In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever
seemed right in their own eyes.
Judges 17:6 (NLT)
We are big on opinion polls in this country to
determine what’s right or wrong.
Essentially it is an antiquated notion that there even is
such a thing as an absolute right or wrong in moral issues; everything is relative
depending on what the majority polled thinks.
The Gallup organization recently published a new poll
representing the U.S. population’s moral acceptability changes (of selected behaviors)
over the last 15 years
I have not crunched the numbers like Gallup or Barna,
but the results are definitely a shift to the left, morally-speaking, and, I
believe those number changes parallel the exodus from mainline churches. In short, the knee-jerk pull out from church
is either precipitated by or precipitates a lowering of moral expectations
and/or attitude. Translation: If you don’t go to church you can do what
you want.
An interesting side-view on this chart is how
death-related issues (Doctor-assisted suicide, Suicide, Death of human embryos
to further medical research) have become decidedly morally acceptable, while approval
of death administered to criminals in capital cases has eroded. It’s strange, isn’t it, how we can take a
high moral ground on the one, and cheapen the other…it all depends on who is
making the choices.
And by the way….we seem to think more of animals’
lives than our human family; the morally-acceptable majority dropped from 65%
to 56% for medical testing using animals, while most other human death issues
have become optional!
The apostle Paul warned his protégé Timothy that such
a time as we live-in would come:
For a time is coming when people will
no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will
look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase
after myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 (NLT)
I do not have space in this brief devotion to address
all of Gallup’s findings, but our culture in Western civilization is travelling
(as our forebears used to say) on the road to Hell in a handbasket.
The opposite sides of the handles on that handbasket
are occupied by the left and right political factions (religious and governmental)
of our day, and we have little to blame but ourselves for the barn door of
morality that is swinging wide open.
It may be too late to close it.
For You Today
Say a prayer for America; we used to lead from a moral
baseline that held life in high regard.
We’re still fond of singing God Bless America at our
ball games and other public functions…but it’s hard to believe God isn’t
laughing.
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