The Roar
The Extremes of Diversity
How many of us remember the “melting pot” identity of America? Well, this is just another generational asterisk since that concept has quietly been removed for reasons which are becoming more apparent day by day. Many traditions and common day assumptions of American living have contributed with the demise of America’s “melting pot.” This spiraling parade is part and parcel of a gradual remaking that seems either too inconsequential at the time or it is labeled as a normality in “changing times.”
In the realm of sports, who remembers when Mike Schmidt signed his last contract for two to three million per year? Phillie fans went bonkers! The general sentiment was, and I’m paraphrasing, “no athlete is worth that kind of money to play a boy’s game.” Remember? Need we look at the salaries today? Bench warmers are near the million per season mark.
This then verses now comparison parallels the degree of change that we as free people have adjusted to in all facets of our society, personal standards, governmental practices and growing authority. Comparisons are useful in that much of what transpires goes unnoticed, much like the hands on a clock. However, when comparing then verses now, the differences may well become alarming.
My sport analogy of salary increases brings forth changes outside of the stadiums; all of which we have adapted to in a gradual manner. How about the demise of daytime baseball or the favorite, the Sunday double header? Salaries bring a need to increase overall revenue. Prime time viewing has become a must, and two for one Sunday offerings have become prohibitive. Again, I mention these rippling effects simply because we all can see, have experienced and understand these associated but necessary short cuts and sacrifices.
Now transfer this sports “progress” into our society, with particular scrutiny on our religious freedoms and subsequent changes or adaptions. While the First Amendment remains visual, it has undergone “progressive” changes of a gradual nature.
Such changes, similar to that rippling effect with sports, spreads through our communities and daily routines. Gone are the Catholic services performed in Latin. The old traditional hymnals have over the years been refined to the point that actual services have modernized.
On the freedom front, a parent’s complaint about prayer in school has revolutionized our freedom to worship in public. Over time, it has been strictly enforced that prayerful worship in, on or around public school grounds is now considered to be unConstitutional.
I think we all have experienced shock at the brazen affront from an ongoing transformation from a “Merry Christmas” to a “happy holiday” presentation. Easter vacations are now termed “spring breaks” without any parental condemnation. Those of us who were raised in a Christian environment, who still hold true to Christian beliefs and who silently go along, while mumbling inside, must agree that there is a determined effort to rid any Christian belief and/or influence from our society today. This cannot continue.
Lastly, there appeared in my local paper, exactly a week before the Birth of Christ, a front page article entitled, “A Diverse God.” Briefly, it detailed the diverse traditions of immigrants in today’s America. Quotations such as “It brought tears to my eyes,” and “It’s nice to have a place where I belong” were said about a church service in one’s native Hungarian tongue.
Then there was The Simbang Gabi, the Mass of the Rooster, for those of Filipino heritage. Comments such as “It is a wonderful opportunity for us to gather as a Filipino community” confound and besmirch our American experiment.
There was a time in which America promoted an assimilation , not this current diversity. How does one become American with diverse loyalties? Am I asking too much?
Extracting our “melting pot” purpose, identity and traditional values has produced another rippling effect which in the end,will cost more than any monetary increase to sporting events.
Jim Bowman, Author of,
This Roar of Ours