America near moral abyss

The Charlotte Observer ^ | 7/5/03 | Joyce Krawiec

[LdSentinal]

I suffer from what I call the Scarlett O'Hara syndrome: "I can't think about that today; I'll think about that tomorrow." Tomorrow is now today, and I'm forced to look squarely at things that I'd rather not think about. Sort of like turning over rocks and trying not to notice what's crawling underneath.

The last time I saw a movie about Sodom and Gomorrah, I was shaken by the similarities between that long ago place and the America that I see today.

America is the greatest nation in the world. We are the most envied, the richest, the most powerful and, I believe, still the most respected of all nations.

America is also the nation that leads industrialized countries in murder rates, violent crime, imprisonment, abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, teen suicide, divorce, single-parent households, drug use, pornography and failing schools. As a noted moralist once remarked, "We have become the kind of place to which civilized countries used to send missionaries."

America has become a place where heroes have been replaced by celebrities, honor replaced by fame, success and achievement replaced by popularity. Instead of human respect, we have political correctness. Much of America has become the "what's-in-it-for-me state." Our culture embraces self-gratification, and moral principles have crossed all boundaries.

We parents have done a wonderful job of providing the material things for our children that our parents and grandparents were unable to provide for us. But we've fallen far short in providing the essentials that our ancestors provided: honor, integrity, commitment, truthfulness, responsibility and many other virtues that were a part of our everyday lives.

We have become morally bankrupt, and it is destroying our country. We have lost our self-respect, and it is jeopardizing our future.

Our moral principles were always, in the past, a part of American culture. They were based on faith. The Golden Rule, the Ten Commandments and the Bible served as moral guides. Now the country that was founded on the principle of religious freedom finds itself battling to remove all thoughts and symbols of religion from our lives. Of all the wars America has fought, the current war on religion will prove to be, by far, the most destructive.

A culture in which "everything goes" and the only sin left is being judgmental is headed for a moral abyss. Without judgment, justice is impossible. Our legal system is based on judgment. Without it there will be no punishment for wrongdoing. But an even greater responsibility rests with us, as citizens, to set the standards of judgment in our everyday lives. When we are confronted with wrongdoing and unethical behavior in our midst, we have a responsibility to speak out and, God forbid, be judgmental.

Our form of self-government requires that people make reasonable judgments based on moral principles. If past generations had adhered to this nonjudgmental philosophy, we would still have slavery and child labor. Indeed, being judgmental is one of the few principles of a free society that establishes the boundaries of acceptable behavior.

Americans now place moral decline at the top of their lists of items in need of repair. This can be read as an indication that our moral problems are worsening. We seem to be saying, "Let's put away these childish things: concepts of God, our human soul and moral responsibility."

The course on which we are headed is a disastrous one. When we are headed in the wrong direction, going ahead is not progress. The only sensible thing to do after taking a wrong turn is to turn around and go back.

The turn we have taken is definitely a wrong one. The road signs are enormous. How did we miss them?

We cannot maintain that which we are not willing to defend, and we are losing the America that we love.

[CARepubGal]

Well said. No RINO in CA

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Statement: "America near moral abyss"

Response: Nonsense! We are IN the moral abyss.

[Duramaximus]

"The only Republican cadidates capable of winning the recall are Tom Mclintock and Arnold Schwarzenegger."

Strike the name Schwarzenegger from that list, and you and I are in total agreement.

I prefer my Republicans to be Conservatives, not RINOs hiding behind the Kennedy's skirts.

Tom McClintock for Governor!

[swarthyguy]

Moral Abyss? What a crock!

Instead of engaging in the sky is falling panic and rhetoric, perhaps Americans, especially the cranky kind, should take a good look around and smile and be thankful for all the blessings life has to offer here, instead of engaging in a perpetual snit of constipation and angst.

