Rodney Drury: Influencers of Society

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Every society has people who influence that society on a daily basis. In the graph below from the Pew Trust we can see that two groups that have a hidden, but everyday impact are at the extremes. Why? Why is it that those who protect our laws and those who make our laws are not valued the same? Why do we honor our fighting men and dishonor and mock our lawyers?

I believe the answer is found in our perception of sacrifice. We perceive that our military are living sacrificial lives and not profiting from what they do. We believe that they serve at personal cost and not at personal reward. This is not our mindset toward lawyers. We tend to see lawyers, not as people who make life better, safer, more just. We see them through the lens of media, looking for profit from someone's accident or gaining huge profit from someone's death. We see them as conflicting justice and serving wealth. We see them as aggressors for hire who take on a cause for personal gain.

In the middle of the pack of influencers is the clergy. Are they in the middle because society sees them divided over sacrifice and personal profit? Does our nation look at religious leaders and see half as good for our well being and half as servants for personal profit? Does the American public who attend church feel half attacked, half helped by God's servants?

The view of society at large may not always be a truthful view. We pre-judge criminal cases and musical reality show winners. We are a society that is greatly influenced by both personal experience and mass media. Verifying facts and seeking out the truth are not normal things we do when we receive an email about a recent event or watch the news shows. Most of the time we consider true, that which we feel is true. We are more mystical than rational, more emotional than thoughtful.

So are the clergy in America in the middle ground, lukewarm, of little value good or bad? Are American church leaders just there? Are they doing a job with little to no impact? Is that the way it should be? Is this the best position for religion, in the middle with little sway? Are we in America now people who have passion about many things, just not religion or God?

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