Cal Thomas: Norman Lear and me

Television producer Norman Lear, who died last week at age 101, probably could not get away today with what he put on the small screen in the ’70s with his iconic sitcoms“All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons.” As Mel Brooks did in his movies “The Producers” and“Blazing Saddles,” Lear undermined the power of bigotry with humor.

Lear also had a political side. It was politics that brought us together in the ’80s. He founded a group called People for the American Way, which was a counter to various groups on the Religious Right, including the Moral Majority, for which I was for a time a spokesman. We met in Washington when he graciously invited me to sit at his table and listen to his National Press Club speech. I joked if it might harm his career to be seen with me.

Lear was a World War II combat veteran. He told me he would fight in another war “if they would take me at my age” should America again be faced with a similar threat. He said he loves America.

In 1998 I interviewed him for my book, co-authored with Ed Dobson, titled “Blinded by Might: Why the Religious Right Can’t Save America.” It is fascinating what one can learn about political opposites when one takes the time to listen to them. In the interview, Lear said something that most conservatives could agree with: “I think the greatest reason for the decline of moral values has been the escalating short-term, bottomless philosophy ‘give it to me now.’”

Lear blamed some of it on a misuse of the free enterprise system where companies feel the need “to have a profit statement this quarter larger than the last at the expense of every other value. One sees this in the way tabloidism has grown, in the kind of television we all agree we don’t want to see anymore.” Ratings, he said, trump every value.

Lear lamented the number of ads in so many shows, including his own, which he said convey the message “you are what you own, you are what you drink, you are what you wear, you are what you smell, you are what you consume.”

On questions then and now about the proper role religious people should play in politics, Lear said, “They have every right and obligation to express themselves socially, culturally and politically,” but with a caveat, which he said should conform to the Constitution.

As a young Jewish boy growing up in Brooklyn in the ’30s, Lear said he listened to the radio broadcasts of Father Charles Coughlin and Carl McIntire and their “rantings” about Catholics, Jews and Blacks. Lear said he felt “threatened” by such talk. I think I can predict what he might have said about the current wave of antisemitism sweeping the country. He would have felt even more threatened.

Lear noted the hypocrisy of some religious leaders at the time – he specifically mentioned Pat Robertson – “when one second he calls me ‘anti-Christian’ and the next he’s saying how he loves everybody.” Lear quoted from a letter he received from Robertson who touted his Golden Gloves boxing award and warned ‘The suppression of the voice of God’s servant (speaking of himself) is a terrible thing! God Himself will fight for me against you – and He will win.’” The last part was underlined for emphasis.

This kind of talk is what many Christians would call “a bad witness” when they are presenting the message of Jesus, which includes loving one’s enemies and praying for those who persecute you.

I shall miss Norman Lear, not only his talent, but his reasonable voice on the American political scene. Fortunately, his TV shows and the values they contain are still accessible if you can put up with all the ads that have the underlying message Lear hated: You are what you own, eat, drink, smell, wear and consume.

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).