We have a big problem in this country-- other than George Bush, that is. America has its priorities all screwed and turned around. We've lost our focus in virtually every aspect of our lives, from our everyday lives to sports/entertainment to civil rights to business to world politics. We've forgotten that we're supposed to lead by example. That actions speak louder than words. That to lead means to serve. Let me give you a few examples.

As usual, the day after Thanksgiving was the busiest shopping day of the year. In one Florida town, that meant that Wal-Mart opened again at 6:00 a.m. after being closed for the holiday. People began lining up at least an hour before the store opened. This in itself is mind-boggling. People standing in line to shop! This isn't like the old Russia, where goods are in short supply and you have to wait in line just for stale bread! You don't see people standing in line waiting for the man from the Salvation Army to set up his little kettle so they can donate their money. You don't see people standing in line waiting fot the "Toys for Tots" collection boxes to be set up so they can be the first to give something as opposed to get something. But setting that issue aside for a moment, at this particular store, when the doors opened, the crowd became so pushy that a woman was trampled and ended up in the hospital because no one stopped to help her up. [Note: I have since read stories that this same woman has been involved in several accidents and lawsuits against Wal-Mart, which may or may not indicate that what appeared to be an accident was really a set up. But the gist of the story still remains true.] It was more important for them to get the $29 DVD player that was advertised than to stop and help a woman to her feet so she wouldn't be hurt. The lesson we're teaching our children here is "Look out for yourself first and screw everyone else." The real irony here is that this was the official start of the Christmas shopping season. Christmas, a Christian holiday, celebrates the birth of Jesus-- even though virtually every biblical scholar acknowledges that there's no way he was born in December. I wonder what Jesus would have done had he been standing in line that day at Wal-Mart. (Although, truth be told, I doubt very much that he'd have been standing in line. He seems more like the kind of guy who'd make all his own gifts to give.)

Remember the poor Chicago Cubs fan who tried to catch a foul ball and apparently prevented one of the fielder’s from catching it during the World Series? This man did what every other baseball fan has done for generations: he tried to catch a foul ball that was coming right for him. He didn’t reach into the field of play to catch it: the ball was in the stands. Had any of the other people in that area been sitting where he was sitting, they’d have likely done the same thing. Yet this man is now receiving death threats and may actually be forced to move from his home. Where in God’s name are the priorities of some Chicago Cubs fans? This man’s life is endangered and he is being threatened over a game and bragging rights! The utter absurdity of it all leaves me speechless. I can’t even begin to comprehend the level of fanaticism that one must have in order to place more value on bragging rights than on the life, safety and welfare of another human being. What lesson is this teaching our children? That winning is more important than having fun while playing the game? And it is just a game. But we've made it into something else-- we've screwed up our priorities. Now, baseball (and other professional sports) are more about big money than entertainment. They're about bragging rights rather than sports excellence and physical conditioning. They're about who can land the biggest contract for themselves, not about how best to serve the people paying the salaries: the fans.

Then we have the issue of civil rights, most noticably recently regarding gay marriage. In the local paper, on the same day that two articles appeared stressing the long overdue start to the process of equality for gays, an article appeared decrying the decision of the Massachusettes Supreme Judicial Court. The writer of this article called the decision "political activism" and suggested that the judges had overstepped their bounds and abused the separation of powers that was established by our founding fathers. The very purpose of the judicial branch is to insure that laws passed by Congress and state legislatures follows both the US Constitution and the individual state's constitution. If laws are found to be in violation of either of those documents, it is the sworn duty of the judges on the highest courts to overturn and strike down such laws rather than to simply uphold them because of years of tradition or fear of public outcry! What are we teaching our kids with this kind of twisted thinking? That tradition overrules the law? That the rights of the individual are subject to the religious teachings of a few or even of the majority? That the law is subject to a popular opinion? The real irony of this letter to me was that the writer stated that "Moderate Democrats should ask their senators to stop the filibuster and support qualified judges who would apply the law as written, rather than rewriting the law to suit their personal views." (Click here to read the entire letter.) This is exactly what the court did: there is nothing written in the Massachusettes Constitution that prohibits gay marriages. It is, in fact, the writer of this letter who is asking the courts to apply the law to suit his personal agenda.

