Morality in society

 

When you look at society-at-large in whatever culture you care to choose, and whatever time period you decide to explore, you will find that the collective society is always deciding morality on the basis of the situation in which they are experiencing.  We see that in our own society with the changing of moral behavior to fit what is fashionable in our most glamorous idols.  We heard Clark Gable utter the famous words, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."  A collective gasp rose throughout the land at the sound of the word "damn" in a movie theater.  The immorality of it was heralded from Hollywood to Bancroft.  Within a few short years, however, there really was not, and still isn't,  any definition to describe the pornography we now see on public television and movies in our current society.  We simply exclaim, "My, how times have changed!"  Even our courts hide behind the First Amendment, "We can't describe pornography, but we know it when we see it."  Consequently, anything goes.

 

Even in the early days of the nation of Israel long after they had obtained the Ten Commandments from God it is clearly seen in Scripture by reading through the Book of Judges that the people repeatedly "did what was right in their own eyes."  And each time they did it was to their own peril; they brought down the judgment of God upon their heads.  By the time Samuel had appeared on the scene, the people demanded a king so they could have a monarch form of government.  God told Samuel to listen to the people and their desire to have a monarch and to be sure the people had not rejected Samuel, rather God said, "...they have rejected me as their king."  (1 Samuel 8:7)

 

As communities, societies and cultures take on the form of self-governance, monarchy, totalitarianism, theocratic forms of rule, or even democracy the inevitable slide is toward a secular society that establishes the rules of justice and the laws to be obeyed based on a continuum of consensus to that of edict.  The mores of each individual and collectively begin to dictate the cooperative rule to maintain survival against the elements.  But it is never static; it is always dynamic with ever changing rules usually in response to some issue or event. 

 

We have witnessed that even in our own society which began on a foundation of "truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  (United States Declaration of Independence)  What started as a belief of being "created" by "their Creator" has been transformed into a secular society that constantly pushes for the separation of the Creator from the government.

 

Secularism and humanism proponents are ever-changing, constantly moving toward a consensus or synthesis that tries to reach  consonance, or equilibrium to reconcile the disconnect between their belief systems and reality; trying to reconcile their opinions with past knowledge and traditions with current changed practices or new beliefs.  To preserve personal safety people must reach a point of agreement acceptable by all in the community, state or nation.  It usually means some will give up their principles, traditions, actions and even ethical standards by which they lived in the past.  Accepting a secular form of governance allows general acceptance of a set of rules by which all will live.  This almost always creates another form of cognitive dissonance within the mind of the Christian.

 

I wonder if that is not the dilemma our nation faces today?  We have a nation where perhaps the majority of people believe in God, at least by some measure.  Yet we have all but discarded Christian principles in favor of a secular form of government that through the years of growth and maturity has become powerful and strong.  It has developed into a form of government that is believed to be "We the People" yet it has become a government with men and women holding powerful offices for limitless terms, building for themselves spheres of personal power and great wealth.  Their will prevails through the laws, regulations, taxing powers and bestowed favors.  Oftentimes they exempt themselves from the adverse effect of the laws they pass for others.  They secure for themselves special interest groups who surround them with protection and favors allowing them to write special "riders" to major legislative laws that provide special favors to the special interests that favor the individual lawmaker.  It is simply another by-product of the secular form of government.

 

In our own government, as well as others throughout history, we eventually embrace the secularism and humanism to dilute God's Absolute Truth to a form of "situational ethics."  To control the larger population the ideas of secularism must be infused throughout the citizens of the "collective."  This has been done in our culture and society through the mandated public education system, higher education and through the dissemination of employment in both the public and private sectors.  Social justice issues are brought to the fore as "humanistic" efforts that reinforce the pervasive learning through the educational systems in the communities by "standardization" of curriculum and texts.  Those who resist the influence of a growing, powerful government are ostracized by those who have "bought" into the system.  Media is rewarded for partnering with the powerful figures in government and reap plentiful rewards of associations and privilege and celebrity positions in society for supporting those powerful lawmakers.  The cycle of dependency permeates those whose livelihood is sustained by the "entitlements" endowed by those who "represent" them.  The entitlement is purposely kept at subsistence levels to ensure dependency but at the same time not build motivation and strength to leave the dependency model.                   

