The cry of an Iraqi boy upon the arrival of American soldiers seems appropriate to note our national day of independence. Perhaps with that now old cry we can finally end some of the pretensions we keep ourselves under here. One of those pretensions is that we are a Christian nation. Another pretension is that we are basically a good society. Another pretension is that our society has moved beyond class.
While marking our nation’s independence, our fourth of July also marks the day when different classes of our society mix. As I made the short walk to our city’s fireworks, I came upon people in the large park with grills ablaze. Most were decked out in beach attire which is of course most appropriate for a beach. The beer was of course flowing. The smells were enticing. Passing groups of Mexicans getting ready to celebrate the fourth reminded me that normal folks don’t pass up the opportunity to have a good party. While my affection for these United States is quite low at the moment, I could manage to enjoy the fireworks and the overall revelry.
In my past I had been a humanist who didn’t much care for people. It is hard to like people when you despise the cultural choices they have made. Of course, these people hadn’t really made cultural choices so much as they had accepted the cultural choices that were made. They didn’t make it their lives’ missions to rebel against culture. Like the girl who doesn’t care what music is playing, she just wants to dance, these people didn’t view the world through a political prism and just wanted to enjoy themselves. There are many people that protest the most important things for them are place and community, but whenever they encounter organic place and organic culture, they run and flee for their homogeneous and synthetic world.
Probably the hardest thing in life to do is learning to live with what you have. In hind sight, the culture wars have to be dumbest action in the world. How people ever thought a war could be won by burying oneself into the ground as deeply as possible escapes me. While there have been escapist communities like the Amish, the cultural warrior attempts have been more of an attempt to be half pregnant. It has embraced the push-up bra but sees Janet Jackson’s exposed nipple as a sign of the apocalypse. While I’m all for radical witness, I’m afraid it isn’t something that can be just done on weekends. I’m afraid I’m understanding the criticism of older priests of the yearning of some to return to the Tridentine mass: the society where that mass was said has passed.
Today I go to a mass that I never would have chosen, but have indeed chose. Some folks hold hands during the Our Father. (I still don’t have a conformist mindset, so I don’t.) The dress of folks leaves a lot to be desired. While I’ve grown to appreciate the homilies, they aren’t feisty and have the tonal qualities that make little ones squirm. As I was lamenting this one day, I realized something. My parish is a reflection of society. High school graduations, regular dining and even some fine dining are done in T-shirts and blue jeans or shorts. We live in a very slovenly society. People weren’t dressing down for church. They were dressing in what they considered nice clothes. And before we get too romantic for days past, the women of old would wear house dresses to church – in other words their regular attire. Men would wear attire they’d wear to go to town. And if we are going to accept screen printed t-shirts for going grocery shopping and every other activity, why should we expect people to maintain a ‘for church’ wardrobe? (I have it on authority from women that it would be scandalous to wear the same outfit on consecutive Sundays.) That isn’t reverence; it is theatre.
One in thirty-two adults are in prison, jail, or on parole. Today the US shamelessly has more people behind bars than any other nation including China with over 4 times our population. Sit and think about that for a moment. The scenes of “Spring Break” shown around the world, the drunkenness and sex. are American. We brought the world Madonna, and I’m not talking about the Blessed Virgin. We are the same country that waxes on and on about anyone having the opportunity for success but are the very same country where 25% of children are presently on food stamps. This is the same country where 37% of all births are paid for by Medicaid. This is the same country where 50% of adults cannot read a book at an 8th grade level. This is also the same country where 20% of adults are functionally illiterate, reading below a 5th grade level. I’ll let this 2004 “60 Minutes” story suffice for the U.S. embrace of sexual entertainment.
“Democracy, Whiskey, Sexy” Yep, that about sums it up.
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