Sanjaya Moves On

In the whirlwind of popular culture stirred by current media mania, American Idol singer, Sanjaya, may have garnered more attention from the hoi-polloi than news coming out of Iraq on some days. It is often baffling that so many Americans pay less mind to a war we're in, and more to the everyday patter of gossip, celebrity hounding, and fashion tips that don't require too much emotional investment. Is this a sign of the times? Maybe. Is it something about American culture? Perhaps.

But I can't help but think that in September of 1941 while Nazis started requiring Jews to wear yellow stars and the first gas chambers were tested at Auschwitz, many American citizens found it easier to bury their noses in a Photoplay article about Abbott and Costello.

It seems a timeless fact that it is easier to immerse yourself in anything that doesn't require a moral response. There are certain events we cannot bear witness to without holding an intellectual stake in - facts you can't stay on the fence about or simply change a channel on. There is much going on in the world that is easier to avoid for now, but, sooner or later, we'll all have to face.