Tales of the Lewd, Nude, Rude, and Crude, Volume Two by Desiree Goodtimes

We could also add rude behavior, crude language and lewd conduct. If you really want to see how low it goes, check out the website known as “the people of Wal-mart.” There you will find hundreds of actual photographs of people who ought to be restricted from public places for criminal visual abuse. Have you been to a grocery store lately? You can see about anything - people in sleepwear and house slippers, skimpy clothes on obese people with more hanging out than should. If you assume this is just about church wear, think again. I am not suggesting that we go back to wearing suits, ties and white gloves, but what I am saying is that showing up at church like you just came from cutting the grass or the latest episode of “Buckwild,” is simply crude and disrespectful of what you will actually be doing and the people with whom you will be doing it. If we have attempted to address the issue, we ended up being held hostage emotionally by such defenses as, “Hey, I am doing you and God a favor here! If I can’t wear swim wear, flip flops, T-shirts with obscene messages, form-fitting leotards, jeans sagging over my butt cheeks and skirts the size of belts to church, then I won’t go!” I don’t know one priest in the whole world who has not been verbally and emotionally punished if he has ever tried to address the issue of tacky dress in church. Even if it doesn’t, I think I will feel better if I “vent” a bit about what appears to be a rapid, downhill slide toward more and more rude, crude and lewd behavior. Now I don’t imagine this column will change much, but it might inspire an individual or two to rethink some of their behaviors.

Just because we are free to do certain things does not mean that we should actually do them, as if we lived in a vacuum. We are free individuals, yes, but we are also communal people. What I am talking about is the move from the sacrifice of individual rights for the sake of the common good to the common good being sacrificed for the sake of individual rights.

Now that we have run off both sides of the road, it might be a good idea to find the sane center.

Tales of the Lewd, Nude, Rude, and Crude, Volume Two by Desiree Goodtimes