MODESTY, WHERE ARE YOU?

IT'S A GIVEN RATIOCINATION THAT AMERICA IS GOING TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET CARRYING A DISCARDED SENSE OF MODESTY. WHY HAS MODESTY DIED, A VIRTUE DEFINED AS A REGARD FOR DECENCY OF BEHAVIOR, SPEECH, DRESS ETC, A RESTRAINT IMPOSED FROM A SENSE OF PROPRIETY?

WESTERN CIVILIZATION'S UNIQUE TRADITIONS OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND INQUIRY HAVE DEVOLVED INTO SEXUAL PROMISCUITY, CRUDE SPEECH, THE PROMOTION OF HOMOSEXUALITY AND UNMANLY MEN AND "GIRLS GONE WILD." THE VALUE OF MODESTY IS TO OPPOSE COARSENESS, WHICH BEGETS COARSENESS IN A CIVILIZED SOCIETY.

AS WAS SAID IN 1862 ABOUT THE DOWNTURN OF HOPE FOR RESOLUTION IN THE CIVIL WAR, "THE SCABBARD HAS BEEN THROWN AWAY." THERE WAS NO TURNING BACK THEN, ONLY UNREMITTING BLOODSHED UNTIL THE POINT WAS REACHED OF UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER. TODAY THE VENEER OF MODESTY AND DECENCY HAS BEEN THROWN AWAY. COVERING UP THE HUMAN BODY - THE PUN INTENDED - SEEMS UNDESIRABLE AND IMPOSSIBLE.

WHEN I WAS YOUNG, MODESTY WAS NOT JUST A WORD, THE SPELLING AND DEFINITION OF WHICH WAS REQUIRED ON A TEST. MODESTY WAS GIVEN CACHET; INNOCENCE WAS PROMOTED. BOTH WERE INTENDED TO INSTILL A SENSE OF PRIDE IN ONESELF. A CULTURE OF MODESTY WAS IMPOSED AUTHORITATIVELY FROM ABOVE IN ORDER THAT IT BE INTERNALIZED. EXAMPLES: STRAPLESS GOWNS WERE ANATHEMA AT THE PROM. PARENTS FORBID SKIN-TIGHT OR REVEALING CLOTHES. SDS BUTTONS - SUPPLY THE DEMAND FOR THE SUPPLY -WERE DISTRIBUTED TO YOUTH AS ENCOURAGEMENTS TO RETAILERS TO PROVIDE MODEST APPAREL. WARNINGS WERE ISSUED (AT HOME, SCHOOL, CHURCH), "NOT TO PLAY WITH YOURSELF." MODESTY DEFINED CHARACTER. VIRGINITY REPRESENTED THE IDEAL. YET DECENCY TODAY IS LIKE A DISCARD IN A HANDBASKET, UNWANTED, UNMODERN.

I CAN ONLY RATIOCINATE THAT THE DEVIL HAS TRANSFORMED MODESTY DECEPTIVELY AND CLEVERLY INTO SOMETHING DIRTY AND EVIL, NOT TO BE ADMIRED OR DESIRED. NEVERTHELESS, IMMODESTY IS ON ITS WAY TO HELL.