Glasser on the ‘50s and ‘90s

Re “Why Go Back to the Immoral ‘50s?” Commentary, July 28:

Ira Glasser fails to mention the word “crime” in his assertion that our society is not in a steep moral decline. Most of us felt secure in our homes and in our streets in the 1950s. Few of us do now.

His statement that “the growing tendency of people to have sex and make babies without the sacrament of marriage is not a sign that we have lost our moral compass” confirms the depravity and the destruction of the family that have begun to engulf our society.

It is ironic that Glasser, who opposes the placement of the 10 Commandments in public schools and who fights the presence of any semblance of religion in public life, sets himself up as a standard-bearer for what is moral.

MILTON GAN

Los Angeles

* Glasser is to be commended for revealing the glaring moral contradictions so pervasive in American society today. African Americans have long recognized this problem and continue to be baffled by it.

The African American struggle for equality and justice, which has been irreverently termed “the civil rights movement,” was in point of fact one of the most profound moral revolutions of the 20th Century. Yet, in spite of the righteousness of the cause and the nonviolent tactics employed to advance it, most white clergy, in the North and the South, sat in silence during the civil rights years, or openly condemned Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the movement he led.

Today the nation is once again facing a moral challenge. Affirmative action was conceived of and implemented by African American leaders and prominent whites of conscience, so that America might atone for centuries of slavery, lynching, segregation, discrimination and other ills visited upon its citizens of African descent.

The religious right, among others, has seized upon a few minor concessions to African Americans as grounds for moral outrage. Affirmative action, they insist, with nothing but emotion to support their claims, is resulting in “reverse discrimination.”

It is truly astounding that religious leaders, who spend hours preaching to their flocks about the arrogance of ancient nations that abandoned their moral obligations to the less fortunate--and were consequently plagued by a wrathful God--apparently believe that the laws of karma in operation then do not apply to America today.

LEGRAND H. CLEGG II

Compton

* So Glasser thinks that we are living in a more moral time here in the 1990s. Sure, why not, at a time when our heroes are people like Joey Buttafuoco, corrupt politicians barely get noticed and when the common battle cry has become “What’s in it for me?”

Glasser is just as hypocritical as the “merchants of virtue” that he assails when he forgets that the 1950s were a time when neighbor looked out for neighbor, large numbers of people were involved in places of worship, community groups and their neighborhood schools, and celebrity came from good deeds as opposed to misdeeds.

He fails to note that here in his “moral 1990s” we pursue glorious careers as opposed to good jobs (so we can be sure to buy that BMW and extra VCR), neglect our children (check out what Pete Wilson is doing to California’s education system from K-college) and have replaced Walter Cronkite with Richard Bey and “Hard Copy.”

Yes, thank God we have begun to conquer racism, sexism and homophobia, but can those gains be enjoyed when we have lost our virtue?

Glasser doesn’t understand that teaching right and wrong can coexist with teaching of tolerance of those different than ourselves. If we are going to continue to exist as a society, we’ve got to get our moral compass back on track.

MICHAEL HIGBY

North Hollywood