whats-behind precipitous decline in americas morality

[bcguy]

I am not going to comment. I have seen it all. Time for other people to say something.

Cafferty File: Tell Jack how you really feel Blog Archive - What's behind precipitous decline in America'sÂ*morality? « - CNN.com Blogs

[Moksha]

I doubt there was ever a golden age of American Morality. Certainly in the past we have seen such things as slavery, usury, religious intolerance and murder be far more common place. We no longer have justice at the end of a sword or gun, people are not driven into the wilderness for their religious beliefs. Vice and brutal behavior still continue but have abated from a century ago.

Trying to make the world a better place and holding true to what we cherish can help us make the world more manageable and understandable.

[addicthelp]

The question can just about be answered with another question...

Whats NOT behind the precipitous decline in America's Morality?

Entitlement, Families being broken up, laziness and ease of life, technology, media, drugs, unrealistic needs, etc, etc, etc...

There has always been declines in Morality in History. Sodom and Gomorrah. Noah's Time. Think of Moses and after he parted the Red Sea and went to receive the Commandments...the people began worshiping idols and committing sexual sin.

Today we have the media, politicians, and neighbors....many of them cheating on their spouses or living in non-committal relationships.

The real question should be: In a world of moral decline who will stand up for values?

[Snow]

I am not going to comment. I have seen it all. Time for other people to say something.

Could you compare the crime rate today to the crime rate of 1975?

[talisyn]

I'm more in agreement with Mo. Back in the Golden Days of American Morality an entire people were kicked out of the U.S.A in the name of Religion. Women were raped repeatedly by their owners in the days of Purity. I could go on with a few more examples, but I won't. The fact is Morality is pretty much decided by the Powers that Be, and at the moment those Powers that have Been are cranky.

[marshac]

It's gun control laws. Duh.

"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life."

--Robert A. Heinlein

[john doe]

I blame Canada. Oh, and George Bush or course.

[bcguy]

Canada???

I live here :) BTW, I find the people here are nice in BC and more friendly and outgoing. Reminds me of what life was like in the early 70s when the family had more time to be together and visit extended family members. I am taking some classes here at night with the students half my age. Its really interesting to see pretty much everyone get along with everyone very well. The teens and early 20 year olds are very mellow and nice. Not sure about the morality issue :)

But because the BC government had tight control on regulating banks and other services, we did not Feel the Sting of the US initial stages of a stock market collapse. I think Greed, selfishness and power play a huge role in immorality and it has precipitated in almost every fabric of society.

[Intrigued]

There has been a decline in morality in America? Every generation says the same things.. 'kids nowadays don't respect their elders' and whatnot.

[hordak]

Women wearing pants and using birth control;)

Joking. as other have said the idea morality is declining is common in every generation.

In fact i realized i was getting old when i saw a group of teens hanging out and "knew" they were up to "no good":o

[mnn727]

It's gun control laws. Duh.

"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life."

--Robert A. Heinlein

With all due respects to Robert Heinlein whom I consider a fantastic author - the quote is nuts to anyone who has read ANY history of the 1800's.

Ask Joseph Smith if it was a polite moral society in the 1830's and 1840's, yet most everyone had guns.

Of course Heinlein did write fiction.

[FunkyTown]

I admit to some confusion as to 'Decline of American Morality'.

America has always been a place of almost schizophrenic dichotomies:

Founded by pilgrims, quakers and the ultra-religious, it developed a very strong moral center.

This moral center was off-set somewhat by anarchy and violence. They didn't call it the 'Wild West' for nothing.

Claim jumping, gun-fighting, Texan senators solving disputes by shooting one another: These occurred with regular frequency. Prostitution, tarring and feathered(When was the last time you heard of anyone being tarred and feathered?).

The truth is that Satan attacks us in the ways that he feels are our weakest points. He will push a particular virtue to the point that it becomes the defining point of a culture: Fighting in the Crusades required a great deal of courage, but raping and pillaging is hardly the act of a pious man. We do not excuse them their weaknesses because they are abhorrent.

The new virtue is tolerance. By drilling the exclusive virtue of 'Tolerance' in to our heads, we are driven to abandon virtue. Instead of tolerating differences, we tolerate evil. By pushing the boundaries of tolerance and making the world believe 'The only thing we will not tolerate is intolerance!' means that we stand by when evil is done. All in the name of a single virtue taken to its extreme at the expense of others.

Looking at history, you'll see the pattern: Faith becomes the penultimate virtue at the expense of Love, Charity and Temperance and witch-hunts cross the globe. Restraint/Temperance becomes the byword of the day and evil is allowed to run untouched.

It's a clever game, convincing us to follow a single virtue. We do it because it's easier to latch on to a single virtue and much harder to follow the middle road and practice all the Saviour taught.

[Hemidakota]

I am not going to comment. I have seen it all. Time for other people to say something.

Cafferty File: Tell Jack how you really feel Blog Archive - What's behind precipitous decline in America'sÂ*morality? « - CNN.com Blogs

Wait until the Spirit withdraws itself from the world.

