Death Sentence

Last June (06/10/08 Safe in Las Vegas) I supposed this city’s invincibility given the power of greed and lust. There is one small exception that I failed to note which now should be addressed. Las Vegas’ Achilles’ heel is morality. Given the election of Barack Obama, it is an appropriate time to reconsider the topic which from time to time genuinely enlightens human consciousness. The Religious Right’s understanding of morality was surely just as much a loser on November 4 as were the Republicans who have, at least ideologically, embraced it. But just as the American people have awakened to the folly of top-down government, so should this be the optimal time to renew our understanding of bottom-up morality. The two really go hand in hand. Just as the notion that a black man cannot be president has been shattered, so should be organized religion’s propagation of a monopoly on morality. Genuine morality is quintessentially abstract when understood as the harmonious relationship between Creator and Creation, a vagueness exploited by those who seek to assume power by defining it. Now is the time to realize that morality trumps ethicality and legality and does so by its very nature. As we stand together on the threshold of a new beginning, let us be wise enough to ponder anew just what our relationship with the Higher Power actually is. Should such a realization dawn upon the American horizon, Las Vegas is doomed.