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Story of the day:
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SUPERBOWL-REACT Feb-4-2004 (820 words) Roundup. With photo. xxxn
Cardinal sees Super Bowl incident as disturbing sign of the times
By Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The breast-baring incident involving singers Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake during the halftime show at the Super Bowl is just the latest example of "the decline and fall of a culture that made this nation great," Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington said in a newspaper column.
"Am I exaggerating? I hope I am, but I see enough signs around me to make me really worry," the cardinal said in a column for the Feb. 5 issue of the Catholic Standard, Washington archdiocesan newspaper.
"What is the most disturbing of all is that I see really wonderful young people falling for this pernicious anti-culture and losing their ideals and their values, with the resulting danger to our nation and our society," he added.
At the Feb. 1 Super Bowl in Houston, Timberlake startled an estimated 89 million television viewers when he pulled off part of Jackson's top at the conclusion of their duet, briefly exposing her breast. Both singers have apologized for the incident.
The Federal Communications Commission has begun an investigation into whether the show violated decency laws, and potential fines of up to $27,500 could be assessed against each of the CBS stations that aired it.
In his column, Cardinal McCarrick cited the Enron scandal, unethical behavior by the media, the growth of violent crime, "the ominous decline of the birthrate, the subtle and now court-appointed attacks on the survival of marriage and family, pornography and drugs and political correctness" as "signs of trouble ahead."
"What is the answer? Let me oversimplify it," he added. "God is the answer, a return to the principles of faith and hope and love. All the values and the virtues come from these fundamental building blocks of a strong and sane society."
Bishop Donald W. Trautman of Erie, Pa., wrote in a column for the Feb. 6 Lake Shore Visitor, diocesan newspaper in Erie, that television viewers of the Super Bowl broadcast worldwide saw a skewed view of America.
"Instead of seeing the wholesome values of this great country, instead of seeing the magnanimous hearts of our people, they see decadent values not fit for family or adult," he wrote.
Bishop Trautman also criticized the corporate leaders who spent millions of dollars on 30-second television spots during the Super Bowl.
"What should we say to (those) corporate leaders ...?" he asked. "I would tell them it is unconscionable to spend $2.3 million on a 30-second television spot when we are surrounded by suffering humanity. ... To ignore the poor is to ignore Christ."
The incident also drew comment from Morality in Media, an interfaith organization founded by a Catholic priest, and editorials in at least two Catholic newspapers.
Robert Peters, president of the New York-based Morality in Media, called for an investigation of the incident by the FCC, CBS and the National Football League.
"The future of the NFL will depend in large measure on whether parents can continue to be proud to have their children participate in the great sport called football," Peters said in a Feb. 2 statement. "A great football game notwithstanding, Sunday's halftime performance was a national disgrace."
An editorial in the Feb. 4 edition of The Texas Catholic, Dallas diocesan newspaper, urged the FCC and NFL to "take strong punitive steps to send a message that what happened with Ms. Jackson -- indeed, what happened with the entire MTV-style program -- is unacceptable."
Jackson's apology "is not sufficient to protect American families from the growing wave of nudity and profanity that is broadcast across America," wrote editor Bronson L. Havard.
"The NFL ought to ban MTV productions from Super Bowls," he said. "The FCC ought to fine the singers and the producers.
"Finally, the FCC should become much more aggressive in stopping the broadcast of nudity and profanity," Havard wrote. "It is time to insist on a decent public conduct standard."
Stephen M. Kent, editor of The Catholic Northwest Progress, Seattle archdiocesan newspaper, said the 2004 Super Bowl show "set several new lows" and contributed to the view of America as "an environment that much of the world deplores, if not hates."
"Quite possibly, this stems from the perception that Americans are engaged in a bacchanal revel of violence against women; the crass conduct of a nude man running on the playing field; and a gauche celebration not only of consumerism, but of pride" in spending millions of dollars per message, Kent wrote.
Kent's comment about "a nude man" was a reference to a man, later identified as 39-year-old Mark Francis Roberts, who delayed the second half kickoff of the game by running onto the field dressed as a referee. He stripped off all his clothes but a G-string, took off his shoes and began dancing at the 30-yard line. A New England Patriots player knocked him down and police hogtied him and carried him off the field.
END
Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service.
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