{"id":3449,"date":"2014-07-06T07:52:29","date_gmt":"2014-07-06T11:52:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=3449"},"modified":"2014-07-06T08:02:44","modified_gmt":"2014-07-06T12:02:44","slug":"slippery-slope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=3449","title":{"rendered":"slippery slope"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"p_18_p_2021\"<\/a>Many of us heard the clamoring calls in response to the court\u2019s decisions last week:<\/p>\n

From the Daily Kos:\u00a0 \u201cHere’s that Hobby Lobby slippery slope in\u00a0action…\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

From The Week:\u00a0 \u201cHobby Lobby will not lead us down a slippery slope of religious exemptions.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

And from Hillary Clinton:\u00a0 \u201cThis is a really bad slippery slope.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Allow the Intramuralist an instant reaction.\u00a0 I agree; we\u2019re on a \u201cslippery slope\u201d — a downward, digressing slide.\u00a0 Allow my second thought…<\/p>\n

When any of us are on a slope or a slide, all we can discern is one thing for certain:\u00a0 we are sliding.<\/i>\u00a0 That\u2019s it.\u00a0 We can\u2019t immediately comprehend when the slide begins nor how fast we are going; we\u2019re also not always sure of the end until we actually fall into the mucky pit.\u00a0 On any slide, all we know for certain is that we\u2019re sliding.<\/p>\n

Far too often, however, we are misled by our own knowledge, experience, and resulting emotion.\u00a0 That combination then leads us to declarations which may or may not be true.\u00a0 For example…<\/p>\n

Consistent with many American households brimming with ample testosterone, video games are plentiful in my semi-humble abode.\u00a0 Initially, I was comfortable with all of the games in our home.\u00a0 There\u2019s just something about Mario, Luigi, and that cute, little, green Yoshi character that make even the adult smile (… and sometimes quietly partake, when no one else is looking, of course…). \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

As the years passed, no less, my boys moved from the Mario Bros. to Madden\u2019s NFL, enjoying increased adult, athletic competition.\u00a0 After a few years more, they then entered a new genre, playing popular games such as \u201cCall of Duty\u201d and \u201cAssassin\u2019s Creed\u201d… those beat \u2018em up, shoot \u2018em up, oh-so-ethical games.\u00a0 (Ugh.)<\/i><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be very honest.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like them.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like those games.\u00a0 I also don\u2019t like that my boys like them.\u00a0 And while the older boys entered this genre via the seemingly more innocent Star Wars \u201cBattlefront\u201d series, when they began playing a game that actually had the word, \u201cassassin,\u201d in it, I loudly declared that my family is now on a \u201cslippery slope.\u201d\u00a0 Loudly.\u00a0 Boldly.\u00a0 And dare I also add… arrogantly.<\/p>\n

Yes, we were — are<\/i> — on a slippery slope via virtual video scenarios.\u00a0 But when did the slope begin?\u00a0 … with only the entrance to the violent genre?\u00a0 … before that? … with the adult athletic competitions?\u00a0 … or with the initial introduction of video games in our household — albeit disguised nicely due to the cuteness of that Yoshi?<\/p>\n

My point, friends, is that we declare the slippery slope when we\u2019re already sliding; we are not good at recognizing its commencement.\u00a0 We claim the onset in so many areas — from birth control to \u201cCall of Duty\u201d… from the sanctity of marriage to the sanctity of life… Yet where were the clamorous critics when the callousness evolved in the decades prior?\u00a0 I do not mean to be insensitive in any way to those among us who have unfortunately experienced such a painful scenario; my point is simply that we conveniently decide the onset of the slide, often negating or ignoring previous events that obviously contributed to the digression.<\/p>\n

Note that in our household this month, soccer continues to dominate our time and television.\u00a0 Hence, my older boys have been immersed in their video game, EA Sports FIFA World Cup for their XBOX 360, reverting to athletics instead of assassins.<\/p>\n

To this parent, that reverting is refreshing.<\/p>\n

Respectfully…<\/p>\n

AR<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many of us heard the clamoring calls in response to the court\u2019s decisions last week: From the Daily Kos:\u00a0 \u201cHere’s that Hobby Lobby slippery slope in\u00a0action…\u201d From The Week:\u00a0 \u201cHobby Lobby will not lead us down a slippery slope of religious exemptions.\u201d And from Hillary Clinton:\u00a0 \u201cThis is a really bad slippery slope.\u201d Allow the … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “slippery slope”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[456],"class_list":["post-3449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event","category-issue","tag-hobby-lobby-slippery-slope"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3449"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3455,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3449\/revisions\/3455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}