Elvis started the culture wars

Here's a letter to the editor that will be of some interest to my Elvis-obsessed aunts:

The real reason Elvis Presley was thrust onto the world stage has been foretold in the Bible as the son of perdition. Almost everybody young and impressionable was eventually mesmerized by his stunning good looks, his smoldering sexuality, hinting alluringly at the forbidden, his feel-good music with its driving repetitive beat, accompanied by an almost irresistibly thrilling quality of voice combined with his freewheeling performing style. What more could you reasonably expect from such a fine young American? Most of us surrendered our reservations, telling ourselves that he could not be anything but a little fun for our restless youth who were becoming ferocious defenders of Elvis and we simply had no proof to the contrary. Not any the public was aware of anyway. He galvanized unwittingly the already simmering social/cultural unrest into an outright rebellion against the accepted social norms which until then were rooted in Judeo-Christian values. No one noticed the change we underwent in our thinking and embarked on a "me, me, me" binge which has permeated every facet of our society to this very day. He was so incredibly appealing on so many levels, it was impossible to denounce him effectively. This is how the sense-numbing party began and roared on for some 50 years, providing the climate for unprecedented changes in mainstream thinking, which up until then was determined by the Judeo-Christian value system of our forefathers. The promise of joy unspeakable in the holy word of the living God of Abraham and Jacob is just around the bend for every true believer who is born again through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Via Pandagon