Keep the faith

Keep the faith

Is it just me or do people these days seem to be abusing the gift of the pleasure of sexual relations? It seems like it’s used like a drug to escape reality. I suppose that it’s human nature to a certain extent, to talk about things of a sexual nature, but when you turn on the television and all your senses are badgered with images of half naked women trying to sell anything from cars to diapers, that may be taking it a bit far. Of course it isn’t just women that are being used in these kind of sales tactics; the CEOs and such will use whatever it takes to make the almighty dollar. It’s old news that sex sells. But at what cost?

I remember the first time I heard what was considered a “bad word” on network television. I believe the word was “damn.” I was a bit shocked. I was even more surprised the first time I heard the word “ass” on network television. That kind of language on public access airwaves is taken for granted these days and nobody really raises a big stink about it The children of this world are being exposed to this sort of thing and they think that it’s not a bad thing to say what I was brought up to recognize as “bad words.” They are accustomed to what was once considered immoral and sexually explicit material in video games, network television, music, movies, etc. This has been happening for quite a while—long enough, anyway. Long enough that a callous has grown on the morals and ethics of society that it’s no wonder that there are so many unplanned pregnancies in the United States, even with such easy access to contraceptives. It’s also not surprising that the younger generation is a more violently aggressive one. It’s also not surprising that the younger generation is very materialistic believing whoever has the most stuff is the better person and it doesn’t matter how you get it. Religion, spirituality, ethics, morals, or whatever you want to call what used to be a major facet of human society in general, has all but disappeared.

I’m not quite sure when things started getting out of hand. Probably a very long time ago. Regardless of when things started getting funky, they are all funked-up now and the statistics (for what they are worth) speak for themselves. I read that 47% of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned. Given the variety of contraceptive devices available and the activists working very hard to educate and assist people in safe-sex practices, that is a ridiculously high percentage, which led me to ask why such a high percentage. There are still a lot of myths that are circulated like that a woman can’t get pregnant while menstruating, etc., which is obviously attributed to lack of education. I discovered that some women purposely stop using birth control when they find a man with “appealing characteristics” who might make a good father, without telling the prospective father. Of course it isn’t all the women’s responsibility when it comes to birth control—it takes two to tango. Some men feel like wearing a condom might contest their masculinity. Still, in comparison to men, women do have a lot more options when it comes to contraceptive devices, and for the sake of argument, I do include surgical options in that comparison.

The evidence of immorality or whatever term one might use is obvious, but the cause is what is most important. I would also like to add, before I continue, that given the state of the world at present, 2009, it is obviously in a great transitional period. The United States of America doesn’t have the influence it once did. Although it still is has cultural, military, and some political influence internationally, it has lost a lot of ground in other areas. But, still, the USA still has probably the biggest influence culturally in the world. For some reason, if Americans think it’s cool, no matter what it is, most of the rest of the world will too.

This isn’t the first time that there has been a country similar to the United States. The Greek and Roman and even Egyptian empires were very similar. They were very religious and then they got big as the world, as they knew it, got small, and they fell. Also, their power made them arrogant. (Here I must say that I am a not a religious person. I am one who believes in good and evil and that they are an ever present thing. I also believe in the very old truths that have been said in different ways in different religions. I also believe that Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrifice by God because he loves humans so much. I believe in the prophecies of the New Testament in the Holy Bible and other prophecies and signs that happen from time to time. I will likely elaborate in another essay at another time.) The founding fathers of the United States, from what I know of history, were pretty religious. In fact, I believe that religion was one of the main reasons that this country was founded. It seems like religion, spirituality, or whatever, has been lost in general in American society, compared to about 200 years or so ago. The images on television, internet, video games, etc., would probably give George Washington a heart attack, not just because he’s seeing a television either. Some of the lyrics on some of the songs that are played seem to have no potential for positive influence at all, actually they seem to have negative intent.

I don’t know who to blame for this apparent fall of human society. Obviously the greed of the people who are more interested in money than the consequences of their actions and continue to manipulate and abuse the media and people who are patrons of the media must take some responsibility. If they claim to not know the consequences I would probably not believe them. I’m certain that there is a lot of research that goes into finding out the best way to trigger the desired response when promoting or investing in a product. Still, to be fair, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. By that I mean that if society didn’t like it they wouldn’t take so much interest in it.

Sometimes I take comfort in thinking that the older generation in the 1950s was freaking out to the way kids were dancing to rock n’ roll and I wonder what teens now might think when they reach my age about teens in the future. I also wonder if, given the way the world seems so screwed up, more than it has ever been, if there will be a future; one to speak of anyway.

Keep the faith folks and try to do the right thing. Nobody’s perfect so just do the best you can, and remember it can always be worse.