Need proof? Ben Franklin, at the Constitutional Convention, said "...God governs the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that a nation can rise without his aid?" George Washington, who obviously knew the intent of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, said, "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would a man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars."
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| Morality or Law? |
This isn't the first time our country's morals have been challenged and defeated by liberal thinking. In the 1970's the Supreme Court actively violated this founding principal by declaring it a "right" to kill an unborn child. Today's defeat of DOMA by liberals delivers another blow to our nation by changing the definition of "marriage" and "spouse" -- a definition that has been used since the beginning of time.
Our nation's shifting morality - the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are good (right) and bad (wrong) -- has been going on for all of my life. In my opinion, public morality, as reflected in our regulation of dress, sex, drugs, alcohol, speech and health issues, has changed for the worse. This shift is being aided by our children being indoctrinated by liberal thinking in education, by federal and state judicial systems controlled by liberals who want to change our laws, and by the collapse of traditional religion in today's society.
Typical of today's youth, my children would say that this kind of thinking is old fashioned (just my way of living in the past). Sean would say, "Dad, the older you get the more resistant to change you become." Not necessarily true, but when you change the definition of something that has not changed in thousands of years, where do you draw the line?
To me, and those who share my view, the line is drawn by our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Too bad so many judges, including the highest court in our land, don't agree. We have moved from a country governed by law, to one governed by amoral beliefs (special interests and corrupt politicians don't help either).
I say amoral because too many people are unaware, or indifferent toward any set of moral standards or principles. This is possible because our schools are more concerned with political correctness and self esteem than instructing our children on the founding of our country. It's what some people refer to as value-free education. Schools have chosen to leave the job of teaching morals to the student's parents and churches. I see this every day in their insistence that prayer and anything religious (Christmas) be removed from its once-hallowed halls.
In an attempt to balance this moral evisceration, schools are pushing service learning or community service as a way to build character and virtue. Volunteering is a great way to help others, but not when the message being taught is that government is the answer to poverty or that we are destroying the earth through global warming. Understanding others has some value, but not when it promotes gay marriage and/or illegal immigration.
If schools put half as much effort into punishing those who break rules, show disrespect and skip homework as they do with eliminating "bullying," our children wouldn't be ranked 14th out of 34 countries for reading skills, 17th for science and a below-average 25th for mathematics.
It's easy to see why gay marriage passed today (which has been idolized by our youth and supported by the mainstream media) by a 5-4 vote.
Another sign that this country has lost its moral foundation is the steady decline of religion in people's lives. Church has always been a tough sell to young adults. In the past (yes, I'm still living in the past) young couples would eventually come back to the church when they got married and started a family.
But not today. One-fifth of Americans are religiously unaffiliated -- higher than at any time in recent U.S. history -- and those younger than 30 especially seem to be drifting from organized religion. A third of young Americans say they don't belong to any religion. One reason is the social indoctrination by the left that refuses to believe in a moralistic right and wrong.
Take one participant from a roundtable about religion recently sponsored by NPR. This young woman, age 30, was raised Catholic but does not call herself one today because she cannot embrace the church's core beliefs on social issues.
"To me," she says, "a church that would be welcoming would be one where there wasn't a male-only hierarchy that made all the rules, and there weren't these rules about who's excluded and who's included and what behavior is acceptable and what's not acceptable."
Harvard professor Robert Putnam, who writes about religion, recently told NPR that this young generation is not only more religiously unaffiliated than their parents; they are also more religiously unaffiliated than previous generations of young people.
According to Putnam, this young generation has been distancing itself from community institutions and from institutions in general. "They're the same people not joining the Eks Club or Rotary Club. This is born out of a rebellion of sorts." Putnam continues, "These were the kids who were coming of age in the America of the culture wars, in the America in which religion publicly became associated with a particular brand of politics, and so I think the single most important reason for the rise of (people without religion) is that combination of the younger people moving to the left on social issues and the most visible religious leaders moving to the right on that same issue."
Jonathan Haidt and Jesse Graham of the New York University Stern School of Business have studied the differences between liberals and conservatives as it relates to morality and politics. In a report called "Moral Foundations Theory," they found that Americans who identified themselves as liberal tended to value care and fairness higher than loyalty, respect and purity. Self-identified conservative Americans valued care and fairness less and loyalty, respect and purity more.
So given the declining importance of morals in America today, is it really a surprise that the Supreme Court declared DOMA unconstitutional? We are surrounded by a society in decline, as evidenced by a culture that can't make rules or exclude bad behavior. In fact, cultural icons like Madonna, Lindsay Lohan and Lady Gaga are embraced and rewarded.
Today, a large percentage of America thinks we passed a law that will afford gay men and lesbians the same federal protections as any other. Instead of being the gay marriage movement's "Cinderella" moment, this is nothing more than another blow to America's founding fathers.
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