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President Obama and ‘Uncaring’ Pro-Lifers
May 2, 2013 | 62 comments
Lifestyles Left and Right
A Tale of Two Americas
Paul Harvey vs. Calvin Klein Underwear Guy.
If Alexis De Toqueville asked that we introduce him to the cultural and spiritual heart of America today, we wouldn’t need to ferry him around our pastoral idylls and our booming cities. We could save serious money by, well, sitting him before a computer, firing up the Super Bowl commercials from this past Sunday, and waiting for his reactions.
Actually, he could technically do this from the comfort of his elegant French chateau, but let’s not split traveloguical hairs here.
I think this is what he would see: there are polar Americas today. There is one that celebrates sex, hedonism, and self. There is another that celebrates family, sacrifice, and country. One is ultra-modern; the other is traditional. These polar Americas are competing strenuously for the hearts of citizens.
The Super Bowl commercials this year gave indisputable evidence of the, shall-we-say, “liberated” version, the modern America (I’ll call it the Calvin Klein America). One minute we were watching Joe Flacco, the no-nonsense, very tough Ravens quarterback throw a deep bomb for a touchdown; the next we were watching a pompadoured man contort himself like a hairless pretzel in nothing but Calvin Klein underpants. The theme of unbridled sexuality continued apace throughout the night. A man sneaking his way out of bed following a one-night stand returned to get his t-shirt from his now-discarded paramour; women shed untold layers of clothing in countless commercials for endless iterations of CSI; and then there was the halftime show, when a talented wife and mother power-writhed her way around the stage in a performance that was half-Amazon, half-striptease.
It was disheartening if you’re even vaguely traditional/biblical/moral in your thinking. Twitter, the new Nielsen rating, reflected this, at least in my evangelical corner of things, with people of all ages—many of them young—disconsolate over our version of Herod’s post-supper entertainment.
But there’s a John the Baptist in our midst, and his name is Paul Harvey. Here was the second America, the one that prizes honor and nobility, roaring to life. It’s the first and oldest America, and we’ll call it the Ram America. The “So God Made a Farmer” commercial for the Dodge Ram popped up in the lights-out halftime show and blew many circuits of its own. I’ve simply not seen a better commercial. It’s a worldview in a truck ad:
God said I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk the cows, work all day in the field, milk cows again, eat supper then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board–so God made a farmer.
First impression: Paul Harvey was an amazing writer. I know of him and respect him, but I probably speak for many in the younger crowd when I say I haven’t heard a lot of his material. His celebration of the farmer, the figure representing the heart of traditional American perseverance and virtue, moved me to my core.
The Dodge ad wasn’t the only commercial that showed that the traditional America is alive. There was a great Jeep offering on the sacrifices of families and soldiers. There was another for the Wounded Warrior Project that gave attention to those who have sacrificed themselves to keep this country safe. In these and a few other spots, we saw profound testimony to the virtue of the first America, the country created ex nihilo from a body of noble ideas in accord with human dignity, sinfulness and flourishing. We recognized something quieter, but far greater and grander, in the Ram commercial and its ilk. Sexual permissiveness and one-night stands are titillating, but they cannot hold a candle to ideals like sacrifice and courage.
There was sweet irony here. The visual medium, with its ability to unveil what should be veiled, should technically be able to excite our passions more for lust and sex than, well, farmers and tractors. But it wasn’t true. The contorting Calvin Klein model looked frankly silly next to the farming family praying at table. So too with our writhing, head-banging halftime temptress. She’s a beautiful woman, but her model of womanhood pales in comparison to the beauty of the kind of modest, self-effacing women you find in countless locales across America, towns like Atkinson, Maine, where my own family operated a dairy farm for decades.
But this isn’t city vs. country, though it might seem that way. This isn’t old vs. young. It’s not stodgy vs. fun. The voices on Twitter last night who most voiced their desire for the first America, Ram America, were young, vibrant, and culturally attuned (they were on Twitter, right?). They were in cities and towns, they were men and women, and they publicly celebrated the old ways, the good paths.
I hope it’s not stretching to say this, but with many others, I saw some hope for the old ways in a Ram commercial.
I bet you might, too.
I’m not ultimately interested in the culture wars, in shoving my principles down the throat of others. I want people to know the grace and power of God, not recover a fictional dream. But it’s clear to me that one half of America is seeded by a noble vision of family and sacrifice, and the other is eating poisoned crops.
