As Gov't Redefines Culture We Suffer in Mind and Spirit

Are you feeling like the whole world’s gone crazy?

You’re not alone.

So many changes in such a short time and most of the changes don’t seem to have been for the good.

In America, a sizable number of our governmental, institutional, corporate, media, and even religious figures have been operating at warp speed to implement changes within society.

From the classroom to the courtroom to the boardroom and beyond, fundamental philosophy has been supplanted, institutional policy altered, and underlying goals redesigned.

It seems as though the changes that have occurred have impacted each and every facet of our lives. As a result, many of us are suffering, often silently, in mind and in spirit.

Focusing on the effect that all of the changes have had specifically on the American culture, we are witness to changes that a major portion of the population finds distasteful, even outright unacceptable; at times they are downright heartbreaking.

The culture of a nation is generally comprised of a common set of beliefs, values, and behaviors. This common set acts as a kind of a glue that binds people together and holds them together through the best and the worst of times and circumstances.

Like many of you, I have spent plenty of sleepless nights trying to figure out what's happening to me personally as well as what is happening to America and to our people.

In my assessment, America’s culture has undergone an extensive transformation, and that transformation continues, though it's difficult to see exactly what our country is becoming.

The nation, as well as the culture that binds us together, appears to be more and more divided. This is extremely serious because our cultural bond is being tested to its limits.

The concept known as the "Overton Window" may provide some insight into what has transpired before our very ears and eyes. 

The term Overton Window is named after political scientist and policy analyst Joseph Overton (1960-2003).

In the 1990s, Overton found a way of determining the viability of a given idea when presented to a population. It's also a way to identify and define the range of what is tolerable or acceptable when it comes to government's policies. 

Much like a kitchen window, there are limits as to what can be viewed when one is peering through it.

Picture this if you will:

The Overton Window presents ideas on the other side of the glass. But there are limits to the range of ideas that can be, and are, featured at any given point in time. 

The culture, with its set of beliefs, values, and behaviors in common, is theoretically peering through the Overton Window. It's also reacting to what it sees.

Overton found that the viability of an idea is dependent on where it falls within a range of acceptability to people.

There are powers that be who are working to push ideas beyond the range that the present culture finds acceptable.

For a large number of people, this is causing discomfort, confusion, and oftentimes outright distress.

For others, especially those who align with the powers that be, the ideas are seen as progress.

The American culture is a tolerant one. Perhaps too much so.

But . . . we also seek harmony.

And so it is that our people who are negatively affected by the implemented changes have arrived at the place of unwilling acceptance. It is here when another change of perspective is likely to occur, courtesy of the powers that be.

The Overton Window Shifts

When the Overton Window moves, that which was formerly unthinkable may not only become acceptable, it may also become the new standard.

There are ongoing debates as to whether the Overton Window has shifted to the left or to the right politically.

Right now the two things that matter most are the extent to which the window has shifted culturally, and, when it moves again, whether we'll be able to put the scattered pieces back together.

Let us pray that we can.