 

Secular society measures morality against the social mores accepted by society-at-large; Christians measure morality against the Standards established by the God of the universe.  It always comes back to our individual choices.  The Christian should never totally depend on the government to sustain their livelihood.  The government may be sustained for many more years; or it could end abruptly.  For the Christian it is their belief in the God of Creation and His plan of salvation through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross that sustains, not the dependency model of government.  We must remember it is God Who is the Righteous Judge in the long run, not a society.

 

Jim Killebrew

 



Poor performance of public schools

Would you believe that in some parts of the country the rate of high school dropouts from the public school system is reaching 50 percent.  There are more honor students in China than there are students in America.  With the national "No Child Left Behind" law teachers throughout the country spend three/fourths of their teaching time, which is still only 180 days per school year, teaching to the test the students take toward the end of the school year.  Even among the students who do graduate from high school in America barley half read above the 5th grade level.  The greatest fear among teachers in most inner city schools is the fear of being beat up by students.  In most public high schools in America, as well as most public schools from the 5th grade forward, the administration will not fail a student the teacher says needs to fail if the parent does not want their child to fail.  In America it is virtually impossible to fire a tenured teacher even if it is proven they are incompetent to teach.

In community after community you can talk to teachers who will tell stories of students who openly challenge the authority of the teacher.  A student will curse, even using the so-called "F" bomb to scare, intimidate and outright defy authority.  When the student is sent to the office for misbehavior or disrupting the class room, the administration is gripped with fear to do anything punitive to the student because of the threat of lawsuits from parents against the school district.

More money is being spent on education every year; politicians campaign on more money for education, taxing the property owners or offering up referendums for general tax increases earmarked for some educational need.  It just does not seem to help the quality of education when it is thought that more money will increase test scores; it does not.  We continue to build multi-million dollar buildings in communities across the nation, but classrooms are still being ravaged by a contingent of rabble students who use violence and intimidation to control the teacher and other students in the class.

Several years ago a man was recognized in Paterson, NJ at Eastside High School for bringing order to a school that had been lost to violence, drug pushers and students inside the school who practiced fighting, vandalism and abuse of teachers and students.  In his biography we read,

"In September 1982, during the first day of class at Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey, a student was stabbed. In 1983, things would be different. The school's new principal, Joe Clark, would be the reason why."

"Clark thwarts those who believe that the learning process is disrupted by tough discipline. Instead of offering sympathy, Clark held high expectations for students, challenging them to develop habits for success and confronting them when they failed to perform. On a single day during his first week at Eastside, Clark expelled 300 students for fighting, vandalism, drug possession, profanity or abusing teachers. He explains, 'If there is no discipline, there is anarchy. Good citizenship demands attention to responsibilities as well as rights.'" (Both of these statements can be found at the following link:   

http://www.joeclarkspeaker.com/biography.htm)

Perhaps it is time for Americans to turn back the clock and see why educators were more successful in years past.

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Embarrassed by children

Parents are sometimes embarrassed by their children in public places because the child becomes unruly or “acts out” in those public places like grocery stores or malls. The child sees something that attracts him and s/he wants it immediately; the parent intervenes and the child reacts with tantrum behavior. In today’s society one wonders who actually runs the household; the parents or the children.

A child learns from an early age how to gain interaction and attention. A newborn will cry or make other noises to attract the attention of the parent who responds with something to mitigate the displeasure or discomfort the child is experiencing. That cause and effect relationship pairing is learned very early in life. Once learned, the child uses that information to their advantage to control situations to continue receiving pleasure by having things “their own way.”

