When one has influence over others, one has a duty to responsibly handle what leadership role accompanies that influence. Influence and leadership go hand-in-hand. However, when those who have influence over the culture are not accountable to anyone, they can “skip out” on the responsibility.
When broadcast media and the entertainment industry serve us daily doses of violence in order to make more money, they fail on many fronts. Not only do they fail to use their influence responsibly, but they also fail to invite viewers to a “win-win” relationship. When we entertain violence, it does not serve us or those who confuse liberty and license in the interest of greed.
There are several facets of journalism. Aside from having influence, we report the events of the day so the public can stay informed and connected. Much of the time, the stories generated by the Associated Press are just flat alarming.
Such was the case with a story this week about some third grade students who organized a plot to handcuff and stab a teacher. It started when a child didn’t like being told not to stand on a chair. My guess is he or she abused his or her influence over others and planning began. The AP reported eight kids were involved and charges are being considered against three of them.
Several appropriate questions come up at this point. The first of which is “What?!” What the heck is going on in this country? Are we spinning out of control?
The kids were unlikely to successfully carry it out, but the fact they even considered it is bad enough.
Aside from changes with the family unit, economics, education and the rest of society, the cultural shifts of recent decades are a mixed bag. A lot of it is good, but some of it isn’t and we’re paying the price. There is so much responsibility being dropped on so many levels that the problems are too complex for this column to solve. However, part of a journalist’s job is to observe and articulate to stimulate conversation.
Though many angles can be taken on the subject that would offer  equally valid commentary, I will briefly speak to one foundational element.
The highest value of religion, in my opinion, is that it provides a source of information for core beliefs that can be positively reinforced internally and externally throughout one’s life. One can become codependent with anything, so there is no magic here and it is possible to have a healthy sense of self apart from religion. However, the void becomes a problem for many. Who or what does one look to? This is especially true if adults don’t have a healthy system of values, beliefs and ideas to pass on to children.
As the culture has become more superficial with each passing generation, the shift has coincided with other cultural changes. Not one component can be singled out as holding a solution. However, it seems like our culture is losing it’s soul in order to “gain the world,” so to speak.
Ministers often say attending church doesn’t make a person a Christian any more than being in a garage makes one a car. Life is what one makes of it, so how much one applies one’s self is what the statement is getting at.
Merely attending church or labeling one’sself according to a family’s religious identity is not enough. One must permit one’s core beliefs to be influenced by a given belief system in order to be faithful to it. The culture is in too much spiritual trouble for the faithful to just “go through the motions” as a social club.