Ever wonder why “respect” for certain professions has disappeared?

Ever wonder why “respect” for certain professions has disappeared?

HINT: The entertainment industry!

Think of any movie or song that includes the “cops and robbers” theme. Who normally wins? The cops? Nope. Most of the time, the criminals outwit the cops and make them look like a bunch of incompetent, bungling morons.

Oftentimes, the cops in movies and songs, are shown to be “crooked” – people to be hated and shunned. Same thing holds true for shows about lawyers and politicians. Most of the time, they are portrayed as being ignorant or crooked and scheming – and, consequently, people find themselves cheering for the “poor ol’ bad guys who were done wrong.”

This has been going on basically since the beginning of the movie industry. Same thing for the music industry that, at first, featured wholesome songs about God, family and country, and “doing the right thing.” But as time passed, the lines between “right” and “wrong” started to become blurred, and by the early- to mid-Sixties (when God was kicked out of schools and government buildings), all Hell broke loose within both industries.

Cops were no longer people to be respected; they became known as “pigs” by the “hippies” and “freaks” and the underground drug culture. People listened to Timothy Leary telling us to "Turn on, tune in, drop out!” In other words, it was now perfectly OKAY to engage in illegal activity!

If you didn’t believe that, you were considered to be “square.” Colleges and universities became places to “party” instead of learning. No one had a right to stop you from behaving however you wished. Hey – this was AMERICA, man! Home of the free and the brave!

“Good” became a thing to scoff, while “bad” was glorified. The “badder” the better! People LOVED it! With the sexual revolution (after the birth control pill was invented and freed women from the fear of pregnancy), it became popular to “love the one you’re with if you can’t be with the one you love.” Shame was a thing of the past.

Movies and songs of all genres began reflecting the “normalcy” of what was formerly considered “unhealthy” lifestyles. It became “normal” to WANT the “bad guys” and the “underdogs” to win – because, in all honesty, “bad” appeals to man’s “fallen nature!” Myriads could identify with the “bad guys” … especially, if they had ever had any run-ins with the law.

Fast forward to today, and check out the blatant carnality and downright “evil” in movies today. Listen to the lyrics to the various types of music … Heavy Metal, Rap, Hip-Hop, and even many Rock and Country songs that make cops, lawyers and politicians sound like the “bad guys” while glorifying criminals and criminal activity.

I mean, take a look at the lyrics of this old Merle Haggard song, “Branded Man” (1967) - and you’ll see how quickly we can identify with him, and feel sorry for his plight. (Haggard, seemingly a “career criminal” who had been in and out of prison for a slew of crimes, was arrested in 1957 at the age of 18 on a burglary charge and sentenced to 15 years in San Quentin.) Regardless, by the end of the song, there’s NO DOUBT that law enforcement was BAD, because it infringed upon his lifestyle and desire to be viewed as an upstanding citizen – never mind that he had CHOSEN to commit all those crimes!

I'd like to hold my head up and be proud of who I am
But they won't let my secret go untold
I paid the debt I owed them, but they're still not satisfied
Now I'm a branded man out in the cold.

When they let me out of prison, I held my head up high
Determined I would rise above the shame
But no matter where I'm living, the black mark follows me
I'm branded with a number on my name

Refrain.

If I live to be a hundred, I guess I'll never clear my name
'Cause everybody knows I've been in jail
No matter where I'm living, I've got to tell them where I've been
Or they'll send me back to prison if I fail

Refrain..

Can you see how easily “bad” becomes “good” and vice-versa? All it took was the introduction of a little bit of “bad” to make “bad” look “normal” (poor Merle has to suffer for something he did in his past); and “good” (the laws of the land that required prisoners to register their domiciles) to appear to be downright evil, something to be eliminated because it gets in the way of our “freedoms”….

And THAT is how we got to where we are today.

Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who change darkness into light and light into darkness, who change bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter! 21 Woe to those seeing themselves as wise, esteeming themselves as clever.

22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, men whose power goes to mixing strong drinks, 23 who acquit the guilty for bribes but deny justice to the righteous! 24 Therefore, as fire licks up the stubble, and the chaff is consumed in the flame; so their root will rot, and their flowers scatter like dust; because they have rejected the Torah of Adonai-Tzva’ot, they have despised the word of the Holy One of Isra’el. (CJB)