Image and video courtesy: Dodge
About the Author
Owen Strachan is Executive Director of the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood and Assistant Professor of Christian Theology and Church History at Boyce College in Louisville, Kentucky.
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Joellen| 2.5.13 @ 6:45AM
Thank you Mr. Strachan, you elegantly stated what I've been saying for a number of years now;
We're not coming back as a blessed country until we come back to GOD. It really is as simple as that.
We cant continue to abort his children, we cant perpetuate this lifestyle of relativity, we cant put man first and foremost and GOD in the shadows only to bring HIM out when a September 11 happens, and to be stubbornly and arrogantly returned to the shadows after each tragedy fades.
When GOD becomes number One in our lives, then all things will fall naturally and rightfully in place.
All order will return and although earth will never be Heaven, it will at least have that thread of attachment to it.
America must return to HIS Glory in order to be restored, that is the only way.
Paul Harvey's ad reminds us that all good things come from ABBA FATHER, from the moment the sun rises in our lives to the moment all light fades in our eyes, and GOD bless those who remind us in the most simple, yet profound way,
Al Adab| 2.5.13 @ 8:24AM
Dodge has done this nation a great service by starting a conversation about the values we hold as true. The contrast in the various commercials and their appeal along with the halftime show do reveal a deep divide within the populace. It is time we choose which side of the divide each of us is on. "As for me and my house..."
Tina B| 2.5.13 @ 8:30AM
Beautifully said, Joellen. And, according to the ratio in the parable of the sower and the seed, I have pondered the fact that it will be only 1 out of 4 who will have seed growth to fruition, and come to a true relationship with Christ. How that is apparent more and more in venues such as the superbowl halftime so-called family hour entertainment. Keep the message out there, woman of my heart. And I will too.
TLP| 2.5.13 @ 4:13PM
Remember who leads this Country.
Arnie| 2.5.13 @ 6:47AM
Hmmm, me thinks the problem lies with the premise of this article. The idea that somehow the advertising industry defines and accurately describes Americans.
Of course maybe I'm naive, I am talking about the heart of consumerism. Many Americans buy things to try to live by some advertised ideal of themselves. But of course, many Americans can be sold on garbage on any given day. It explains why they can so easily be duped into war and believe tons of religious nonsense.
Nancy in NC| 2.5.13 @ 8:03AM
Don't see too much thinking in your comment, Arnie. Apparently the article was too complex for your little mind.
Al Adab| 2.5.13 @ 8:27AM
It's been a question ever since Vance Packard wrote The Hidden Persuaders, which posited that advertisers change the thinking of the public and somehow "control" them to purchase goods or services. The debate has continued to this day. Did what we saw reflect the demands of our people or has such brought the public along to a different view of themselves?
Von Mises Jr| 2.5.13 @ 11:19AM
This is a post today from a friend at American Thinker:
PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE TROLL!
Trolls infest American Thinker in search of attention the exact same way cockroaches infest kitchens in pursuit of food.
PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE TROLL!
I think you can learn a valuable lesson from my friend? We don't have this problem there and that is why I spend more time there than here!
TLP| 2.5.13 @ 4:14PM
He just had an Abortion.
Go easy on him.
Occam's Tool| 2.5.13 @ 9:00PM
I live in rural America for a reason.
Bob Grant| 2.5.13 @ 4:02PM
Arneeeeee,
The only thing remotely religious sold (and bought) these days is obamaism and liberalism.
And so rephrasing your sentence:
It explains why they can so easily be duped into
warhopenchange and believe tons ofreligioussocialistic nonsense.Jacob McCandles| 2.5.13 @ 8:10AM
Yep- 2 Americas. Democrats, homosexuals, trial lawyers, race baiters, secularists, feminists, muslims, Hollywood, west coast/east coast, confiscation of property and income.
Republicans, Christians, traditionalists, heartland, military, CONSTITUTION.
The 2 Americas mix from time to time, there are homosexual trial lawyer repulicans, I'm sure. But generally the 2 groups have a very different view of what this country is all about and they vote pretty consistently for their party. Also, there is probably a 3rd group, those who simply don't pay attention and/or don't care.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.5.13 @ 8:28AM
"Also, there is probably a 3rd group, those who simply don't pay attention and/or don't care."
It is the votes of this third group that the political consultant class makes its money selling, and trying to convince conservative politicians that they must compromise on their principles to appeal to them; when in fact, they're not paying attention, and they're much more easily seduced by the lure of what the first group has to offer.
