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