- This past week, one of the icons of college football
fell hard, fell deep and fell forever in the eyes of the American public.
He fell from something that occurred outside his boundaries, but within
his responsibilities. Joe Paterno led great teams at Penn State also
known as "Linebacker U", but he didn't stop his pedophile assistant
coach Sandusky from raping 10 year old boys in the college shower rooms.
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- It reminds me of Macbeth's famous line, "To-morrow,
and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time; and all our yesterdays have lighted
fools, the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking
shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and
then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and
fury signifying nothing. - Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17-28)
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- Sexual molestation of children continues as a routine
aspect of life in America. With the Internet porn sites and fatherless
families, molestation accelerates beyond anyone's imagination or comprehension.
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- Gays, straights and other characters play on the fears
and insecurities of children. Fathers rape their 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,
14 and 15 year old daughters more than most Americans realize. A huge
percentage of men cheat on their wives with regularity. Increasingly, millions
of women cheat on their husbands.
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- As much as it pains me, my brother and I were molested
by our 5th and 6th grade teachers, both homosexuals. Thankfully,
we stopped them from doing their damage beyond initial advances. In college,
a number of homosexuals preyed on my brother and me. We rebuffed them
because we were too big to handle.
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- Across this nation, straight and homosexual (gays) men
prey on children. It's a matter of new adventures for their sexual proclivities.
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- Joe Paterno didn't report the attack, or at least didn't
follow up on the attack by Sandusky, so Paterno forever, after 46 years
of exemplary coaching, takes the long dive to ruination.
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- But it calls into question our civilization or humanity's
culpability. With so much child rape and molestation in America in our
schools, in the workplace and on the Internet, what drives it, what causes
it, what allows it and why has it proceeded at such high levels in this
seemingly moral society?
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- If you look out across media land, the television kingdom
and advertising-you may observe a hint at the hypersexual focus on breasts,
on overtly suggestive shows, on "Sex in the City", "Desperate
Housewives" and on sexual innuendoes that dominate television programs.
When you understand that Americans watch 15 years (in eight hour stretches
as reported on NPR) of television in their lifetimes rather than going
outside and participating in sports, hobbies or other life-giving activities-you
can see what they do with their pent up hyper-sexual drive.
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- Additionally, as a culture, we have lost any sense of
moral and ethical behavior. Religion has been relegated and deregulated
out of the public domain. Millions of teens become pregnant before marriage
and without any form of self-support. Unwed mothers have become the norm.
If you think such children having children can rear a child to be moral
and ethical in their choices and actions, you have another reality check
coming.
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- What can we do as a society to bring about more self
respect, more personal responsibility, more understanding of moral and
ethical behavior?
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- · Instead
of our hyper-war activities where we carry on 10 year combat and spend
trillions of dollars, we might spend money on our schools, libraries and
jobs for the poor that give self-respect along with a decent home and community.
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- · We
might engage in rearing our children with sports, community responsibilities
and healthy personal behaviors fostered by fathers and mothers.
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- · We
might attempt to teach husband and wife relationships in our high schools
to give our young some kind of understanding of what it means to become
responsible and productive human beings in our civilization.
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- · Work
with TV, radio and other media as to sexual content, ethical behavior,
language, respect and personal accountability.
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- · Offer
young viewers learning TV programs that de-emphasize violence, sexuality
and aberrant behavior seen on so many programs.
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- · Inject
ethics, personal accountability, personal responsibility and community
involvement into our schools.
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- · Fill
video arcades with positive games, programs and other content to reflect
a healthy future instead of the obscene violence and war games that dominate.
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- · Parenting
and relationship classes must be passed before two people can gain a license
for marriage. Our children deserve two parents and loving support that
can only be learned through education.
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- Will we embark on such a path?
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- It's really up to leaders, parents and communities to
take action on the local level. If not, we will continue to lead the world
in hyper-sexual media sensationalism and watch as more and more victims
suffer the results. As a society, if we keep watching 15 years of television
as our main form of living, we will disconnect from our children and they
will suffer disconnection from life-which will create more aberrant sexual
behavior in adults and children. We all become victims much like Joe Paterno.
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