No. 1002 - SEEDS FOR A DECENT & MORAL SOCIETY
No. 1002
Jim Davidson -- NEWSPAPER COLUMN
SEEDS FOR A DECENT & MORAL SOCIETY!
Several years ago I heard the late Earl Nightingale say, “We can’t be much better than we know how to be.” This is so true. This statement also has a direct impact on the kind of society that we are living in today.
First, may I pose this question to you: Are you happy with the quality of the decency and morality that you witness in our society today? When you talk about society, that pretty well covers the waterfront, but it becomes more personal when we reduce it down to what is happening in our city or town and more especially in our own neighborhood. Believe it or not, what happens in Hollywood impacts every single one of us, whether we like it or not. You can’t dump filth into the stream of public consciousness without it pouring or seeping into each of our lives.
If you are an older person, like me, you can remember the days when we did not have 500 murders happening each year in a major city, people just driving up and shooting police officers sitting in a patrol car, looting an entire city when the jury did not return the verdict they wanted, and reports of various scams being reported in the news every single day.
My point is simply this: the younger generation who are living this nightmare cannot relate to an earlier time because they were not around to witness or experience the days when times were different and better in this regard.
From a practical standpoint, I know that I cannot do anything about the price of eggs in China, but I can offer some observations and suggestions to improve our society that will make things much better for all of us. Here is the truth. The seeds for a moral and decent society come from Godly homes where parents take their children to church, teach them the word of God and model it each day in their own lives. When a child is taught to honor and obey their parents, to respect others, to tell the truth, to be honest, to earn what they receive and obey the laws of the land, we will all win. To be sure, we still have a lot of this taking place but not nearly enough, and that is where every single one of us can make a difference.
In our culture, researchers found that the only place today’s youth can express their faith is with their parents and in their church youth ministry programs. And here is the sad truth – 70 percent of today’s youth are leaving their church after they graduate from high school and out from under parental authority, never to return. However, there is hope because we can do something about this.
It does not take a genius to understand that we cannot sustain a decent and moral society if we do not reverse this trend. As a church member, I can tell you that, for the most part, we are to blame. Parents who live one way on Sunday and live like the devil the rest of the week will not have respect from their children, who are not dumb.
Churches need to take a serious look at their youth programs. Instead of entertaining them with skits, videos and bands, we need to teach them scriptures with logic, truth and a Christian worldview. I just share these thoughts from my heart because I love this country, I love my children and grandchildren, and I would like for them to thrive and grow up in a moral and decent society where love and caring for others is the rule and not the exception.
Also, I just believe there are millions of my fellow Americans who feel the same way and are willing to get involved -- not only the church doing this, just lay people like me, and maybe you. There is more to come, so please stay tuned.
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(Editor’s Note: THE DEAL OF THE CENTURY – Begin your day on a positive note – 365 days for $12. This will benefit the Bookcase for Every Child project. Go to www.apositivemomentwithjim.com to subscribe.)
