Paula Deen And The New American Morality

Does liking a Paula Deen Recipe Make One A Racist?

Perhaps I'm just too easy going. I'm a die hard animal lover (my wife and I own the world's greatest cat, after all) yet I felt that Michael Vick should be free to play in the NFL after he finished serving his prison sentence. Many disagreed with me, of course, but, the way I saw it, he did the time for doing the crime and he deserved the opportunity to move on.

Now more than ever, though, Americans want their pound of  flesh. Paula Deen said some terrible things a long time ago, things she clearly regrets saying, but this country is simply not going to forgive her. Apparently it's better to give the woman a career death sentence than to just get on with life.

There's no two ways about it, we're living in the era of the New American Morality. This morality stands in stark contrast to, say, the the Judeo-Christian morality of old. For instance, when it comes to the New American Morality, one size does not fit all. Acceptable behavior generally depends on things like the individual's wealth, ethnicity and  political leanings. What's wrong for one person is right for another.

Also, the old adage of forgiving and forgetting is definitely out the window. There is no more heaven or hell for sinners. There is only hell. If you're on the wrong side of the social and political winds, you're held accountable for all past transgressions, no matter how you may feel about them now.

In case you haven't noticed, I find the New American Morality to be sheer idiocy. This is mainly because it has nothing to do with morality and everything to do with the dominate opinions of a particular time. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for instance, can threaten every Jew on the planet and still be invited to speak at our best universities. Ms. Deen, on the other hand, can expect to be treated as a pariah in her own country.

It's utter bullshit and you and I both know it.

The New American Morality may be embraced by our leaders and trendsetters, but it should be rejected by those of us who make up this country's populace. Ideas and norms thrive or die among the everyday people in this country, not among its most wealthy, popular and powerful. If we, the people, reject a philosophy, then that philosophy holds no weight whatsoever. Period.

It's time to make the New American Morality a thing of the past.