the answers to our nation’s societal decay

By: American Decency Staff

By Bill Johnson There is something about human beings that though we know our peril, we pay increasingly less  attention to it!  I speak of being entertained by things that are degrading.  There was a day (and it wasn’t that long ago) that many families carefully and alertly took measures to guard themselves and their children from inappropriate entertainment. But one of the damaging aspects of careless viewing coupled with the bombardment of an endless flow of indecent programming and advertisements laced with sexual innuendo is desensitization.  The effect of little by little ever so slowly we are no longer offended by the old taboos. That is why the time honored counsel from the little children’s song, though simple, will always have such meaning: “Be careful little eyes what you see.  Be careful little eyes what you see, for the Father up above is looking down in love so be careful little eyes what you see….â€Â I had the privilege of being an elementary school teacher for 18 years in the public schools.  Having grown up when television was wholesome (I graduated from high school in 1965), I witnessed first-hand the great contrast between what was being broadcast in that day and what was beginning to be broadcast in the ‘70s, ‘80s, etc.. I witnessed the language, attitudinal and behavioral changes taking place in my classrooms between the years 1969-1988 when I left teaching. More importantly I saw the change in the parents and the families of the children that I taught.  Wooed by the ever-changing programming landscape of television – another new fall season and new low levels of indecency, new attacks on time-honored standards of decency with less and less resistance from the church, parents, grandparents and certainly from the FCC  – Federal Communications Commission. I became a Christian in 1970 at the age of 23.   My eyes were opened to my need to turn away from the trash that I was allowing into my life. I became burdened over that.  My burden has not decreased, rather it has increased, leading to a greater love for that which is pure, wholesome, and good -  things which are so seldom talked about or even valued any more. I left teaching in 1988 to go full-time into the ministry that I now head.  As I have said recently, “If anyone would have told me twenty-five years ago and even ten years ago that the content of media would have degenerated to this point so quickly, I would have not believed it!â€Â However, as great as this concern is, the greater concern is not the explosion of indecency and pornography on television and now, of course, on the Internet, but the breakdown of morality, decency, purity, civility within American families, our communities, our nation.  Fornication, adultery, abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriages – all of these perversions are on display and normalized regularly over network and cable television before an ever eager, watching world. There really are easy answers to solving this ongoing decay and degradation, but, I know that human nature is such that very, very few are looking for the answers to our nation’s societal decay, and our individual decay as well. Your support is important to our ability to make a difference. Donate online at: https://secure4.afo.net/ada/donate.php American Decency Association is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. 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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