Homeless Beatings - "Ain't That America?"

In an America where we are being constantly confronted with strident calls for establishment of religion in schools and creation of an American theocracy, a "Christian America," I am reminded of a song by John Mellencamp in which he attempts to shine a light on the inconsistencies between patriotic slogans and unpatriotic behavior.

Perhaps we need to tone down the "holier than thou" rhetoric a bit, at least until we can see some greater congruity between that rhetoric and the general public consciousness. Personally, the notion of a public official dropping a twenty dollar bill in the church collection plate on Sunday, and then going to the office to strip some poor families of food subsistence or minimal health care always struck me as odd and disjointed.

It is this disjointed logic and ethic that permits activities like the cruel and merciless beating of homeless people for sport publicized last week in Florida to go on under our noses. Similar incidents have been reported all over the country, so we cannot just focus on Florida. Where did these teenagers get the idea that attacking and seriously injuring, and in some cases killing, homeless people was "fun" or sport? What is the upbringing and moral fiber instilled by their parents that suggests to these youths that such activities are anything other than premeditated assault and murder?

It would be convenient to label these youths as deranged and mentally disturbed aberrations. But evidence of similar incidents happening in Alaska, San Francisco, Sacramento and elsewhere suggest that these attacks are not psychotic episodes, but rather intentional "pranks" that the youths seem to view little different than throwing toilet paper on a neighbor's tree at Halloween. They comment that they don't believe society cares about or values the homeless, that they are not "real" people or people who matter. So these youths believe that they will continue to get away with such crimes. Authorities are expected to turn a blind eye, and the churchgoing public can continue to proclaim their "Christian" values without worrying that might have to walk by or step around a homeless person on the street.
Perhaps it is time to consider what the actions of our children say about the moral values we LIVE, instead of focusing on the lip service we give to those high minded Christian values. And it is time to look around at what is happening to the poorest and most vulnerable among our society and question whether it is a reflection of America now. Desperate Katrina victims left to fend for survival, homeless people beaten to death under the streetlights of our cities, use of white phosphorus to incinerate women and children in Iraqi towns, millions of Americans without even the most basic access to health care-----"Ain't that America?"