Modern childhood development theory suggests that children should be given the freedom to “think for themselves” and move toward what is “best” for them. To place too much control or guidance on a child, some believe, is to “thwart” their growth and development. The consequence of that ends with an emotionally disturbed child that grows into an emotionally disturbed adult. Christian living experiences tend to refute that theory and suggest that the parent should take a strong role in the development and growth of their child.

Solomon wrote in his Proverbs to,

“Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

This suggests that parents should start early to establish the patterns of training in the right, moral path. It suggests that parents should begin early and dedicate their child to the LORD and establish a pattern of training that leads the child in the right direction. To teach knowledge and morality is very important beginning at an early age, but may be beneficial to begin at any age. Solomon maintained that there were only two ways of seeking knowledge: The way of the wise or righteousness, or the way of foolishness. In modern society the trend is toward that which is “good” or that which is “bad.” A better trend of teaching is toward that which is “right” and not that which is “wrong.” A parent who sets his child on the “right” path early in life and keeps the child on the “right” path will have a child that will likely remain faithful to that teaching and learning.

To leave a child to find his own way is to abandon the responsibility and hard work in training the child. Solomon declares,

“Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.” (Proverbs 22:15)

Don’t repel at the sound of the “rod” and think it means beating the child into submission. This more likely represents using the “switch” or the “paddle” in a way that provides direction to the child in the way he should make right rather than wrong choices. It does add a facet meaning of punishment to teach the child to give up foolish ways and develop the potential that is within him or her. The idea is to bring about a correction from foolish behaviors, if left unabated will eventually lead to corruption, and wrong practice instead of acceptance of the appropriate behaviors.

Earlier in Proverbs Solomon noted,

“Discipline your child, for there is hope, but do not set your heart on causing his death.” (Proverbs 19:18)

The time in a child’s life when guidance is the easiest is when s/he is young; there is still hope for learning and change. Younger children have not yet established patterns of behavior that must be “unlearned” prior to learning new, more appropriate behaviors. When a parent decides to let the child “decide for himself” and do what s/he wants, the parent becomes an advocate for the child to misbehave. When the child misbehaves consistently and often, patters are formed that are life-lasting. Later in life those “childish” behaviors become adult behaviors that are intolerable to those who work and live with that individual. In the end, as an adult, this intolerable behavior pattern is almost like experiencing death.

Discipline is not a bad thing. To some, discipline means to teach or the process of learning. Jesus had Disciples whom He taught, guided, and sometimes chastened. To others, perhaps wrongly, discipline always means a form of violent, corporal punishment. The fact is that the youngest children do not know how to make decisions that are morally correct. They do not have the sufficient knowledge or experience to have insight into their actions and the final outcomes those actions produce. Children operate on emotion and pleasure. They seek what is best in their own mind and pay no or little attention regarding how their actions affect others. They are impulsive and want the pleasure of having their own way immediately. They quickly learn to manipulate situations by starting to cry or engaging in a tantrum or other misbehavior. The parent should not let the crying avert the discipline; it only teaches the child to increase efforts to engage in behaviors to avoid discipline. The likely consequence of that pattern of behavior is that the child becomes more unruly and matures into an unruly adult.

Finally, Solomon wrote:

“The one who robs his father and chases away his mother is a son who brings shame and disgrace. If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you will stray from the words of knowledge.” (Proverbs 19:26-27)

A child who consistently refrains from listening and heeding the instruction of wisdom and righteousness will eventually become a “robber” by taking authority, reputation and family dignity from both parents. Of course the ideal is for the child to never stop listening to instruction and words of knowledge, but if s/he does, the likely result will be to stray from those words and suffer the consequences of that error.

In the Christian living experience the education of the children first begins with the parents; continues with the parents; and, ends with the parents. The so-called mandated, public education is only supplemental to parental guidance to learning life.