Morals, Standards Gone

I saw a commercial the other day for a product similar to Narcan – a prescription medication used in case of suspected opioid overdoses.

The TV spot showed a cheery young woman who could pass for the all-American girl next door. She’s happily getting ready to go out with friends. She’s smiling, petting her dog, you get the idea. Near the end, the announcer says if you are like her, be sure to get all the important things for your fun evening, keys, chewing gum, phone and, oh yeah, a nasal spray that will bring you back from the brink of death in case of a drug overdose.

Wait, what?

Oh, and the commercial came from the good folks at the Centers for Disease Control – of in other words, our government.

Look, on one hand, I get it. Drug overdoses are expensive and they take time that first responders might be spending saving others who haven’t caused their own predicament. So if it’s going to happen, why not get in front of it?

Sorry, this isn’t about dollars and cents. This is wrong.

Very. Very. Wrong.

First off, when did the government get into the business of condoning drug use? No, I’m not talking about the idiot district attorney in Indianapolis who picks and chooses which laws to enforce. This is the federal government – a source that some people still think has all the right answers.

Are you telling me that if a 10-year-old sees this commercial that they don’t come away with the idea that drug use is OK? After all, the CDC is saying, HEY YOU GOOFY KIDS – GO OUT, HAVE A GREAT TIME AND IF YOU PARTY TOO MUCH AND TAKE TOO MANY NARCOTICS, IT’S OK!

You simply can’t make this stuff up.

This is the same government that not too long ago issued guidelines on “gender-affirming care and young people” that actually states: “Research demonstrates that gender-affirming care improves the mental health and overall well-being of gender diverse children and adolescents.” (https://opa.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2022-03/gender-affirming-care-young-people-march-2022.pdf)

I’ve asked before and I’ll ask again, how is that not criminal? I guess because it’s from the Department of Health and Human Services – a cabinet-level department.

How can our tax dollars be used to create programs, messages and slick advertisements that not only condone immoral and illegal acts, but endorse them?

We are so far off the rails in our country today that it’s frightening.

Whether we are talking about abortion or serious drug use, it seems to me that an important part of the debate is completely ignored – abstinence.

It wasn’t all that long ago in this country the idea of pre-marital sex was wrong. It wasn’t that long ago that the government penalized drug use, especially the harder drugs, instead of making available get-out-of-OD-free cards.

Of course, you can’t have that conversation. Celebrities like Pink and several others have issued profane-ridden messages that tell those of us who disagree with her to F off. Their argument is that the government can’t tell women what to do with their bodies.

Hasn’t the government been telling us what to do with our bodies since 1776? We’re told when we can drink and how much we can put into our bodies without risk of going to jail. We’re told when we can smoke, when we can speak out if we disagree . . . It’s actually a pretty long list of what the government tells us we can and can’t do with our bodies. But those folks don’t seem to have a problem with anything that encourage drug use, pre-marital sex and perverse acts many people see as a sin.

Here’s a chilling thought? How much worse could Sodom and Gomorrah have been? I mean c’mon. Did you see the gay pride parade last month in Indianapolis? It was certainly celebrated by sponsors Delta Faucet, Indianapolis Airport Authority, Eskenazi Health, AES Indiana and Majestic Care. Indy TV told us what a wonderful event it was. What they didn’t show or talk much about was some of the men dressed as women with very revealing outfits.

I’m all for equal rights and for showing decency and respect to my fellow man. But there’s a big difference between that and celebrating what a lot of us believe is wrong. Promoting drug use, gay and trans lifestyles, killing of babies . . . let’s ask again: How much worse could Sodom and Gomorrah have been?

Two cents, which is about how much Timmons said his columns are worth, appears periodically on Wednesdays in The Paper. Timmons is the publisher of The Paper and can be contacted at [email protected].