Consequently, we frequently visited that area. That was when I was first introduced to the concept of the ugly American, a book that described American tourists traveling abroad. That was when I first met native perceptions-and-misperceptions regarding American tourists. . . . .
For starters, they thought we were wealthy. Because it was what they most commonly experienced, they believed we all came to cheat them, dicker down their prices, and return home with a special bargain. Every young boy also wanted to guard my car … for a price. AND, most entrepreneurs had a sister to offer me …“sex” for a price. They saw that as a common Tourist expectation and the fact I was a “poor preacher” had nothing to do with how they perceived me as an American male tourist. . . . . .
The perception of the “Ugly American“ is not an accurate "perception.” It is part of a double standard we hold in this country. Denying that “sex for sale” is not common practice is to deny something that goes back further than my days in Southwest Texas; it goes back to the Garden of Eden when the great sex swindle began its launch. (For a Christian perspective, cf The Great Sex Swindle, John W. Drakeford, Broadman Press, Nashville, 1966). . . . .
The current political scandal involving President Obama’s Advance Security Team is scandalous hypocrisy! It does not involve President Obama, however, nor is it an issue of Republicans versus Democrats, and it cannot be blamed on George Bush. As I see it, this is about the values of Americans! It is the hypocrisy of the “ugly American.” It persists as a values war within the "social allowances" that we know-but-ignore as Americans. . . . . .
I will defend the harsh rhetoric against those Presidential Security Agents for several reasons. To begin with, married spouses ought to be able to trust their mates, unequivocally. We are human beings, created in the image of God; we are not biological primates controlled only by instincts that make us behave like a pack of dogs chasing a female in heat. Living by instinct stinks like psychological behaviorism! . . . . .
Beyond the politicizing, the posturing, or the preaching, those Security Agents had more to do than just protect President Obama. They were Government Agents, whose “behavior” directly affected the diplomatic relations between the nations involved. If they were boozing, whoring around, or trying to bamboozle questionable women out of their agreed-upon price, they were affecting the diplomacy of two nations--either for or against such practices. . . . . .
As seems quite apparent, the behavior of these few agents reflected that of the Ugly American, and that is a reflection I should not have to “live down.” So … what about the American men who travel to places like Thailand for the sex traffic? What about the amount of Pornographic for-profit-trade allowed online, that makes women and children pieces of meat to be bought and sold? . . . . . Closer home, I remember the days when my wife and daughter were attending the national convention of doctors and nurses related to Occupational Health Care. They traveled to exotic places like Boston, San Francisco, Minneapolis, and New Orleans, and for some there was always the “understood” pairing, prostituting, sexual posturing, and all that goes with the boozing crowd, being out of town, in mixed crowds, with expenses paid … You get the picture. . . . . .
Contrast that now with the pious horror, the political rhetoric, et al that accompanies the current news coverage of the firing, retiring, and public castigation of those Agents. What some of them did was maritally dangerous, morally wrong, politically inexpedient, and socially offensive. . . . . . BUT, take it one step further ... How is it that we can be so shocked, mortified, or whatever, by any of the above behavior, when we cannot watch a ballgame without being challenged by our need for Viagra, or its competitors - those other brands of sexual stimulants, hormone additives, or whatever they are selling to enhance the sexual drives of a nation that already has a problem containing its sexual interests within the socially approved boundaries of marriage (an institution as old as humanity self)? . . . . .
We are a nation that overlooks missing-and-abused children and battered women (or raped and killed). We are a nation that allows men to live by this sexual double standard that allows men to do what we do not tolerate women doing. We have become a nation sweeps under the rug the sexual predators practicing their perversions under the protection of the priesthood, or any other legal protection within grasp. . . . . . From Warner’s World, I simply do not get it! WHY do we continually ignore this issue as we do, sweeping it under the rug so to speak, while compounding it with intense marketing of sexual products that exacerbate an already existing moral problem -- all in the name of free market advertising. I have not even touched on aspects like children producing children, or our social overload of single mothers with children, not to mention the children whose fathers irresponsibly run from one woman to another. . . . . .
The list goes on, ad infinitum - all pointing back to the fact that we are participants in a great sex swindle, because some find it profitable to convince us that we need to swim in a sea of sex. Drakeford quotes one of his references giving us this word: ..... “By itself sex cannot substitute for intimacy; at best it becomes mutual masturbation, a counterfeit currency of interpersonal relations” (92). Think about it … the swindlers and the swindled, all looking for the right kind of intimacy and love, but not finding it ... walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com
