LETTERS: DESCENDING INTO MORAL QUAGMIRE

To the editor:

People often quote an ancient Greek writer who was bemoaning the declining moral standards of the children of his day. The end of their society was at hand, he said.

Those who quote this statement go on to point out that the older generation has always been worried about the younger generation and, not to worry, everything will turn out for the best in the end. What is wrong with this conclusion?

It is a historic fact that Greece did fall. The glorious age of enlightenment died. As the population's morals declined, so did the power and greatness of the nation decline. The same can be said of ancient Israel and the Roman Empire. Greatness and power resulted in the decline of moral standards. With the power came slavery. With slavery came wealth. And with wealth came sloth. Leaders became wanton and licentious. Youths followed suit, and the end was disaster and subservience to their own slaves and other greater powers.

The inherent flaw in those governments was the germ of democracy: "Everyone did as he saw fit." (Judges 21:25)

The same goes for our nation. Basically, our philosophy of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness will eventually destroy us. By claiming an inherent right to gain happiness without the inhibiting restraints of moral standards, the population will do whatever it can to achieve what it deems to be happiness. Those with low or no moral standards seem to grow in their influence upon youths.

No democracy has lasted any longer than it has taken for the population to reach the point of anything goes. For a time, our western communities reached that level of lawlessness. It wasn't until the influx of citizens with higher moral standards that the depravity was overcome and order was established. Those who lived by standards established by God in the Bible simply would not condone the do-as-you-please mentality that had become the norm in their community. They became a powerful force for change, paving the way for the growth of our nation.

Could it be that the current crisis our nation is facing is a test to see what level of moral standards of our nation really lives by? We talk of a religious revival, but to many so-called Christians are as immoral as the depraved they condemn. Even many religious leaders ignore the moral standards they tell others to live by.

Our prisons are full to overflowing. Hospitals are filled with patients who are ill because of their immoral lifestyle. Drugs are the happiness of choice for a disgusting proportion of our citizenry. Polls prove that a large percentage of those asked condone or would rather look the other way at perverse sexual practices. Most of our entertainers appear to be morally corrupt. Movies and sitcoms openly encourage illicit sex and drugs. They also are the most powerful influence on our youths.

Advertising skews the thinking of an unthinking population. Get satisfaction. Get happiness. Yet with all of the wealth this nation enjoys, we have the highest number of frustrated, unhappy and deranged individuals on Earth.

At the rate we are descending into the quagmire of animalistic immorality, we should be reaching a crisis soon. Either our own populations cleans itself up and begins living by the standards of God's Word, or some other nation or force will take over just as it did in ancient Israel, Greece and Rome.

A.W. DOCKEN

Jackson