On the decline of values in America?

Question

Do you think that the decline in American moral values is the result of the drift away from Christian values or is the result of more subtle issues such as the single parent home, the disintegration of the extended family, the two parent home in which both parents work long hours and the presentation of less than perfect examples of morality on TV and other media outlets.

Answer 1

The issues that you mention are accurate, only they are symptoms of the problem that you are bringing up.

This didn't start overnight, all that you describe are the result of the replacement of Christianity with man-made "churchianity" in which the church is not used as a place to "recharge the spiritual battery" so you can proclaim the gospel at home and throughout the community (to be a witness to your neighbor).

The false notion on the "separation of church and state" has underminded our witnessing opportunities and made it seem un-p.c. to live your faith. Ones that do live their faith are looked upon as "fanatics".
Many people loose out on hearing and seeing these Christian values demonstrated in day to day life. This results in making bad decisions such as the ones you describe above.

In the words of Pope Leo XIII's Immoratale Dei, an 1885 encyclical letter on the Christian Constitution of States:

"To exclude the Church, founded by God Himself, from life, from laws, from the education of youth, from domestic society is a grave and fatal error. A State from which religion is banished can never be well regulated; and already perhaps more than is desirable is known of the nature and tendency of the so-called civil philosophy of life and morals.
The Church of Christ is the true and sole teacher of virtue and guardian of morals. She it is who preserves in their purity the principles from which duties flow, and, by setting forth most urgent reasons for virtuous life, bids us not only to turn away from wicked deeds, but even to curb all movements of the mind that are opposed to reason, even though they be not carried out in action."

When our actions contradict reason, we have chaos in the social order. This chaos has focused on the core of a society, the family. When the traditional family, (which is like the microcosm of a governing body of a nation), a body that is intrinsically governed by the gifts of the Holy Spirit which is in the Church, have been broken down by Modernism, Americanism, Athiesm,Materialism and reaches its breaking point, you have the results of a mock family. A family "aping" what the ideal and destined family structure should have been.
Men cannot take the place of God. God gave us an order to follow, if we refuse this order and place ourselves in God's rightful place, we only make life worse for us and those around us.

"The fact remains that it is impossible for men to order their own lives and those of their nations without acknowledging the Social Reign of Christ the King and seeking to subordinate all of their actions, both private and public, to the Deposit of Faith He has entrusted to His true Church..."

These stresses/temptations take our focus away from what we as Christians should spend our lives doing, living the Christian life.
Now our vision is blurred because what it means to live a Christian life is being diluted, so now we see such things as same sex marriages being blessed by some churches, illigitimacy is at an all time high at 37%, the life of prayer being nonexistant and only something you do when you need something or are in trouble.

Answer 2

I am admittedly liberal (mostly), although I have some beliefs that I suppose cross the boundary to your side. Example: I do believe in the death penalty, and that it should be used more often. I am also a high school math teacher, in a very conservative state (Utah). Kids of all stripes rebel against their parents. I see this first hand. Liberal, and conservative parents. This isn't a liberal/conservative problem. This is an AMERICAN problem. And by standing on one side of the aisle and hurling insults at the other, you are actually part of the problem. I would suggest that you find a way to become part of the SOLUTION. I agree, American values have fallen, terribly. Kids these days get away with so much more crap than those in my generation. I also agree that the media plays a big role. Parents need to stop working 80 hour work weeks and start spending more time with their children. You might call that a "liberal" notion, but how else can you supervise, censor, regulate, and regain control of these foul mouthed, baggy pants, and pregnant teens? The cost might be your own personal bottom dollar. Less work means less pay...but it's for the sake of our children, and the sake of our COUNTRY. Do it for AMERICA!! As a teacher, I get lots of time with my kids. My two daughters are very well behaved, enjoy reading and school, don't play video games, and I would say live under a stricter roof than many of their "conservative" counterparts.

Answer 3

And who says that values have of necessity declined? We've always had immorality. Too, there have always been different definitions of morality.

The fact that Christian morality may be diminishing, and one more permissive taking it's place doesn't mean that we have "less" morality.

100 - 200 years ago, this country was supposedly "more moral". People supposedly had better values, yet crime reigned. Americans were killing Indians. In the 1600's and 1700's, bounties were paid for dead Natives. Our "Thanksgiving" holiday was based on the killing of Natives, and not on some ficticious day of feast with them as is now popularized. Look into the real history.

The west was a place where killing was the norm. People didn't go to authorities to resolve differences; they were resolved with fisticuffs or bullets.

This was also the time where people could accuse one they didn't like of Witchcraft, and they were tortured or killed to prove their innocence or guilt. Likely, they didn't survive the test.

