I was raised in the 1930s in a “Puritanical Morality.” Sunday was church day; we attended morning and evening. Everything other than church was closed or forbidden, and we didn’t have television. People prayed before each meal. Kissing was barely allowed on screen or in public. Everyone was fully dressed. Wearing a skirt above the knees was immoral, and bathing suits were one piece. On airplanes, men wore coats and ties, and women wore hats and gloves. Sex was a dirty word, and saying damn was frowned upon. Divorcees were sluts. And that’s just the beginning.
Then the blue laws were changed, some stores dared to open on Sundays, and professional sports teams competed. Occasionally someone said “God damn it.” Kissing and heavy petting at the movies became more common. Many people stopped attending church; going to the mall or a sporting event was more fun.
The downward trend continues, and no one knows where it will end. Some movies seem to contain more porn than porn movies. Cussing is the norm, and the F-word is used like a comma. The scene at the beach looks like a contest to see who can wear the least. Even our Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has lost its moral compass.
This discussion always raises a few questions:
- Will the moral decline ever stop?
- Who can or will stop it?
- What might be the root causes of this decline in morality?
Let me start with the third question first because it might help us answer the other two.
- I believe the biggest culprit is social media. It’s out of control. Anything goes! I don’t use it because I think it will be the downfall of our democracy. The billionaires who own it fight any kind of regulation. This administration (run by someone with no moral compass) is one of the biggest abusers. Until Congress, which is almost useless today, demands that social media and artificial intelligence (AI) be highly regulated, the downward spiral will continue. It’s only at the ballot box, which is adversely affected by social media and AI, that we can stop these monsters.
- I feel the same way about movies and the many forms of television. They are out of control and keep pushing the envelope by including more garbage talk, violence, and nudity, making it extremely difficult to find anything that doesn’t contain those items. Watching people have intercourse on the screen is not healthy sex education. Violence begets violence. Profanity in entertainment gives people permission to use it profusely. For a healthy democracy, a moral compass is essential.
- The MAGA movement is not healthy. It thrives on denigrating people, maligning institutions, name-calling, promoting violence, and disrespecting our constitution and our 250-year struggle to maintain our democracy. Its leader, a very unhealthy person, encourages his followers to emulate him, and they do. The MAGA movement needs to be exposed and disbanded as a traitorous movement, its leaders punished for their past actions, and a strict code of ethics demanded across all branches of government, including SCOTUS.
- Christian nationalism is neither Christian nor nationalistic. It employs a sick form of pseudo-Christianity and a power-based form of authoritarianism. It’s a domestic terrorist group designed to destroy our democracy and establish a theocracy led by none other than DT. Our religious institutions must work together to restore a twenty-first-century moral compass.
I have no interest in returning to the puritanical morality of my youth, but I do have a strong interest in building a society with a strong sense of decency, respecting everyone—no matter where they are on their life’s journey—employing the art of compromise, and demanding that we promote “liberty and justice for all.”
What are your feelings about morality today?
PeaceLoveJoyHopeKindness
Bil
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P.S. People often ask me provocative questions about current events, both religious and secular. I have found that some of these questions are being asked universally. I’ll be periodically alternating regular articles with one of those questions and my answer. I invite you to send me your question to bilaulenbach@yahoo.com.
Image by Nadil Jayakody from Pixabay
Today, morality is in the eyes of the beholder.’ Perhaps it has always been. Let us remember that in the days of ‘morality,’ which you recall, the US was ruled by religion. The average person had little access to info, whether true or fake—whether radio, newspaper or magazines. Remember LIFE, LOOK, SAT EVENING POST? Add to those sources the message from the pulpit.
Now we know that MUCH of what we were told/fed in those days was false–the world was full of hypocrites even then. And some really bad dudes. But we did not know. Is ignorance bliss? Should we go back to those dark days? As someone said “There was a time in history when science was denied and religion ruled the world. We call that time THE DARK AGES. Something to think about. What is the answer???
I would switch the latter two paragraphs with the first two as being the most dangerous
I was not uncomfortable with the “puritanical” public life we had in the 1900s. I knew families who behaved much “looser” at home than they did in public, but they did not act out in any way against societal norms so as not to hurt anyone else’s sensibilities. Public was public and private was private. That did not seem hypocritical; it just seemed that we all agreed to be kind to each other in public and not hurt each others’ feelings or shock anyone unduly. We all have different religious backgrounds, cultural taboos, familial traits, personal idiosyncrasies, and it was as if someone had decreed that we would not display those in public. We would behave with some community code of behavior so we could all get along, move forward, work toward a common good and thrive without undue problems to that forward movement. Suddenly everyone has to be “out”, with all of their worst behaviors, worst clothing, worst demands on display for shock value. Why??? “To thine own self be true”. Okay, and God knows what we are really like, so maybe we can be upfront with Him also. But why do we have to demand that everyone accept us at our rottenest, most foul self, unkind, vicious even, and spread that around our community, damaging our children, ruining our artistic expressions in theater, music, literature, etc.? Is that really necessary? Is it really more mentally healthy to let it all hang out, to allow ourselves to spout every rotten thought in a loud voice, to be free of any restrictions? I don’t really think anyone is super happy with this; I am reading about more suicides every day. This is no way to live, to foster a civilization of which we can be proud. I also read that church attendance is down and as I have visited many churches online, I have noted that many of the older, more established churches do seem to be having a dwindling number of worshippers. However, I have also noticed that many of the newer, more evangelical churches that have active “rescue” ministries are experiencing more growth, as people who are tired of their lives of addiction to drugs, alcohol and pornography try to escape these curses and find ways to break free and repattern their lives to something better. Looking back through history, the problem does seem to be cyclical. A society gets more careless and free, they are conquered by a more restrictive society that imposes new rules, they live under a tight rein for awhile, become too free and relaxed, degenerate into an unruly mob that can be conquered and this happens over and over. Why do people come to America? They have heard it is a land of freedom. We choose our own leaders. We are not loyal to any patriarchal king. That’s a blessing, but also our problem. We don’t have 1000 years of historical guidelines of how this society should behave, what rules we should live by to keep us all safe. Our current leadership seems to think this land belongs just to them and they have forgotten Lady Liberty standing there and still beckoning oppressed people from hundreds of countries to come here and be free. I don’t think that is the promise anymore. Maybe our current lack of moral strength will be a deterrent to people from other places, and they will look askance at the “ugly Americans” and say, “No thanks. Not today.” Maybe that is the unknown, unspoken reason for our moral decay. I pray for my grandchildren. They have a much tougher society to live in than I did. I don’t know how they will make it to adulthood without extreme scarring. I pray they will find God in this morass of decay, and I pray He will strengthen them and show them how to love others purely and selflessly, living cleanly without addictions, enjoying daily life without anger, deceit, malice or wicked thoughts. I also think that will probably take a few miracles along the way.