Society

Do we live in a super-eroticized society, or a de-eroticized society? . . . On one hand, never was society more adorned, colored and illustrated by erotic posters, videos and movies. On the other hand, why not admit that, even so, sex isn't what it used to be? Democratic liberation, which has turned other myths to disillusionment, has taken the vigor out of sexual mythology. Along with democracy comes tolerance, relativism and finally indifference, and, all in all, sex has ceased to be the living, subversive and revolutionary banner it was up until midcentury.

A SINGAPORE LEADER VIEWS THE UNITED STATES I find attractive and unattractive features (in America). I like the free, easy and open relations between people regardless of social status, ethnicity or religion. And the things I have always admired . . . the openness in argument about what is good or bad for society; the accountability of public officials and the lack of secrecy and terror that are part and parcel of communist government. But as a total system, I find parts of it totally unacceptable: guns, drugs, violent crime, vagrancy, unbecoming behavior in public - in sum, the breakdown of civil society.

It looks as though Washington will cross the Delaware after all on Christmas Day. The decades-old reenactment of the 1776 crossing is expected to go on with costumed participants from the Washington Crossing Reenactors Society, despite its dispute with state officials. Bad blood between the society and the state Historical and Museum Commission had threatened the event, which draws thousands of spectators each year. At a meeting last night, board members voted to participate in the main event and in Sunday's dress rehearsal, both to be held at Washington Crossing Historical Park.

The Society of North American Dog Trainers is a year-old nonprofit group that sets standards for and certifies trainers. It also offers consumers a much-needed yardstick for assessing the trainers' qualifications. President Steve Diller explained recently that in most areas any person can set himself or herself up as a dog trainer, whether that person is qualified or not. "Unqualified people can do enormous damage, particularly those who train guard and attack dogs," said Diller, of Tarrytown, N.Y. "We essentially want to raise the level of professional competence and identify qualified practitioners.

Although many nations have uneven distribution of wealth, none is so extreme as Brazil. The rich live in a wholly different world from their less affluent neighbors. Their homes are protected by high fences, dogs and even trained lions; their children interact more with the elites of other countries than with the poor children a few blocks away. It is a world Dickens would have recognized and understood. But this is not a critique of Brazil per se. Though that country is in dire need of reform, some of which has already been undertaken, that is a process to be guided and driven by Brazilians themselves; it is not the place of the United States to provide more than a supporting role in this matter.

As a Sunday school kid, I never quite understood the significance of the commandment, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. " What's wrong about being jealous about your neighbor's other possessions? Look at the debate surrounding the Republican-proposed tax cuts. Liberals protest it isn't fair to cut taxes of those earning over $200,000. Liberals make the incredibly thoughtless argument that since the wealthy have benefited the most from society, they also owe the most. Higher taxes are a way to make them "give something back.

Mother Mary Laurentia Dalton, a former superior general of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, died Saturday in the infirmary at New Sharon, her religious order's community in Rosemont, following a long illness. Mother Laurentia was superior general from 1958 to 1970, and was the first American to head the order of teaching nuns since the death in 1879 of Cornelia Connelly of Philadelphia, who had founded the society in England in 1846. Born in New York in 1902, Mother Laurentia died on her 94th birthday.

A BIG thank you to Christine Flowers for her op-ed pointing out that Catholic- bashing has become an accepted bigotry in today's culture and that the church and its members have become whipping boys for the world's ills. Devoted and conservative Catholics are routinely ridiculed for adhering to the teachings of Jesus and for following the traditions and commandments handed down through the Bible. While people like Bill Maher would rather dance to the tune of an unbridled society that has given us abortion (45-plus million dead)

American films reflect changes in society The change in consciousness reflected in the movies has to do with the recognition by American society of its pluralism. Both moviemakers and moviegoers have learned to accept that in addition to millions of white Protestants in America, there are millions of people who are not white or Protestant. . . . More and more the sex symbols are men and women from the Caribbean or the islands of New Zealand. Characters simultaneously embody several ethnic identities.