loss of decency draft

If the world has taught us one thing during our lifetime, it is that there is always another side to the story. A girl I once knew was visiting Texas over spring break. She had been drinking heavily and while under the influence, met some friendly people who bought her a few rounds and hung out with her the rest of the day. Somewhere in between, one of the guys had stolen a few kisses and to her there seemed no harm had been done. A few days later upon awakening, she was very upset to see marks around her mouth. Fearing she had contracted a sexually transmitted disease, she had visited a doctor who needed not one, but two separate opinions before confirming his belief that the disease was one contracted from contact to human corpses. Authorities were notified and days later this once thought to be nice guy was arrested on accounts of cannibalism and the discovery of a few dead bodies within his home. Red Sammy had it right when he said “A good man is hard to find” (O’Connor). The world as we know it rarely has that humble, story book-happy ending because evil can be found not only in the forsaken slums, but behind closed doors. Movies like Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining or Flannery O’Connor’s story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” portray media our society assumes to be entertainment but in fact desensitize us from the harsh reality that horrors similar to these happen on a daily basis and the argument that truly sincere men or women are a rarity.
As children, we were raised never to talk to strangers because there are very many dangerous and bad people out there that will come and get you. As a feeble minded child we did not know any better, but now as adults, we know all too well that it was an understatement. “’It isn’t a soul in this green world of God’s that you can trust,’ she said. ‘And I don’t count nobody out of that, not nobody,’ she repeated” (O’Connor). The grandmother from O’Connor’s story has been around long enough to know people can mask what they are behind a very convincing smile. Similar to Kubrick’s film, Jack Torrence is a loving family man with high recommendations, references, and seems to be very “normal,” eventually losing his grip on reality and wields an axe as he attempts to hack his family to bits (The Shining). The idea that someone you love and are very close to can turn out to be such a person demonstrates how anyone can break down. To put it simply, human nature is to serve one’s self in order to survive or seek pleasure if tested.
In our times of desperate need for comfort or support, people cannot always find answers from family or friends so they reach out to God through their religion. When a person thinks of a church, the first thing on their mind would hopefully be peace that sets their mind at ease, however in such a world as this, can we be so confident in anything? Allegations of sexually abusive priests have been around but as of 2002 they have really began to surface. A shocking fact shows “An estimated 13,000 victims and some 5,000 abusive priests since 1950” (Kingsbury) are known to be documented and it is more than likely that is merely a scratch on the vast surface of decades left out. To add to the statistics, “Six dioceses around the country have been forced into bankruptcy because of abuse costs” (Kingsbury). Who can we turn to when our most holy churches and houses of prayer are tainted with sin? Questioning and doubting faith begins as we wonder where God has allowed so much evil to happen. Towards the end of O’Connor’s story, the grandmother begins to reconsider her faith, “’Maybe He didn’t raise the dead,’ the old lady mumbled, not knowing what she was saying and feeling so dizzy that she sank down in the ditch with her legs twisted under her” (O’Connor). After witnessing the cold blooded murder of her entire family, she wonders where God is for none of her prayers seem to help matters. Not only verbally, but psychically her mind and body are now are twisted as her faith has been shaken.
The sought after honest, good willed, unselfish men and women who pledge to not only clean up, but maintain our nation is one we greatly hope we can place hope into and not be distraught.