Cultural Decay in America

The tragic and senseless school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut absolutely break my heart. I have two kids that are around the age of the kids that were killed and cannot begin to imagine the parents of those kids are feeling. My heart goes out to all of the families involved and to the community as a whole. I pray that they will find God’s peace and comfort through this difficult time. Incidents like these seem to becoming more and more common since the Columbine tragedy. Politicians and the media come up with knee jerk reactions of why things like this happen, usually blaming the violence on the availability of guns, Hollywood movies, and violent video games. I want to examine these issues as well as layout what I believe are the major causes.

I want to start out by looking at what the media and politicians offer as reasons for the violence in more detail.

Availability of Guns

The media and liberal politicians love to make the argument that the wide availability of guns is to blame for violent crimes. This argument sounds great, but it severely misses the heart of the issue. You can take away all of the guns, but if someone wants to commit murder or mass murder, there are many different ways that they can do it without a gun. Besides, the vast majority of people who own guns do so legally and never use them to commit violence. Plus, guns used to be even more readily available before we had these types of shootings. They are a result of moral decay and the fact is that evil exists.

Hollywood Movies and Video Games

It seems with each passing year, Hollywood and video game manufactures find new ways to make their movies and games more gruesome than ever before. Seeing this type of violence over and over again at the very least, begins to dull our sensitivity too it. The graphic violence in movies and video games may have an impact on the amount of violence that we see in this country, but again, it is not a root cause. Many people watch those movies or play those types of video games and do not go out and commit any violent acts. However, I believe that these types of movies and games do dull our sensitivity to such violence.

I strongly believe that the violence that we are seeing in this country is a direct result of moral decay in America. Frankly, I do not know why anyone is shocked at what is happening. I believe that the following things have led us to the point where we are today: teaching evolution, abortion, telling God that we do not need him, and the lack of fathers in the home. Let us explore each of these topics further.

Teaching Atheistic Evolution in our Schools

Atheistic evolution is taught as a scientific fact in many schools, even though it is only a theory, which tells us that we are all here based on a random cosmic event and not part of a grand master plan. If atheistic evolution is true, that life has no purpose or value. Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. It also means that there is no ultimate justice. Whether you live your life like Mother Theresa or Hitler does not matter because there is not a God to bring about justice. Is it any wonder that we have lost the value of human life and see these types of shootings?

Loss of Absolutes

As a culture, we have lost the concept of moral absolutes. According to a February 2012, 64% of adults said that moral truth is relative to the person. Even more disturbing, 83% of teenagers said that moral truth is relative. What is true for you may not be true for me. That is the dumbest thing that I have ever heard. A great example that destroys this type of thinking is Hitler. He slaughtered millions of Jews but under this absurd type of thinking, did nothing wrong because he believed in ethnic cleansing. If this thought process is brought to, its logical conclusion, all crime would be legal because the perpetrator was acting on what they felt is right and how dare society condemn them. In all honesty, this type of thinking is an attempt by sinful humans to inoculate them against the moral law that is written on their hearts by God.

Murder of the Unborn

Each year, roughly 1.1 million babies are murdered in their mother’s womb. That is equivalent to just over 3,000 per day. Almost a quarter of all pregnancies in this country end with in abortion. Most abortions are done out of convenience and as a way to escape the consequences of our behavior. I am so tired of hearing the excuse that it is a woman’s right to choose. For well over 99 percent of the cases, the couple made their choice when they chose to have unprotected sex. If I go to a casino and choose to gamble, do I get to take my money back if I lose? No, decisions have consequences. It is funny that if a woman is attacked and loses a baby in her womb, the attacker can be charged for murder, but if a woman decides to deliberately kill her baby through an abortion it is okay. That is sick! It has led to the devaluing of human life in our culture.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” Jeremiah 1:5.

Loss of the Nuclear Family

The loss of the nuclear family is contributing to the decay in our culture. Hollywood has attacked the role of fathers by making them look stupid. Fatherlessness has become an epidemic, especially in the African American community where 72% of all children are born to unwed mothers. The results of children growing up and not knowing their fathers are chilling (Fatherless Statistics):

• 63% of teenagers that commit suicides come from homes that are fatherless. (5X the national average)
• 90% of runaways and homeless children come from fatherless homes (32X the national average)
• 85% of all kids who have behavior disorders come from homes without a father (20X the national average)
• 71% of high school dropouts come from homes without a father. (9X the national average)
• Children with involved fathers are 40% less likely to have to repeat a grade in school.
• 85% of all teenagers in prison come from homes that are fatherless. (20X the national average)
• Daughters who are living in single parent homes without fathers are 53% more likely to marry as teenagers, 711% more likely to have a baby as a teenagers, 164% more likely to have a child out of wedlock, and 92% more likely to be divorced.

The role of being an involved father is a critical factor in turning the tide of moral decay. It is time for men to stand up and take responsibility for the kids that they have brought into this world. Buck up! Society also has a role in changing these statistics by strengthening marriage and changing tax laws to make it more beneficial for fathers to be in the home rather than punishing them through the marriage tax penalty.

Removing God From Society

I believe that the greatest factor in the moral decay in our culture is that as a society we have decided that we do not need God. In 1962, the Supreme Court removed student prayer from our schools. A year later, Bible reading was removed from our schools. Both of which had taken place since way before we became a country. The Ten Commandments were removed by the Supreme Court in 1980. We removed God from our schools and look at the results:

If anything, it has gotten even worse since 1990. Removing God from our schools has been a disaster. During the 2012 election, a major political party went so far as to remove God from their platform. When they got caught, they tried to slip it back in, but this Youtube video shows their delegates booing God.

The argument that is made against including God in our schools is based on the separation of church and state. The problem with this is that it does not exist in the Constitution. The Constitution says that the GOVERNMENT should make no law establishing a religion or prohibiting the free exercise of it. School prayer and Bible reading do not constitute establishing a religion. It should be decided upon by the local school districts. What is funny is that many some schools are now teaching pro-Islam propaganda and it is okay, but only Christianity is not allowed.

I believe the moral decay in our society is a direct result of removing God from our society. We have lost His hand of protection and that is why we are seeing the mass shootings in our schools and the loss of fathers in our homes. All of us who are Christians need to get on our knees and repent of our personal sins, as well as our national sins. We need to seek the Face of God and cry out for revival. That is our only hope to stop the moral decay in our culture.

George Barna Research

http://www.whyprolife.com/life-in-the-womb/

http://thefatherlessgeneration.wordpress.com/statistics/