Are you shocked that Kris Allen won and Adam Lambert lost?
(If you don't know what I'm talking about, well, I respect your ability to ignore American pop culture. I really do.)
There are all sorts of theories about the big upset, including the sad but predictable claim that Lambert lost because he is androgynous, over-the-top, homosexual, and—huh?—Jewish.
Others are wondering, "what does it say about America when the bland, vanilla coffee-house guy wins over the more talented, stylish, flamboyant (OK, gay, maybe) favorite?"
Really now, let's not try to get so deep about something so shallow. (Never mind that I haven't always followed that advice.) "American Idol" is a mainstream show produced for folks who are tend to like mainstream, straight-ahead pop music.
Anyhow, I knew that Kris would win, even though I only heard him sing a couple of times. I told my in-laws, who have watched the show faithfully this season, that he would win. Why? Because he's from Arkansas. He's from the South. It's that simple. Consider the winners of the past seven "American Idol" seasons:
#1: Kelly Clarkson: From Fort Worth, Texas.
#2: Ruben Studdard: From Birmingham, Alabama.
#3: Fantasia Barrino: Born and raised in High Point, North Carolina.
#4: Carrie Underwood: Born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and raised in Checotah, Oklahoma.
#5: Taylor Hicks: Born in Birmingham, Alabama, and raised in Hoover, Alabama.
#7: David Cook: Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Blue Springs, Missouri, and currently lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
#8: Kris Allen was born in Jacksonville, Arkansas and lives in Conway, Arkansas
The semi-anomaly is Jordin Sparks, the winner of Season #6. Sparks was born in Phoenix, Arizona. Arizona is a southern/southwestern state, of course, but not part of "the South." But it was close enough, because the other finalist, Blake Lewis, was born in Redmond, Washington, and grew up in Kenmore, Washington. The poor beat-boxing guy didn't have a chance.
What is it, then, about the South that produces so many "American Idol" winners? This, readers, is a deep and abiding question, surely one that will haunt your days and nights. Or maybe not. Meanwhile, I'm going to get back to listening to my sister's most recent album. She'll never, I'm certain, appear on "American Idol," nor is she from the South, but she'll always be a winner in my book.
The "reduce the number of abortions" argument is virtually unmeasurable. For example, suppose that abortions increase dramatically over the next five years. Then, two decades later the abortion rate decreases. Why? There were fewer females conceived two decades earlier to have the abortions two decades later. So, ironically, one way to decrease abortions is to increase abortions.
On the other hand, suppose abortions decrease after Obama institutes certain social programs. How do we know that the decrease is not the consequence of fewer females conceived in the 1980s when abortion was at its peak? Also, how do we know that this approach just reinforces the idea that abortion is a right that should be exercised if the government does not provide assistance. So, ironically, the very programs that decrease abortions may help to nurture the very moral sentiments that produced the abortion mentality to begin with. Thus, reducing the number of abortions may have the unintended consequence of creating citizens who do not understand the real reason why abortion is wrong: it unjustly kills an intrinsically valuable human person.
Dr. Beckwith is the author of several books, including Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice (Cambridge University Press, 2007).
• The Case Against Abortion: An Interview with Dr. Francis Beckwith, author of Defending Life | Carl E. Olson | January 21, 2008 (orig. December 5, 2007)
• What Is "Legal"? On Abortion, Democracy, and Catholic Politicians | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• The Illusion of Freedom Separated from Moral Virtue | Raymond L. Dennehy
• What Is Catholic Social Teaching? | Mark Brumley
• Introduction to Three Approaches to Abortion | Peter Kreeft
• Some Atrocities are Worse than Others | Mary Beth Bonacci
• Personally Opposed--To What? | Dr. James Hitchcock