Saddam And Gomorrah
By Adam Graham (05/13/04)
Much hand-wringing has occurred over the horror of what occurred at the Abu Gharib prison in Iraq. What occurred was serious abuse that should have never happened. It was abhorrent and wrong.
Having said that, the calls for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld are incredibly off-base. Did Rumsfeld or President Bush really create the culture that led to this situation? If not, then why should they resign?
What happened in Iraq? Various commentators have described it as something right out of a porn magazine. I think that’s a fair description. I think it also shows us why we shouldn’t be questioning Bush and Rumsfeld, but the centers of cultural power.
Was it the Secretary of Defense who taught these soldiers to hurt other people for their own amusement? I’d suggest that Michael Eisner has more to answer for in this sorry affair than Rumsfeld.
In abusing the captured prisoners, the soldiers followed the lead of many of Hollywood’s anti-heroes who “get even” with the enemy. Hollywood has trained us to take pleasure in the death, dismemberment, and abuse of “the bad guys.”
Consider the numerous sadistic video games on the market, games that promote rape, murder, and mayhem. Think about the pornography that floods the Internet and that teaches that people can be used as sex objects. Ponder the abortion movement that has taught that human life is worthless and can be destroyed when it becomes inconvenient to us. One quickly realizes that it is not the Neo-Conservatives and Iraq war backers who should desperately want this story to go away, but the cultural left.
In the midst of patriotic heroes, these seven individuals stand as a reminder of a culture that’s out of control It gives lie to the idea of social libertarianism, that morality is strictly a private idea. Private morality and moral beliefs only impact your own personal life has been the mantra of the left. “If you don’t like what happens on television, turn it off. If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one. If you think porn’s wrong, don’t watch it.” This incident changes everything.
What this situation in Iraq tells us is that if we exalt the ideals of nihilism and amorality that we will produce nihilistic, amoral people who will do real harm to this nation. While certainly not an excuse for daft censorship, this unfortunate incident should give us occasion to consider what type of country we want to be.
We can be the type of country that produces an army like we had in World War II. The Nazis had a choice to surrender to the Russian or American Army and Nazis chose to surrender to the Americans because they knew we’d treat them humanely. The other choice is to have an Army of sexual perverts that will bring disgrace on our nation time and time again.
Moral decline is not merely some social issue, it’s an issue of national security and national survival. As De Toqueville observed, “America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
For our nation to survive as a good people, we must return to respect for human dignity and human life. We must allow communities to stop the pedaling of smut. We must once again teach values of right and wrong, and abandon moral relativism. Conservative consumers should stand firm against the cultural revolution that is destroying the very fabric of our society.
If we fail to restore our culture, then Abu Gharib will be the first of many atrocities we will see perpetrated by Americans. We’ll see our nation steadily decline to become a monstrous force for evil in the world like the barbaric ancient armies of old. We’re not to that point yet, but if we want to avoid another Abu Gharib, we must act quickly to restore the Republic of our Founders’ dreams.
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