This really is an excellent book. For complete disclosure I must say the reviewer is not knowingly related to the author. However, I hope I am related to him as far as research skills, objectivity, clarity of thought, sense of humor, concern for critical thinking, and freshness of style. Everything in the book is well documented with forty-five pages of notes and a useful index of names and topics. Lane begins with a discussion of the slipperiness of the concept of decency and argues that "the uproar and confusion associated with the decency wars is useful cover for other aspects of the conservative policy agenda; it helps explain, for instance, how the most powerful nation on earth, in the midst of war … can spend so much time obsessed with a single second glimpse of one woman's exposed breast." (16) He spends some time describing the reaction to the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" and the moral outrage that followed it, pointing out that there was a full Monty streaker named Mark Roberts who tried for attention at the beginning of the second half only to be ignored by the cameras.

The book will appeal to conservatives and liberals, for it takes a balanced look at the machinations of politics from a historic point of view. US citizens will find it an accurate review of recent events in the culture war while non-citizens will learn more about the new Rome and will benefit from an understanding of what not to do to protect a sense of civil propriety. Its ten chapters and book end prologue and conclusion cover the territory from King Henry VIII to (King?) George W. Bush. What's the connection? People will do and say most anything to gain power and then will exercise that power to get and keep what they want.

Lane's book would serve well in critical thinking classes and as supplemental reading in moral philosophy classes. One of its themes is that decency is not merely about sexual mores. Anyone who has taught a freshman introductory moral philosophy class will know that most students equate morality with sexual behavior.

Sense of humor in a serious book? You bet. Here's Lane describing Ralph Reed after the Republican victory in 1994: "Other than my wedding night" Reed gloated…"this is as good as it gets." Reed, says Lane "suffered from a case of premature exultation" for much of the promised legislation from the Contract with America, including legalizing prayer in school, never materialized. Later in the book while describing the draping of the statue by Attorney General Ashcroft, Lane refers to the event as "statuary drape."

Americans are lucky that Thomas Jefferson and James Madison fought against the establishment of a state or federal religion and that the Puritans believed in the separation of church and state because of their experience in England and the Continent. And it is ironic that the wall between church and state is threatened in the 21^st century. Chapter 3 provides a review of the involvement of the Catholic Church in censoring books, movies, and television by establishing the Catholic Legion of Decency and by using boycott to force cleansing. The urge to censor goes back a long way to the Index Librorum Prohibitorum of 1559 and reaches into the present with religiously motivated attempts at censoring not only works of art but also activities like abortion, homosexuality, and stem cell research, not to mention the attempts of young earth creationists and intelligent design preachers to censor Darwin.

In a fascinating display of broad historic strokes and supporting detail Lane reviews Anita Bryant's rage against anti-discrimination laws, Jerry Falwell's rise to power as a leader of the Moral Majority, the founding of conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute, and the explosion of open-mouth shows which have "helped make American politics more antagonistic, confrontational, and bitterly partisan." (176)  In the later chapters Lane discusses gay rights, the attempt by the religious right to force the teaching of creationism in biology classes, and the erosion of decency in the body politic.

The head quote to the concluding chapter is perfect:

It is not skeptics or explorers but fanatics and ideologues who menace decency and progress. No agnostic ever burned anyone at the stake or tortured a pagan, a heretic, or an unbeliever. — Daniel J. Boorstin, 1989

Lane provides concrete examples of actions that citizens can take to protect their rights and to keep the republic healthy:

1. Broaden the discussion of "decency".
2. Fix public education. (How about a War on Ignorance?)
3. Help foster a true marketplace of ideas.
4. Promote personal and parental responsibility.
5. Support organizations that defend the constitution.
6. Review the role of religion in the formation of public policy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learned from it. You will too.

© 2007 Bob Lane

Bob Lane is a retired teacher of English and Philosophy who is currently an Honourary Research Associate in Philosophy at Malaspina University-College in British Columbia, Canada. His Blog Perlocutionary can be found at http://www.boblane.org.

Categories: General, Ethics