Al Adab| 2.5.13 @ 8:33AM
How many living in the vast urban centers, crowded into high rises, dependent on public transportation have ever seen a farm or farmer? Do the have any way to comprehend what it takes to fill the stores and restaurants? Do not the different perspectives give different values about all the issues of the day? Think gun control. It is highly unlikely that the urbanites ever shot a coyote making off with a lamb or kid or even pet cat, but very likely they fear the roving gangs and those guns.
TLP| 2.5.13 @ 4:20PM
They don't know what a 9 to 5 Job is. They don't know what Personal Responsibility is. They don't know what a Father is. They don't know what a Diploma is.
Why would they know what a Farmer is?
Seek| 2.5.13 @ 2:49PM
Sort of lump in everyone you don't like into the realm of Undesireables.
TLP| 2.5.13 @ 4:20PM
Not, sort of.
Exactly.
Occam's Tool| 2.5.13 @ 9:02PM
TLP: Exactly.
Incidentally, I contemplate my sister's kids and my kids each day, as well. My sister is destroying them.
atilla-spect| 2.5.13 @ 7:53PM
Dems include the FREE govt STUFF army of loafers that will vote for more goodies from D's as long as they live and breed more loafers.
Sorry to say this is todays reality.
Teflon93 | 2.5.13 @ 8:18AM
There is only one America---that described by Paul Harvey. What is often mistaken for it is nothing more than the last hurrah of European decadence.
Moe Blotz| 2.5.13 @ 10:26AM
A touch of irony is in the Dodge commercial: An Italian automobile company owns the controlling interest in Chrysler, yet they throw those stirring advertisements at us. Chrysler Corp. most likely has the freedom to operate independently of their Italian masters and I reckon that to be good. When last I visited a Dodge dealer to shop for a new pickup truck, I detected a creeping Tuscan influence. The RAM 2500 I was inspecting was powered by the Cummins Diesel engine and the salesman offered me the obligatory road test. So I climbed in behind the steering wheel and twisted the ignition key to start. From under the hood came,"Ginny ginny ginny ginny, wop wop wop wop wop."
TLP| 2.5.13 @ 4:22PM
You sound like a Guineaphobe.
potkas7| 2.5.13 @ 8:27AM
It's funny how we've become conditioned to always add a caveat like "I’m not ultimately interested in the culture wars, in shoving my principles down the throat of others," whenever we make a value-laden statement.
I think it was Harvard Sociologist Charles Murray, a self-described Libertarian, in his book "Coming Apart" who blamed at least part of the spread of cultural rot in America on the fact that "Good people don't preach what they practice." So those "Traditional Values" that we so often complain are being lost never, in fact, get passed on - even to our own children.
Al Adab| 2.5.13 @ 8:36AM
The Murray book is revealing. What we need to ask is which set of values do our government policies reflect and encourage?
potkas7| 2.5.13 @ 9:32AM
Oh I think we already know the answer to that question. The real question is: What, if anything, are we going to do about it?
TLP| 2.5.13 @ 4:23PM
The Answer is: COMMUNISM.
Ryan| 2.5.13 @ 8:30AM
If Dodge only made good trucks...
Al Adab| 2.5.13 @ 8:34AM
I've got an '02 2500 with 250K miles on it. Still going strong.
SUBVET| 2.5.13 @ 10:52AM
Ryan.......and your choice would be a ford ? Major engine problems for the last 8 years. Ford diesel is junk just ask any construction co. that buys many trucks.
Chev. 1500 - $38 k
Dodge 1500 - $23k
squalis| 2.5.13 @ 2:56PM
And see almost every dollar you spend on those vehicles end up in DNC or Dem candidate campaign funds?
Good plan!
atilla-spect| 2.5.13 @ 10:06PM
My son and I bought Fords for 16 years across 8 Fords and never a big problem. Currently I have 2 Fords and also my son. 1 of mine has 109,000 miles and my son has one with 98,000. Our next vehicle will be Fords again.
Tina B| 2.5.13 @ 8:52AM
From Eugene Peterson's The Message, a paraphrase of Matt 13: 1
13 1-3 At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories.
3-8 “What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.
9 “Are you listening to this? Really listening?”
10 The disciples came up and asked, “Why do you tell stories?
Tina B| 2.5.13 @ 8:54AM
So Christ explained:
11-15 He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again:
Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing.
Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing.
The people are blockheads!
