First it was George Bush, then John Kerry, and then it was just about every media commentator. Doing what? Talking about values.
I was maybe one of the few listening Americans who rather liked the idea that candidates for the nation's highest office were talking about values. I have long taken that word, in its spiritual meanings, quite seriously.
On the other hand, in the term's material definitions, like "value investing," or monetary worth --- such as "this house, furniture, jewelry, etc, has a value of ...," I have been left quite cold. There's a simple reason why. It's because such value can change with the wind. What was valuable one day might be trash the next.
Not so with spiritual values. These are enduring, and, boy, do we need enduring values like honesty, respect for others, justice, forgiveness, nurturing care for the earth and praise for the God who gave us life and everything needed to maintain it.
In the presidential campaign now entering its final weeks, we're probably going to hear less about values. My guess is that the media has made such fun of the presidential candidates' use of that word that they won't want to take the risk. We'll probably hear about "American values" a few times because that sounds patriotic. But I doubt we'll hear anyone get up and say, "Hey, values are important because the quality of our lives depends on the values of the society we live in."
I really got interested in this matter of values back in the late '60s when society was undergoing quite a shake-up. The question of values was coming up then in high volume. Family life was shaken by what was called the "authority crisis" resulting from the "generation gap." Teens were "rebellious," many becoming "hippies," and no one knew where the "new sexual freedom" was taking us. Anti-Vietnam war protesters were challenging national leaders and the whole political system, and seriously questioning what many felt were the overwhelming material values of our society.
As a reporter for the Long Island Catholic, I did some major stories on the question of what values are and why we should be concerned about them. I interviewed a university student who said, "You have to question the material values of a society where millionaires get off tax free and the poor get the basics of life slashed to an impossible minimum, as in the recent New York state welfare cuts. It's human sacrifice all over again for the preservation of the 'haves.'"
That was written 35 years ago.
Back then I asked a philosophy professor, Stephen Pepper, why we should be concerned about values. We "had better" study them, he said, because the basic question always challenging humans as we confront each new situation, individually and in society, is, "What is a more just and moral society, and how are we going to get it?"
That's a values question.
Columnist Sidney Harris once wrote about values, saying that the crucial questions are "'What does it mean to be a human person?' And, 'What kind of society will best fit the needs of this person?'... Unless these two [questions] are worked out, society will extinguish itself by the ignorant mishandling of the very tools technology has provided us with."
I hope our candidates are equally insightful when they speak of values. Antoinette Bosco is a syndicated columnist with Catholic News Service.
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