Morals - Setting the Bar Lower

“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.” - Dante Alighieri, “Inferno”

It is intriguing to see the fuss currently being stirred up over Miley Cyrus’ sing and grind routine at the VMA’s last night.

Her actions didn’t leave much to the imagination as this image demonstrates.

What is interesting is that this will make a big spike in social and traditional media and will then fade away.

As did this image from an HBO special last year.

Sorry … I offended you on purpose.

Or maybe you weren’t offended – this is a world built upon freedom of expression and many people see images like this as “artful expression”.

While the noise will subside and disappear regarding these images, every such image that we are presented with lowers the bar for what we tolerate as morally acceptable.

And with the lowering of that bar, we are setting a new standard for what is acceptable in society - especially in how we depict women and children.

Are you offended by this?

If your answer is yes, then do something about it.

If your answer is no, I don’t want to hear complaints in a few years about how the world has gone to heck in a hand basket.  And if your answer is no and your kid goes off the rails as a result of such influence, be proud.  You will have created the best person possible with the standards of morality you have embraced.

The funny thing about slippery slopes is that they don’t progress gently and in a linear fashion.  They change exponentially over time, getting steeper and faster.  At some point, the ride you find yourself on is going so fast that you can’t get off  until you get to the end - an end that is beyond your ability to change or influence.

There is a not-so-fine-line between change that improves humanity and change that tears it down.

Do you know where this line is drawn?

Are you sure?

In service and servanthood,

Harry

Addendum

The irony about all of this is how we can rationalize anything.  We can embrace Miley Cyrus’ actions on a live, allegedly family-friendly TV program as entertainment while the same actions performed in the street will get you arrested for indecency.

Some will argue that you don’t have to watch TV, that you can turn it off or change the channel.

True enough.

But if you see it on the street, you can also look the other way.

Like I said.  We can rationalize anything. :-)