It is not unusual these days to turn on the television and see reports of kids shooting other kids in school, co-workers killing each other, and teen suicide rates growing more and more. Why are things like this becoming ever more prevalent in our society? Why is it our country has allowed the murder of over forty million unborn babies in the last forty years? Any reasonable nation of the world would mourn for years the loss of forty million of their citizens, but most in our country are not the least bit concerned about it. Why is that? Many of us see these things happening, and scratch our heads wondering how things could ever get this bad.
There are many contributing factors that explain what is happening in our society, but let's examine one that pertains to how we as humans have begun to look at ourselves. The sanctity of life means less in today's culture than it used too. When a society lessens the importance of the sanctity of human life, it will gradually allow horrific things which once were considered criminal to become acceptable and commonplace. It will gradually cause people to have a gross disrespect for the life of others which will lead to the increase of violent crimes, violence in schools, suicide, and abortion. If the human life is no longer considered that important, then people will be more likely to believe that they can do with it as they please.
So, how did things get to be this way in America. We must remember that this county was founded on Christian principles. The founding fathers believed that we are made in God's image and that God's providential hand was involved in the development of this country. The majority of the early citizens of this nation were Christians, and believed what the Bible taught about the sanctity of the human life. These principles dominated this country's ideology up until about fifty years ago when we saw the introduction of many beliefs that are contrary to the Bible. The theories and beliefs centered mostly around evolution which was a way to take God out of the equation. People who believed in this false theory began an intense campaign of propaganda to spread the teaching throughout the schools of our nation. We are now seeing the fruits of their labors.
When people believe in evolution, it opens up corrupt paths for man to follow. Once they had a way of taking God out of the picture, it gave them a license to be their own gods. For them, life only mattered as much as each individual believed that it did. With no God, there is no one to answer to, or be accountable to, except one's self. This eventually opened the door in this county for the mass development and growth of humanism, hedonism, atheism, materialism, and basically "anything-goes-ism". Life is now cheapened. Consider how many people we see beaten or murdered on a daily basis in the movies and television shows. Consider how our children spend countless mind numbing hours exposed to the violence in the hottest new video games. People begin to lose respect for the sanctity God has given to human life when we constantly see violence, death, and sexual exploitation in the many forms of our entertainment. Over time people begin believing those things they see in the media as being acceptable in our society.
There has always been violence and selfish criminal behavior in this country, but it has always been considered not only a violation of the laws of the land, but also a violation of God's higher moral law. This mentality has changed over the last fifty years . Many in this nation have worked to have God removed from the country so things like abortion, euthanasia, and suicide can become more accepted and something of an individual choice. It reminds me of the attitude that the children of Israel had adopted toward the end of the period of the Judges. "Every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:20). Life means so much more to us when we remember God gave it to us, and that He expects us to love, protect, and care for His creation. -Ed