There's so much that's backwards about our business community that it would take a book just to point out the misaligned priorities, so I'm just going to focus on two aspects: advertising and cheap labor. Have you paid attention to the advertising kids are seeing on television these days? There's one for a cell phone service provider that talks about a rebate on any phone. Enough money to buy ten CDs. Then the comment is made "As if you buy CDs." The implication is that it's okay to steal them-- whether from the store or by burning a copy of your friend's CD or by downloading the songs online. Blatantly sexual commercials-- not educational in value-- are being shown during after-school hours. (I have no problem with the ones that say "Sex has to be given-- otherwise it's rape." Those are, in my humble opinion, long overdue in coming.) Hypocrisy abounds on television advertising. How stupid do advertisers think kids are? Do they not think they'll notice that Phillip Morris, one of the leading cigarette producers, is sponsoring the commercials about carding kids for cigarettes? Or that beer commercials are advocating responsible drinking right after they show a frat party with beer flowing freely? Commercials for all sorts of products are enticing, endorsing or encouraging our kids to steal, to cheat, to do as little as possible to get as much as possible for their simple enjoyment. Just because they can. Kids are getting very conflicting and confusing messages.

Then, of course, there's the issue with American companies manufacturing their goods in other countries where the labor is cheap, the laws that protect the environment are weak, resources are abundant and inexpensive and the arm of the government that enforces these paltry restrictions is very susceptable to bribery. You'd think that given the cheap costs of making their product that the price back home would go down-- but it doesn't. The cost stays the same-- it's just more money in the pockets of the top executives of the companies. These top executives say they're taking $1 a year salaries to help the company, but then they get stock options that are worth millions-- even hundreds of millions-- of dollars. The only ones who win are the top executives. The bottom line is the almighty dollar. This kind of thinking has even invaded our churches, with televangelists pleading with you ever five minutes to "send a donation" to help them "spread God's word"-- or at least their version of God's word.

It's hard to even know where to start when dealing with the topic of world politics. Our president has, in three years, done more damage to our status as world leader than any other president in history. We have violated international law and illegally invaded another sovereign nation. We are killing tens of thousands of innocent civilians in an effort to achieve our military and political goals, something we lambasted bin Laden for doing. Our politicians are, in large part, hypocrites and puppets of corporate and big money special interests. We've passed bills like the PATRIOT Act and DOMA which are in direct violation of the US Constitution. These two bills have stripped more civil rights from US citizens than ever before in the history of this nation. Even the internment of Japanese-American's in WWII doesn't compare to the atrocities of these two acts alone. We're torturing prisoners of war in Guantanamo Bay but hiding behind semantics in stating that they're not techinically prisoners of war and therefore not subject to being treated like human beings in accordance with the Geneva Convention. Tell me that this country would sit by and do nothing if hundreds of our citizens were taken prisoner by another country's military and questioned as we've been questioning these prisoners. (Remember the Iran hostage situation back in the mid 70's? There was outrage at the Iranians and our citizens weren't being treated the way we're treating these citizens of other nations.) "Homeland Security" is the new buzzword and the very sound of that name makes me cringe at the reminders it bears to Nazi Germany. In fact, our entire country is looking more and more each day like Nazi Germany in the late 20's/early 30's. The fanaticism and the extremism and the propoganda of the Bush administration is reminscent that dark period of time in world history. We once said "Never again!" Who would have thought that a little more than sixty years later, the US would be the one perpetrating a world take-over.

We've forgotten that the reason that the US was founded was to protect the rights of the individual, not the government. That our forebears came to this country to avoid persecution, not to perpetuate it. We've forgotten that along with the freedoms we say we're protecting comes an inherent responsibility to extend those freedoms to everyone-- not just to certain US citizens who fit our current government's idea of "good" or "moral". This government is supposed to by "of the people, by the people and for the people" and it's time that we, the people, took the government back from special interests groups and religious fanatics. It's time we got our priorities back to what our founding fathers intended: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all.

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