Then there were children, and discipline meant beatings. Fear was the definition of respect. Is it not a higher goal for respect to be a heartfelt and deserved rather than enforced and fear-driven?

Was there less crime years ago? Probably not per capita. We have a media now that takes crimes and makes headlines out of it. Criminals become overnight celebrities, albeit nefarious ones. Is this new? No... look at Bonnie and Clyde in the 1930's. Look at some of the famous gunfighters.

We tend to romanticize the past, thinking it better. It's not. It is what we wish to see of it.

Answer 4

Values are an integral part of a culture. Much of the character of a culture is conveyed to people by force of example. The role models for success in our culture are people who are the rich, the powerful, and the famous. The mass media are incredibly powerful in transmitting examples to the people. Do you see good examples in the media?

Our politicians seem unable to engage in respectful debate. Instead they denigrate any opposing viewpoint and intentionally foster a sense of polarization (Karl Rove). Our corporate leaders perpetrate the most outrageous scandals injuring both their employees and their shareholders. Our president fires the good advisors and lies to the American people to get us into an illegal and unjust war. Our religious leaders, some of them, engage in immoral activity or violent rhetoric.

When Jesus lived and taught, there were no such things as Christians. Like every teacher, he wanted people to focus on his teachings, not on him. On his death, his followers turned the phenomenon of Jesus into a cult thing where the teacher was the all, and the teachings were secondary. What Jesus taught were spiritual values that any human being can understand. Christians have no franchise on ethics, morals, or wisdom. Those who claim they do have missed the whole point. The problem with our culture involves human values, not Christian values.

I have another issue with our media: most of it uses language, but the language is not in the form of a conversation. People do not know how to communicate effectively. People do not understand the concept of respectful dialogue. Observing the media is a passive activity -- we get no practice in forming grammatical sentences on our own.

All this to say, our culture is under assault from influences that control the media. These influences are based in power and greed. The few examples of respect that are available cannot compete with the rest of it. It is simply a matter of what gets the reinforcement.

Answer 5

To be completely honest, as a teenager, I think the drift away from religion is a result of seeing what is going on in the world, and learning about what has happened. I grow up in a town over run by concervatives, and alot of the kids are very close with their religion. However, alot of kids reject it all together and make up their own beliefs, which works better for us (I happen to be one of them). We're not satanists or anything, we just don't feel any religion is suitable for us. We draw apart because we don't want to have to a worship a God that if we don't believe in, will punish us, or if we don't do things an EXACT WAY we will be punished. Maybe we're just more independent than previous generations and figured out the game way before anyone else.

Answer 6

I think the decline in moral values begins with the points you described as "subtle issues". The family unit is so different than it was 20 years ago. And the way children are raised is very different now. Parents want to be their children's friend rather than their parent because as you stated both parents work long hours and the last thing they want to do when they get home is discipline their kids.
But this is just my thought.

Answer 7

I believe that the decline of moral values in America is the result of probably every thing that you have mentioned. First of all, people are turning to every source of help, except the right source; which is Jesus Christ, and the Word of God. There most certainly should not be single parent homes. Both a mother and a father should love their children enough to stick with them, and with one another. The decline in a "family society," has gotten ridiculous in America. Also, I know for a fact, based upon such circumstances in my own relatives, that too many parents spend too much time at work or somewhere else, rather than spending the proper time with their children. There are too many people having children, who are nothing but children themselves. They have not even taken the time to grow up themselves, before trying to raise a family. If a person is going to have a child, then they need to love them enough to spend proper time with them, and raise them in a way that is pleasing unto the Lord. And the ungodliness which we have to see on our TV's in our society today, is a crying shame. You cannot hardly turn on the television today, without having to see a woman half naked, or both men and women showing such ungodliness; or without having to hear ungodly language which is a shame to our society. If anyone is interested in reading, I have a Bible lesson which God led me to write, entitled, "What Has Happened To Morality In America?" It is just one of many which He has led me to write. It may be down-loaded free of charge, by going to www.Tracts.com/biblicaltruths.htm Hope I have been of help.

Answer 8

The fact that you're recognizing moral values now is true testament to the fact that we have stronger morals now more than ever. In ancient times when the warriors were sweeping the land, they pillaged, raped, and killed everyone and everything in sight. Go read up on some history before you make such stupid accusations.

Answer 9

When Christian churches preach and practise that war, bigotry, and poverty in the face of wealth are immoral, then I will be able to believe that there is such a thing as "Christian values."

Answer 10

Both- If one was actually Christian or Following their actual teachings of thei Religion then they would organize their life in such a way that these things would not exist in their family.