What
causes moral or spiritual decline in individuals and in society?
What knowledge or understanding is crucial in this regard...?
(Serendipity Bible 10th Anniversary Edition, page
1246).
To
answer this question I will list five contributors to moral and
spiritual decline. They do no appear in any sort of hierarchy, but
comprise a circle of enslavement. I will begin with home and family. When
the home becomes primarily a hotel rather than a sanctuary of
nurture, acceptance, love, disciple, and trust; the seeds of broader
moral decline are sown. The nurseries of hope and faith
which are essential requisites for positive practical action are
abandoned. A second factor is when focus is fixated exclusively on the
short-term, and eternal verities lose all intrinsic value and clout
for the citizenry. A third factor is when focus centers on the self,
and a sea-change occurs whereby a strong sense of broader communal
responsibility is lost. A forth factor is when people live in fear
of taboos. Truth and honesty are avoided and the lurid and profane
are substituted for truth. “Small talk” abounds and there is
avoidance of significant conversation. A fifth factor (again this
listing is not intended to be in any sort of hierarchy) is when the
state becomes the plaything of the powerful, rich, and privileged.
The serious matters of social and economic justice go begging while
politics becomes a sensational inbred juvenile sport. These five
factors signal that urgent danger exist for societal viability.
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