the norm. Intolerance came to mean believing in right and wrong.
Our relative prosperity was seen as a birthright, not a blessing. Lest one
still wish to show gratitude, schools that once began their day with prayer
instituted bans while workplaces forbade the display of religious symbols for
fear of lawsuits. Religion itself was still acceptable, providing it didn’t
show outside the pews.
You need look no further than your living room to see the
results. Language and themes formerly confined to seedier theaters now ooze on
primetime. Television nudity, suggested or real, is becoming more common; I
don’t know who coined the phrase “boob tube” but it was prophetic. Music, film,
and much of popular culture are little more inspiring.
As I write this, it occurs to me I am beginning to sound like every
generation of elders, prattling on about the fall of civilization. It used to
drive me nuts. Now I’m giving serious consideration to laying a hug and an
apology on the next octogenarian I see.
It wasn’t long ago that I wondered if the decline would ever
end. And then, kaboom.
Nothing grabs the attention like a whiff of mortality. The
events of September 11 delivered it in a manner so foreign to the American
experience that it brought down considerably more than the World Trade Center.
Some say we lost our innocence, though what really evaporated might have been
the dead-certain conviction that we control our destiny. It was never true, but
we believed it.
Now we’re beginning to believe in something else, giving the
pendulum a serious jerk. Religious teaching that seemed tiresome holds renewed
meaning for many. Folks who confined church attendance to weddings and funerals
(if only their own) are coming back.
Yet the pendulum may be in for another whiplash. Newsweek reports
that opponents of President Bush, frustrated by his wartime popularity, plan to
equate fundamentalist Christians with the Taliban. The theory is that “Our
enemy in Afghanistan is religious extremism and intolerance. It’s therefore
more important than ever to honor the ideals of tolerance – religious, sexual,
racial, reproductive – at home. The GOP is out of the mainstream, some
Democrats will argue next year, because it’s too dependent upon an intolerant
‘religious right.’”
On a side note, while not divinely inspired the Associated Press
Stylebook is considered the bible of print journalism. This scribe’s scripture
advises to “not use ‘fundamentalist’ unless a group applies it to itself,” a
canon broken pretty much every time the word is employed.
In any event, political tactics don’t follow a stylebook. Though
I’m not convinced either major party is in the habit of tipping their strategies
to Newsweek, if the story is accurate someone must be convinced a backlash is in
order, that Americas’ newfound faith is thin, transient, or both.
Which may well be true. But now that we’ve seen the real deal, the lesson to be
learned from the Taliban is how silly our definitions of “extremist” and
“intolerant” have become.
© 1997 – 2002 Brent Morrison
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