What Troubled Times Are These ...

There appears to be a general loss of civility these days.

Sure, the shooting in Jonesboro, Ark., on Tuesday is a particularly heinous example, but you don't need to look that far to find incivility.

It's everywhere.

Only in the 1990s could we come up with the term "road rage." That's when a driver becomes angry over another driver's mistake.

There are lots of single-finger salutes on the highway, but many times it goes way beyond that.

Drivers deliberately crashing into each other. Drivers shooting each other dead.

It's quite a bizarre phenomenon.

And it's not just drivers. Lots of people are just edgy, anxious and annoyed these days.

I see it in the drive-through at the fast food joint, in the checkout line at the grocery store, in the movie theater, just about everywhere.

Especially on the Internet. You should see some of the X-rated stuff people write. I don't mean the porn stuff. The Internet is glutted with that. I mean the sports discussion groups.

The other day I was looking at one of those groups. These IU and Purdue fans were ripping into each other. It was f*** this and f*** that. They were accusing each other of being products of incest.

And these are educated people. They identified themselves as students and graduates.

And then there's the practice of "flaming." That's when you belittle someone who posts something in a discussion group.

Just about everybody who posts something gets flamed. It doesn't matter what group you're in. It happens everywhere.

There have been a few times when I wanted to ask a question but didn't because I didn't feel like taking the abuse.

I don't know why we have become so vile.

There are social scientists who have devoted much of their careers to figuring that one out. Not even they can come up with a good answer.

But I think part of it must be caused by a lack of sense of direction. A lack of spirituality. A lack of a sense of well-being.

People these days are driven. Driven to succeed. Driven to amass material wealth.

People don't take time - or simply don't have time - to look inside, to be introspective. When was the last time you took the time to sit in silence and think?

People talk a lot about the simple things in life, but nobody takes the time - or has the time - to enjoy them.

I'm just as guilty. I always have to be doing something.

And the more driven we are, the more "on the edge" our entertainment has to be.

It takes a lot to shock us these days. What was considered a risque movie in 1980 looks absolutely prudish in 1998.

The violence in movies gets a little more graphic every year.

Look at the success of those "Scream" movies. Now there is some serious psycho murder and mayhem.

Video games are the same way. The manufacturers need to come up with more creative ways to kill people in the games or they won't sell.

Just shooting someone won't do. There has to be blood, guts and body parts flying across the screen.

Number one daytime TV show? Jerry Springer. That's where you can watch an unmarried, pregnant exotic dancer strut her stuff.

Even radio has changed. We now have "shock jocks." That's a new term.

These guys push the limits of decency every day. They happily pay the Federal Communications Commission fines for going beyond the limit.

They can afford it. They're number one in the ratings.

All the purveyors of sex and violence in media have no problem lining up advertisers to sponsor their shows.

Why?

Because we the people are willing, albeit eager, to listen or watch.

What hypocrites we are.

Surveys show 80 percent of Americans think movies are too violent or too sexually explicit.

At the same time, eight out of the top 10 movies are violent or sexually explicit. How can this be?

Easy. We say one thing and do another.

Despite the hoopla in Congress, a TV rating system and the networks talking about it all the time, prime-time incidents of sex, violence and profanity per hour continue at a brisk clip.

In 1997 the figure was somewhere around 50.

That's more than one a minute if you consider commercials.

When something like the shooting in Arkansas happens, everyone is aghast. They can't believe something like that could happen.

Believe it. And be sure to watch the mini-series when it comes out in a couple months.

I can honestly say it really doesn't surprise me that much. And you know what? It will happen again - and again.

Violence and immorality are a way of life. It's what we have become. It's a logical progression, really.

A conclusion to be drawn from a society that places no emphasis on the sanctity of human life.

An extension of a society where vast numbers of us watch graphic violence to entertain ourselves.

An outgrowth of a society in which the the president is overtly immoral and the survey says we don't really care.

And while our morality crumbles around us, we say nothing. Afraid to be labeled politically incorrect. Afraid to stand up for our beliefs and values.

Ultimately, we live in the society we create - the society we deserve.

We have the capacity for change. It's never too late.

But nothing short of a spiritual renewal will turn it around.