Incrementalism

A couple of stories come to mind to illustrate incrementalism...

1. You've heard the story of the frog put in cold water and the temperature gradually rising until the frog actually boils. If you put the frog near the hot water, it will immediately jump away...much like the public did with the resent fiasco during the Super Bowl.

2. A friend used this illustration for ecological pollution, but it could be applied to pollution of the soul, as well. If you take a five gallon carboy of water and a dropper filled with red die, one drop of die will not be seen, but if the drops continue to be added, over time, the water will take on a pinkish tinge. The damage has been done.

So it is in our society where nothing shocks anymore, yet to the quest for a shock never ends. This results in a continual expansion of the "moral envelope" or the limit of what is morally acceptable.

Can we put the genie back in the bottle or is it too late? What do you think can be done or should be done to stem this tide?