We have become a fractured nation that no longer believes to be under God by it’s own populace. How has the idea of faith become so unpopular? There was a time in this country that belief in something larger than one’s self was just a given. Sacrifice and perseverance was as natural as breathing for a citizenry that had a deep spiritual understanding that there was something more to life than our mortal coil.
Our inspiring past-times as a country consisted of a population that had an overarching deeply held faith (no matter the dogmatic specifics) that was rooted in forgiveness and redemption. That was why the American generations gone by has consisted of such historical events that shook the world for the better, such as The American Revolution, and World War Two. Even the individuals that lacked an organized spiritual approach, and rarely attended any church services still understood and respected the practical day to day structure for achieving freedom and happiness: you suffer, you sacrifice, and then you succeed. Selfish ideals use to be shamed when it was during a time of need for this country to come together; and if need be fight to the death for our homes, our country, our fellow neighbors, and our way of life.
9/11 has not even hit it's 20th Anniversary yet, and we are already a grossly divided nation. We were united for a hot second, until everyone realized the president was Republican. How sad, and shallow. And, yet politics aside, how was such a murderous attack on all of our ideals not a generational unifying ground breaking moment; such as the aforementioned World War Two and American Revolution? Why? Because of what I detailed earlier in this piece. We’ve become a selfish people that believe in nothing. As of late I’ve become obsessed with this David Mamet quote, that I used in another piece. But, I’m going to use it again, because I can’t stop thinking about it.
“Every reiteration of the idea that nothing matters debases the human spirit.”
-David Mamet
I believe this degradation of the human spirit has been none more evident in our western culture than seen in the blood thirsty rage towards tearing down our heroes. All because our modern culture found out they are flawed. To that, I say, so what? They are human, of course they are flawed. In fact the flawed nature of humanity, and the overcoming of that very sin in a time of need is the very definition of what a hero ought to be.
“Nobody should come to the movies unless he believes in heroes.”
-John Wayne
Both Mamet and The Duke decades apart from one another are spot on with discussing the selfishly fueled soulless individuals of the modern world. I don’t see this as just some supplementary issue. It’s crucial. The world most definitely needs heroes, both fictional and non-fictional. It’s highly important for the belief and the development of the human spirit, and achievements.
In my humble opinion the two most important elements to the prototypical hero story, are forgiveness and redemption. Redemption is always there, right in front of the reader’s and audience member’s faces. But, forgiveness is the most important subtlety that fuels the redemption. A hero must first humble themselves, and accept their short comings. Then ask for forgiveness before setting off on their path of redemption, and perhaps justice. All fairly standard for human existence and progression, or so I thought. Unfortunately we are now, today, on a very dangerous edge of a cliff within in our fragile society—where our youngest generation (our future) is demanding a morally based utopia void of heroes. Replaced by self serving politicians and nihilistic revolutionaries. A black and white judgement for all things. That’s a very dangerous combination for the future of a society. Forgiveness will most certainly be lost in this shuffle, and along with it will go the reverence for redemption. The greatest tragedy of this path won’t just be how strict, cruel, and cold of a world we will all be living in. It will be seeing all of our heroes past and present laid to rest.
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