[ADoyle90815]

Every generation thought that the younger ones were declining in morality. I don't see anything moral at all about slavery, or the need for a religious group to settle in what was a remote part of northern Mexico at the time. It was so remote, that the Mexican government didn't see the need of enforcing its immigration laws at the time.

[Dravin]

Canada???

Blame Canada Song:

Times have changed, our kids are geting worse.

They won't obey their parents, they just wanna fart and curse!

Should we blame the government, or blame society?

Or should we blame the images on TV?

NO! Blame Canada, Blame Canada

It seems that everything's gone wrong,

since Canada came along

Blame Canada, Blame Canada

We need to form as full assault, it's Canada's fault

[NeuroTypical]

We no longer have justice at the end of a sword or gun

Had to snicker at that one.

I suppose you mean vigiliante (or quasi-governmental) justice has been largely replaced by a system of laws and courts and penalties. I suppose that's correct. But if you look at the micro as well as the macro, there's still plenty of things getting settled via force or the threat of force. It's still one of the most-used tools for both kids with little adult supervision, and nations on the geopolitical stage.

But yeah, if you beat me up, I'm more likely to have you arrested and sick lawyers on you, than drygulch you with a bunch of my buddies one night.

I have to ask though - exactly how is moving from one to the other an indication of going from less morality to more?

LM

[Moksha]

I have to ask though - exactly how is moving from one to the other an indication of going from less morality to more?

LM

You bleed less with Scalia than Judge Roy Bean and breath easier than with Cotton Mather.

[Snow]

Could you compare the crime rate today to the crime rate of 1975?

Bcguy,

Could it be that you refuse to answer since it would tend to disprove your theory?

By the way, according to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Crime rate of 1975 (homicide, violent crimes and property crimes) are all lower today than they were several decades ago.

We don't want facts to get in the way of a good story.

[NeuroTypical]

You bleed less with Scalia than Judge Roy Bean and breath easier than with Cotton Mather.

Thank you for my morning romp through Wikipedia - I get what you're saying.

I guess I need to be more clear - let me offer a few things on my mind:

* My dad was a liberal Democrat and served in Union leadership for 35 years. He was one of the more moral men I've known. He was in WWII, fought in Belgium for our freedom, and patriotically flew the flag. He told me the one thing he respected about Hitler, was that the first thing he did was to empty out death row and bury those folks. He bemoaned a direction the US took which included increasing hesitation to apply a swift death penalty to "them's what deserves killin'".

* Back before folks dealt with the issues of what to do with high-recidivism pedophiles, how to help them, how to balance their rights with community safety, we still had them. There have always been pedophiles, we just never used to hear about them much because individuals in the community would 'take care of them' as soon as they were discovered, and as a result, nobody could find any to talk about.

I guess I'm looking at the moral center from folks 'in the good old days', and looking at the moral center in modern people. I see different notions and tactics, but I find both have strong moral centers. We figure theirs are wrong, if they could see us, they'd think the same of us.

In other words, what's so inherently more moral about centralizing the dispensing of justice to a few, vs communities taking care of business? You can't look at the outliers. One generation's story of burning witches, is another generation's story of unjust wars, unequal application of the death penalty, discrimination and reverse discrimination, or intergenerational poverty for political gain.

LM

(just stirring the pot)

[InquisitiveSoul]

From what I've read and understand, we are living in a time when prophecy continues to be fulfilled. The only difference between now and in the past if the rate is accelerated. People have forgotten their Creator. People have forgotten their Creator before, but it seems to be a much larger percentage of the population now. Traditional and long accepted values are seen as irrevelant in today's society.

I also see (because of my employment) how ignorant people have become. They only see what's in front of them and miss the big picture. Society has become spoiled and weak in many ways. We are blessed to have the technology we have but it has made people lazy. If you post here and write in complete sentences and paragraphs, you are ahead of so many who can only speak "text" and unable to communicate in writing.

Edited May 20, 2010 by InquisitiveSoul

[talisyn]

I'm glad you pointed that out, Inquisitive. I've noticed a strong tendency on this site to write in complete sentences, and even have paragraphs! I love it, and that's why I hang out here more than anywhere else. In perfect honesty, when I cheat it's because I forgot how to spell something

We are the line against anarchy and chaos!

[Moksha]

One generation's story of burning witches, is another generation's story of unjust wars, unequal application of the death penalty, discrimination and reverse discrimination, or intergenerational poverty for political gain.

LM

(just stirring the pot)

That is so very well put. Seems we need to scrutinize both the past and present and then weigh them separately. Two ideas that spring out to me are morality and expediency.

For me, what is moral is that which can meet the test of Jesus' two great commandments. Does an action show or promote the love for Mankind and God? If it does then it would seem moral.

However, there also exists a realm of expediency. For instance, when we justify the torture of our fellow human beings, we are doing so not out of morality, but rather out of expediency. There are so many other examples of expediency.