Only in America!

The Associated Press

ATLANTA -- Despite rapper T.I.'s absence, the show went on at the second-annual BET Hip-Hop Awards — even when he was scheduled to perform.

The self-proclaimed "King of the South," who was up for nine nominations, won two awards. But he couldn't accept any trophies or make the planned performance after being arrested by federal authorities early Saturday.
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Well, that’s the two lead paragraphs for a “news” article from October 14, 2007. I’m not a rap music fan or aficionado of this music genre, but I was intrigued by the headline: “Jailed T.I [rapper’s stage name] . . . Wins Two Awards.”

O.K. So he got a speeding ticket and missed a performance at an award show – I thought. Then, I read a little further: “T.I. was taken into custody in a shopping center parking lot where federal officials said he planned to pick up machine guns and silencers he had his bodyguard buy for him.” Whoa! That’s not a speeding ticket. Machine guns and silencers—and people thought Elvis was a rebel!

I don’t miss the irony of the headline and news article. It is almost accepted that our “music idols” and many other celebrities can win awards even though they obviously have no moral foundation. And, I’m in the minority of people in America that would be shocked by the irony of an award winning celebrity spending the night in a cell not a celebration for very serious crimes. Ho. Hum. Somebody pass the chips, please.

We live in a day in America that resembles a ship with a great engine but no rudder. America is a powerful nation, but we are fast becoming a nation without direction. A ship’s engines, however powerful, are useless without a rudder. America has no moral rudder and it is getting worse not better.

The Word of God says, “Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them," says the LORD” (Jeremiah 6:15). No longer is bad behavior looked down upon in society – some might say, it is actually rewarded.

Only in America.