They stick their fingers in their ears
so they won’t have to listen;
They screw their eyes shut
so they won’t have to look,
so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face
and let me heal them.
16-17 “But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance.
Tina B| 2.5.13 @ 9:05AM
And the conclusion:
18-19 “Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn’t take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person’s heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road.
20-21 “The seed cast in the gravel—this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.
22 “The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.
23 “The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.”
Maybe I am wrong about this 25% number. And maybe not. But if the number of martyrs dying all across the globe, who would rather be put to death than follow evil, whether political, sensual, or financial, then the percentage of America's true followers of Christ may be even lower. Scary, huh?
Come quickly Lord Jesus.
Von Mises Jr| 2.5.13 @ 10:00AM
That was beautifully said Tina B. You make fine use of this medium to communicate the "Word" of the Lord.
My passion is economics, but in order to achieve a better understanding of today's liberal anarchy and moral decay, I decided to read the philosophers these people believe gives them license for their beliefs and behavior. I have read Descartes, Pascal, Spinoza, Leibniz, Rousseau, Kant and reading Fichte and was surprised at their quest for ontological certitude, cosmological understanding and theological burning desire to know God, His Existence and Substance.
Unless Hegel, Schopenhauer, Comte, Mach and Nietzsche make a complete U-turn, I cannot find the logic or foundation for this debauchery and moral rot. But yet our liberals tell us they are the intelligent and enlightened ones. The latter may be mistaken in their views, but I do not suspect they will be immoral. I actually suspect that they have been twisted and contorted instead.
This is what this site and others need to be leveraged for to save our nation. Arguing with ignorant paid trolls is a fool’s errand compared to your contribution on faith. I hope my contribution is also of value.
Al Adab| 2.5.13 @ 10:58AM
Thank you Tina, and you Jr. for noting how well done her comment is.
SUBVET| 2.5.13 @ 11:12AM
Tina.......I see your doing the Lords work, some times we get caught up in what is right and we try and do things ourselves.....we have to have the Lord's Spirit. You turn away from the Spirit it dims your life.
The Lords Spirit is like the wind to salvation....you can catch it in a sailboat or row a boat and say I think I can.
I always go back to Daniel 2:21 when things get overwelming.........Listen.....Surrender.....Follow.....
Tina B| 2.5.13 @ 11:56AM
To you three guys I return the encouragement.
To Jr. to Al, and you SUBVET, I am also grateful for the strength you give me when you post. Whether in the Analogy Contests, or humouring us about the moribund state of things, you win my heart. Over and over. Praise God.
Al Adab| 2.5.13 @ 1:33PM
Fight the battle as though the outcome depends solely on us and pray as though it depends (as it does) on Him. "If my people who are called by my name..."
TLP| 2.5.13 @ 4:25PM
You are so hot.
Cuffs| 2.5.13 @ 9:47AM
Ralph Lipshitz is no designer, he has stolen
everything from British country fashion.
Lipshitz is a and remains a tie salesman.
Harvey on the other hand is a true original
and that what makes the "farmer" commercial
so special. The world is full of junk, the
problem is we no longer know the difference.
rjh| 2.5.13 @ 9:52AM
I thought it was a very touching ad. I have been a fan of Paul Harvey since my teens (60's). What I find to be puzzling is that Chrysler is owned by Fiat and the unions. It is not a US company any longer.
sotto voce| 2.6.13 @ 2:57PM
There was definitely irony in the fact that it was a Chrysler ad. But remember, it was cleverly crafted by a savvy ad agency to tap into a particular audience. Those Madison Avenue types and their client, Chrysler, probably don't really care about or share the values their ad celebrates, but they know their target customer does. The cynic in me understands how and why this ad was created, but the optimist in me applauds the fact that there are still many Americans who recognize the timeless truth and beauty of conservative principles when they see them.
Grace often comes in unexpected ways, and this was one of those times. Who would have thought the Super Bowl, our great national contest, would give us a commercial designed to only sell trucks, but instead wound up drawing a stark contrast between the sacred and the profane and reminding us of the things that make America great and unique.
Tina B| 2.7.13 @ 9:20AM
I don't know if you'll see this, Sotho, but you speak it eloquently.
Grace often comes in unexpected ways, and this was one of those times. Who would have thought the Super Bowl, our great national contest, would give us a commercial designed to only sell trucks, but instead wound up drawing a stark contrast between the sacred and the profane and reminding us of the things that make America great and unique."
