Is America "Wandering into Darkness?"

I haven't paid any attention to Glenn Beck. He has been hard to ignore. I've seen his blackboard. I've seen him weep. He has just been another talking head to me.

On the way home last night, I was listening to the radio. WGN was reporting on his "restore honor" rally. The phrase they reported from Beck was "America has wandered into darkness"l Then they gave the weather and the sports scores.

"Wandered into darkness?" Hmmm?

Could Beck be right? I began to recall all the ways that we have wandered from the path of what I thought America was. I haven't read his speech, but I began to count the ways.

We have started a war. Never in our history have we done that.

We no longer want to care for those in need. We want to sweep them from view.

We have lost our tolerance. We can't accept any view that is divergent from our own. We cannot tolerate a different religion or a different political viewpoint. It is our side against your side. You are either for us or against us. There is no middle ground. There is no discourse. We listen only to what we agree with and turn the channel off if it doesn't reinforce our personal views.

We embrace the extreme.

We watch people violate the sanctity of military funerals.

We vilify victims.

We tolerate and embrace the most hurtful statements. We are like children vying for who can be the most reprehensible. We publicize and celebrate the most outrageous

We have no respect for our elected officials.

We have no respect for each other.

We torture.

We imprison without recourse.

We want something for nothing.

We think that the other guy is getting our fair share.

We embrace the lowest common denominator.

We no longer have the vision of the American ideal.

We look to the past instead of the future. We have a romantic nostalgia instead of a destination.

And you can add to this list, I'm sure.

It is always "your" fault that I'm not where I want to be.

We have become ignorant thugs instead of a noble people.

Indeed, I agree that we have wandered into the darkness and it is our individual responsibility to lift ourselves out of it. We can only sink deeper if we wait for the next guy to correct himself.