Pick up a rope and pull

By: American Decency Staff

I wonder if more people would speak out on an issue if they knew that 75% of their fellow citizens agreed with them. In an interesting poll from Gallup, the vast majority of Americans polled expressed their belief that moral values in our country are getting worse.  76% held this opinion while only 14% disagreed. Here are some of the ways those polled see society’s moral values getting worse. -       Declining moral values, standards -       Parents not instilling values in children/ not spending time with -       Dishonesty among politicians, business leaders -       Moving away from religion/ church/ God -       Breakdown of family/ Unwed mothers -       TV content: cursing, sex, etc. -       Sex/ Promiscuity/ Pornography Those are just a few from the list of issues given by those polled. In addition, the subjects polled rated the current moral state of our nation.  45% rated it as “poorâ€Â with only 15% rating it as “goodâ€Â or “excellent.â€Â Here’s my question.  If 76% of the people in our country believe that our culture is becoming more immoral, how is it that we are afraid to let it be known that we agree with them? The fact that a majority that huge can hold an opinion and still not shape the culture truly astounds me. Here’s what I think the answer is.  Maybe 3% of our population works in the television/movie industry.  Probably 95% of these people are pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, socialist-leaning idealists who have no problem selling sex (theirs or someone else’s) to make a buck.  However, 99% of the country watches television/movies.  Thus, that 99% gets lied to daily by the 3% about what is normal in our culture.  In an understandable attempt to be normal, the impressionable copy what they see on the screen.  And what was perceived as normal, but was really quite extreme, actually becomes normal. Meanwhile, the less impressionable sit back and say, “holy cow, what’s going on?â€Â Well, what’s going on is that people are afraid of sounding like “prudesâ€Â because the media says it’s bad to be a “prudeâ€Â so instead of saying “that’s going too far,â€Â we sit back and accept the new normal. On top of that, many churches don’t preach about it because they are too preoccupied trying to shake the label that the media stuck to Christians and the church. Too often today’s church cares less about edifying its congregation than it does about “playing Kirbyâ€Â –  sucking in everything and anything in an attempt to rectify society. The problem is that while it might be bigger, the only thing it’s changed is itself. I also think that while people recognize that the world around them is growing darker, they don’t see that their own daily decisions are a part of that.  It’s easier to say everyone else is doing something wrong than to ask yourself how you are influencing the world around you and how it is influencing you. I think that most of us would agree that our culture’s morals are being degraded on the fronts the people who participated in the poll indicated. 76% of Americans should be able to change the culture. There is a principle that if you want something to move and you have a lot of people willing to help move it, you still won’t get anywhere if you aren’t all pulling in the same direction.  If that were the problem in our situation, these stats would be less infuriating.  Our problem is that we have something we want to move and a lot of people who want it moved, but no one is pulling. So here’s my challenge.  Pick up a rope.  There’s a song that says “let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.â€Â  We have the same idea here.  If we really want to transform the society we live in, it has to start with each of us. As an extra inspiration, I’ll leave you with my favorite John Adams quote that I’ve used several times before and will use many times in the future I’m sure.  “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people, it is wholly inadequate for the governing of any other.â€Â =============================================== Your support is important to our ability to make a difference: donate online at: https://secure4.afo.net/ada/donate.php American Decency Association Bill Johnson, President P.O. Box 202 Fremont, MI 49412 ph: 231-924-4050 www.americandecency.org http://www.twitter.com/billwjohnson

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