[truth_seeker]

"America is also the nation that leads industrialized countries in murder rates, violent crime, imprisonment, abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, teen suicide, divorce, single-parent households, drug use, pornography and failing schools."

Some of this is the tradeoff, for the freedoms we have enjoyed, even celebrated.

I doubt that fundamentalist Christianity is the answer, for many places which have a lot less of the listed problems, also have a lot less fundamentalist Christianity.

[RightWhale]

heroes have been replaced by celebrities, honor replaced by fame, success and achievement replaced by popularity. Instead of human respect, we have political correctness.

One-Dimensional?

[Kuksool]

Having Arnold Schwarzenegger on the recall ballot may help Tom McClintock. I doubt the people who would vote for Arn-uld would support McClintock. Arn-uld would probably attract liberal-leaning independents , soccer moms, and RINOS. This would serve dilute the RAT vote in the recall election, thus enhancing McClintock's chances of winning a multi-candidate contest.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

*****zzzzzzzzz*****

[DannyTN]

"Stop buying into the propaganda and realize that those who are in the news are those few diviants who get the attention of the media."

The Media is responsible for much of the decline that has occurred. They are constantly trying to shape America's ideology to match the media elite's ideology and their ideology is ewwwwwwwwwww.

[Roscoe]

If Ginsburg, Kenndy, O'Connor and Souter were biologists:

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Kinda cute, LOL.

[PatrioticAmerican]

I always thought that the Sunday thing was a bit ironic. One one hand, wasn't it the Catholics who changed the holy day from Saturday to Sunday, and on the other, the whole world seems to despise Catholics?

I have a born-again friend who HATES Catholics, but then he also hates that I remind him of this.

[liberalnot]

i don't know about that.

i grew up protestant, radical protestant.

i remember well the 1950's as a kid thinking that there was a lack of activity in the towns and cities.

we went to church after chores. then we had a large sunday dinner, usually with family or friends. most people didn't eat supper, altho' we usually did because we had to milk cows a second time that day. the afternoons were spent talking, or more usually at church events. home made ice cream and cake.

at one church social, i must have been about 12, i was sitting with my legs spread out, slouching like teen boys did in a recliner, and a 10 year old girl came up and straddled my leg and humped my thigh! the church minister was standing near me, talking to a parishoner, and he looked down, and watched her hump my thigh, but said nothing. it was about then that i started thinking more about girls.

my great uncle lived in the city. when we visited him, no work was allowed on sundays. period. and he wasn't that religious. that's just the way things were.

then in the 1960s i remember the first 7-11. boy, did that raise family eyebrows. and supermarkets stayed open. within a decade things changed like night and day because it was a college town and there was the demand for secularization.

[sweetliberty]

"The turn we have taken is definitely a wrong one. The road signs are enormous. How did we miss them?"

I don't think we did miss them. I think the drivers of the bus missed them (or ignored them), in spite of the passengers sounding an alert.

[He Rides A White Horse]

America is like the Roman Empire in its last days; a steel monster with rusted innards.

[He Rides A White Horse]

....iron.

[Kevin Curry]

America is also the nation that leads industrialized countries in murder rates, violent crime, imprisonment, abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, teen suicide, divorce, single-parent households, drug use, pornography and failing schools . . . ."

All in all, simply a splendid, splendid place and time to be alive. < /sarcasm>

[americanbychoice1]

Apparently they haven't been to Europe. Soddom and Gommorah are alive and well. If we wait just a bit, most of them will turn to salt soon.

[Torie]

Some of those relative stats are bogus. In any event, it all much more complex that you imagine, when comparing static relatively homogenious nations to a dynamic heterogenious nation, with more socio economic heterogeniety as well. I know it is complicated, and thus probably annoying to you.

[americanbychoice1]

murder rate, yes. violent crime, no. Imprisonment, yes.abortion, no. std, no. Teen suicide, no. Divorce, no. single parent households, no. drug use, no. pornography, a definate no. failing schools, not even close.