On Moral Values

Possibly the most significant thing Americans learned with this election was the tremendous polarity and division that was revealed among our populace as the campaigning came to its conclusion. Regardless of whether or not the voting itself was flawed or tampered with, we cannot deny that as citizens in our country we are not united in our most important views. When the smoke and flames from the shock and awe of the election results cleared away, from a wide range of news and commentary sources as well as voices of our citizen-voters we learned that the most powerfully determining factor was that of "morale values."

On the surface, we are faced with the notion that the majority of this country - possessing the higher values of morality that matter most - has finally spoken in rebuke of those in the minority who apparently do not equate morale values in the same way.

On the surface we who did not vote then with the "morale majority" are left to consider our ways, our values and our lifestyles as having been condemned or deemed "unrighteous." Even now at this early post-election time pundits and politicians are advising the losing party to figure out a way to reach out to this indignant moral majority by inserting god-talk into the dialogue in a meaningful way in order to make headway at the next election.

Liberal politicians and liberal political critics have been put on notice that their disagreement with conservative political and religious values will not be as tolerated as it has in the past. This past week on several occasions we witnessed this "putting on notice" by conservative politicians, pundits and conservative Christian leaders who demonstrated aptly that they have been offended for a long time and "enough is enough."

Tempers flared, angry words were spoken on broadcast programs that revealed more than just a sense of having voted their conscience and having rejected one candidate in favor of another. Resentment was powerfully displayed; a humorless resentment that revealed just how powerfully offended this majority voting block has been by the criticisms, satire, sarcastic humor and open political attacks on their religious beliefs and on a president they deeply revere as their "Christian in the White House."

It appears that many of us were blind to this and sorely underestimated the depth of that resentment. Decades of stand-up comedy that ridiculed the religious in the country is an example of what has been simmering for a long time - an offendedness that finally boiled over into an almost blind willingness to ignore any detailed examination or critique of Mr. Bush's presidency coupled with an unforgiving desire for what might be called the ultimate repudiation of irresponsible, disrespectful and diminishing behavior.

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