Little ‘gods’
Freedom is the song being sung in American culture today. However, America has become a tangle of government regulations. Therefore, one must ask: “We have freedom, but from what”? It has become freedom from morality and freedom from religion. The new freedom is not really freedom at all. If one has an idea that runs contrary to the establishment, one is summarily dismissed. Have any god but God is the rule of the day. Having dismissed God from public life, the people in America now have immersed lives in little gods. The gods are the gods of media, entertainment and of preoccupations.
The first god that exists is our preoccupations. Rather than living by the precepts of the Bible, one probably finds that there is no time. The Bible speaks of loving God with all heart, soul, and mind. It also speaks of the importance (or curse) of work. The Bible says, “He that does not work, neither let him eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Most have half of the equation down. However, as a society, America is now amusing itself with preoccupations. There is no time for God. However, because most no longer receive fulfillment out of work, individuals become preoccupied with what they actually desire to do after work. Stanton Wheeler says, “work, if it ever did, no longer provides a full sense of vocation” (145). Hence, time for spiritual things is all but obliterated with what we desire to do instead of our mundane “work”. Hence, the preoccupation becomes a “little god”.
The second god of modern American society is closely tied with preoccupations. That god would be the media. It is the media that attempts to set the agenda. Even if journalists were objective, the editors control the content and the “what” of reporting. In an attempt to bolster ratings and keep a “pet” story going the media must make “The news of the day… a media event” (Postman 245). Postman goes on to state: "Whether we are experiencing the world through the lens of speech or the printed word or the television camera, our media-maetaphors classify the world for us, sequence, frame it, enlarge it, reduce it, color it, argue a case for what the world is like" (247). Thus, the media has set it up against the God of the Bible, framing the issues that the media thinks should be a priority for man. The result is a culture clash. The media want to control what is presented to society. The Bible teaches that God wants to frame the issues of life that need to be addressed. However, God gave man free will to accept or reject Him; the media doesn’t give those who disagree a forum. Consequently, the media has now established itself as a “little god”.
The third god, which this author believes encompasses the previous two, is the god of entertainment. Rather than seeking after God or loving neighbor rather than self, American society seeks to amuse and entertain itself. Postman opines: "Our politics, news, athletics, education and commerce have been transformed into congenial adjuncts of show business, largely without protest or even popular notice. The result is that we are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death" (242). Even among the strongest conservative churches of today, the Super Bowl takes precedence over spiritual matters.
There is one other god that is so powerful; one of the Ten Commandments is devoted to it. That would be the god of image. “Image is everything” the saying goes. American society is obsessed with looks. John Ryan says, “… we want our athletes thin, graceful, deferential and cover-girl pretty. We want eyeliner, lipstick and hair ribbons. Makeup artists are fixtures backstage… primping and polishing” (155). Postman also says, “those without camera appeal are excluded…” (243). Image is now a little god and after all “Seeing is believing”.
American society’s obsession with little gods, and the exporting of them is making the world morally bankrupt. Making a moral judgment is now taboo. Hadley Arkes says about modern soldiers, “that the understanding of what was right and wrong was always ‘relative’ to a particular ‘culture’ or country” (433). Is it any wonder why the modern elites want to purge religion from public life and public discourse? Elites do not want to purge all religion of course… it’s just one. And that would be Christianity. Why is this? Christianity is the only one to teach absolutes. The Christian faith teaches that there is a right and wrong, and it is not relative to the situation. Allowing a “one way” religion to influence society would force persons to relegate the “little gods” to second-class status. Thus, it becomes a cultural battle.
Conservative politicians pander to the electorate by stating that the government always takes to much money from the people. They state that America wastes it’s capital on social programs. It is true that if America “privatized” it’s social welfare program, it would be beneficial and reduce the need for government involvement. However, American individuals are too preoccupied with little gods to participate. The Liberal side, mostly, is too preoccupied with their gods of media, public education and moral relativism. All sides of the political spectrum have failed. The sad reality is the people with the most little gods are the people who go to church. The modern American can spend three hours watching football, but squirm through a twenty-minute sermon, checking the time if the sermon exceeds twenty minutes or three talking points. Most don’t have the time to read to their children. Time miraculously appears when it comes time to view the latest rendition of Star Wars. Instead of Nero fiddling while Rome burns, people are watching video, while America begins to burn.
Works Cited
Morrow, Nancy and Clarke, Marlene, ed.s. Currents of Inquiry: Readings for Academic Writing. Mountain View, California: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1998.
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Arkes, Hadley. “Moral Obtuseness in America.” Morrow and Clarke 433-440.
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Holy Bible: New King James Version. Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997.
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Postman, Neil. "The Medium Is the Metaphor." Morrow and Clarke 242-250.
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Ryan, Joan. "Little Girls In Pretty Boxes." Morrow and Clarke 152-160.
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Wheeler, Stanton. "Double Lives." Morrow and Clarke 143-150.