I like columnist George Will, although I admit that he can be annoying, since he's a practicing sesquipedalian, a type of person that drives us all up the wall.
But nonetheless, Mr. Will used a term in his syndicated newspaper column of February 7, 2016, that explains what's going on in our culture, something he calls, "manufactured frenzy."
SUPER BOWL SUNDAY
The context of his verbal coinage was Super Bowl Sunday, something that's become a national religious holiday, observed by 111.9 million viewers. Specifically, he was talking about the fact that as the big game draws closer, a manufactured frenzy occurs. For example, CBS aired a Super Bowl 50 pregame show titled The Super Bowl Today from 2:00-6:00 p.m. (ET) before the big game began on Sunday, Feb. 7. (That was four and a half hours before the game started.) Not to be outdone, ESPN's coverage of Super Bowl 50 began Monday, Feb. 1. That's 144 hours before the coin toss!
Whatever that is, it is "a manufactured frenzy."
LOOK AROUND
Getting away from athletics and our obsession therewith, let's apply George Will's term to our culture in general. What are we worried about or rather what might fall into the category of a manufactured frenzy to worry about? There are several frenzies that come to mind. You might have your list, but let's take a look at a limited, but not an exhaustive posting. (There's not enough time to produce such a list, and no one has the patience to read it.)
1. I'm told that I need to worry about the name of Washington D. C.'s football team. This frenzy has produced speeches in Congress and other legislative bodies, as well as people on television orating on this important subject. I'm also supposed to worry about the Cleveland Indians and the Atlanta Braves because of their names.
2. I'm told that I need to worry about nouns. A professor at the University of Florida has banned students from using the word, "husband," "wife," "mother," and "father." This prohibition is so important, that if they use such language, the teacher will take her anger out on their final grade and lower it.
3. I'm told that I need to worry about pronouns. The University of Tennessee has told its staff and students to stop calling each other "he", "she," "him," and "her." Instead, they are to start referring to one another with terms like "xe," "zir," and "xyr" instead. Those sound like words from a language on another planet, but I'll try.
4. I'm told that I need to worry about the Oscars. This will take some doing, because I never worry about, watch, or care about the Oscars anyway. But I'll try.
5. I need to worry about dressing as a taco. At some colleges, donning this costume might land you in sensitivity training. This one will be difficult to refrain from doing, because one of my favorite things is to dress as a taco and on some occasions as a burrito, hold the cheese.
6. I need to worry about a Doritos commercial. Cal Thomas explains: "For those watching 'Downton Abbey' instead of the football game, here's the scenario. A pregnant woman is receiving a sonogram in her hospital bed. The screen shows the baby. The father is snacking on Doritos and he notices the child's arms moving in the direction of the chip, as dad takes it from the bag and puts it in his mouth. Finally, the baby can stand it no longer and emerges from the womb to grab his own chip." People are all upset that such a commercial humanizes the fetus. It does, for one good reason--that's what the fetus is!
WHAT'S GOING ON?
There are things that are really important. (The above list doesn't include the important.) Our nation is $19,013,512,956,000 in debt. (I made up the last three zeros, because, if you've never looked at the National Debt Clock, I challenge you to write the figure as it runs. The debt is going up too fast to record the last three and maybe six digits. (Go to: http://www.usdebtclock.org) That's a debt of $58,000 per citizen, $158,000 per taxpayer. That's all very staggering, but what's even more staggering is that nobody with any authority cares. Instead, we care about people dressing up as a taco.
There are things that are really important. Immigration. But we're supposed to obsess about the Oscars.
There are some things that are really important: National Security. But we're supposed to worry about pronouns.
There are things that are really important--students can't read their own diplomas. But we're supposed to worry about the Indians, the Braves, and the Redskins. My junior high was so worried that they changed their name several years ago.
There are things that are really important--How did I get here? What's my purpose? Where am I going? But we're supposed to worry about Doritos.
WHY THESE FRENZIES?
You get the idea. But why is this happening? Why is our attention on those manufactured trivial matters? Is it because no one that knows what to do about what's really important? I know, I know--every person running for president knows what to do, but do they ever really do anything or are we to the point that they can't do anything even if elected?
So, maybe this is where we are. We've come to the point that we don't know what to do about the real issues, so we have to focus on the trivial; after all, we must have something to do. Have we come to the point where most have just given up, and needing something to concentrate on, we turn to pronouns, costumes, chips, nouns, and team names?
There is historical precedent for these manufactured frenzies. Acts 17:21: "Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new." The wisdom of the Greek intellectual elites had led their culture into a cul-de-sac of idolatry with an idol on every corner, even having a plaque inscribed to "The Unknown God," so that they'd given up trying to find meaning to life with their unaided wisdom. They then focused, not on the really important, but instead to "telling or hearing something new."
We are the new Athenians.
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