Well said. Thanks.
squalis| 2.5.13 @ 9:54AM
Hey guys, these were only commercials; commercials made by companies trying to sell something by playing on any number of emotions.
I agree the Calvin Klein ad was silly, the GoDaddy ad was gross, and on and on and on.
The Dodge ad was just as bad. It was exploitive in its own way. It was annoying, irritating and cloying. It was way too long.
And isn't this a company involved in the Obama bailout? Didn't the UAW end up with a majority ownership?
Bill8472| 2.5.13 @ 10:00AM
I just wonder when people will finally get tired of watching nearly-naked women of dubious talent cavorting around a stage, strutting their intimacies around like pet dogs at a dog show, singing obscenities at the top of their lungs, and generally acting like sluts.
Bill8472| 2.5.13 @ 10:01AM
Probably never. But I have to admit, I found the half-time show wearisome.
TLP| 2.5.13 @ 4:25PM
Never.
squalis| 2.5.13 @ 10:03AM
As long as there are 16-25 year old boys, there will always be a market.
JD| 2.5.13 @ 1:01PM
The ones at my party hated the halftime show, too.
Peppermint Tea | 2.5.13 @ 11:10AM
Did you see the thighs on that woman?
Come on Beyonce, cover up and sing.
Moe Blotz| 2.5.13 @ 2:22PM
Or lip-sync.
Pecos Pete| 2.5.13 @ 10:07AM
When the urban dwellers of KingOland are starving will there be enough farmers/ranchers/truckers/stores to feed them?
Nope.
MelvinNC| 2.5.13 @ 10:35AM
Many of the Urban American males, I guess if they can even fit into the category of the definition of male, strut around like hairless Chihuahuas, with they're Manscara, and Guy Liner.
Of course the Urban Male has always been a bit of a dandy through our Country's history, following behind the trailblazers in buckskins and Sears roebucks jeans. Of course these dandies didn't follow too close as to not mess their coiffures and daintily ruffled French cuffed blouses.
I currently go to our base gym, and revile in what the mothers of America have done to many of they're sons.
Hairless sweet smelling , tattooed Chihuahuas with nipple rings.
I cured my son if this affliction that he learned in high school. One day he sprayed AX into the air and walked into it.
I cured this with one simple phrase. "Junior I don't if I should shake your hand or have sex with you the way you smell right now. You smell like a French whore."
As I walked past by wife, she patted me on the shoulder with an approving grin.
TLP| 2.5.13 @ 4:28PM
Obviously, you are Blessed with a Good Woman.
I should know.
I have one, too.
Congratulations.
TLP| 2.5.13 @ 4:28PM
Obviously, you are Blessed with a Good Woman.
I should know.
I have one, too.
Congratulations.
TLP| 2.5.13 @ 4:29PM
DAMN IT!
Commander Kelly | 2.5.13 @ 2:49PM
Well said Owen. I wrote "Tale of Two Superbowl Ads" which you can find here...
http://americanconservativeinl.....pot.co.uk/
JmsA| 2.5.13 @ 3:13PM
Just plain, beautiful truth.
mlittle98| 2.5.13 @ 6:56PM
Paul Harvey was an American original. Unfortunately, the America that produced him doesn't exist anymore. I don't see how someone like Mr. Harvey could come out of our current culture. Even if a person similar to him did, he couldn't rise to the top of in media. Thank you Mr. Harvey for your wisdom and grace.
Petronius| 2.5.13 @ 7:47PM
The voice of the late Paul Harvey is the voice of every Man who gained what he has the hardest of hard ways. There are so many who are by the hour clock punchers, who struggle and can relate to all he said because they hear what they cannot speak due to inability. They are smart enough to know better but not good enough to make it because they cannot overcome the governmental and institutional obstacles which preclude their prosperity and independence. Were he still broadcasting today he would be held in much the same degree of contempt as Rush, Glenn, or Mark for telling the public what the priesthood of the networks don't want them to know. We do miss him.
Tom of the Missouri| 2.5.13 @ 9:18PM
I find it highly ironic and telling that the farmer ad was paid for by a foreign auto company. I guess there are more old fashioned American values today in Italy (with Chrysler's new owners Fiat) than there are in America. The values displayed in the ad certainly can't honestly represent the values that today symbolize our new GM (aka Government Motors). GM's values of bailouts, bond holder shafting, and losses forever are of course antithetical to the farmer ad which symbolizes self reliance, self sacrifice, hard work and honesty.