Moral Breakdown in the US

Bonus article for everyone. This is parts one through three of our Moral Breakdown article series combined into one for easy reference.  Enjoy.

As if we needed more evidence that America has abandoned its foundational Scriptural principles, a new Gallup poll has come out that shows a very troubling trend. In this article, we are going to break down the results of the study and attempt to understand why the majority of Americans are wrong on most issues, and what the Bible says on those issues. Of necessity, this will be a skim of the issues. Whole giant articles could be written on each of these topics. That is not our purpose.  This article will simply be an overview. We will cover all the issues, but, as there are 21 of them, it will take us three articles.

90% of Americans believe birth control is ok.

This number surprised me, not because it is high, I expected that. It’s actually higher than the acceptance of any other vice, including drinking alcohol. That’s the part that surprised me.  I thought alcohol acceptance would be at the top of the list.

Regarding birth control, it is important that we tread carefully. Some forms of birth control are not murder. A form of birth control that prevents fertilization is not murder. A form of birth control that begins after the moment of fertilization is murder.  Period.  If we are going to be consistent with our statement that life begins at fertilization, then any ending of life via birth control after that point must be murder.  I’m always stunned by the number of Christians who oppose abortion but are more than happy to use abortion-inducing drugs.  Birth control warrants its own article, so we will be working on that as we are able over the next few weeks.

86% of Americans believe drinking alcohol is ok.

This did not surprise me at all. Getting thoroughly inebriated on the weekend is a national American past time. I was just surprised it wasn’t first.

The Bible speaks frequently about alcohol and, unsurprisingly given its propensity to do harm, it is largely negative.  Proverbs 20:1 “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.” Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”.  Now obviously there are many more verses related to wine in Scripture, and I don’t want to start world war three over this issue. But it’s important to note that the Scripture most definitely warns against drunkenness and there certainly is some support for the total abstinence position. I’m not going to turn this post into an argument over that, but it’s important to understand the Bible has very strong statements about the use of alcohol.

77% of Americans believe divorce is ok.

This one is difficult to quantify. There are Biblical arguments tossed both ways. From what Jesus says in the Gospels, it’s clear that God intended marriage to be a permanent thing, one which was not to be dissolved by either party. “They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?  He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.” Matthew 19:7-8.  This passage is in the context of the Pharisees questioning Jesus about divorce and His sarcastic question of whether they had read the law.  Jesus clearly believed that marriage was intended to be permanent.

72% of Americans believe pre-marital sex is ok.

This also does not surprise me. Only a small percentage of Americans are celibate until they get married.  This is referred to as fornication in the Bible and is repeatedly condemned. 1Thessalonians 4:3 “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:” is just one example of God commanding His people to avoid committing this sin.

71% of Americans Believe Gambling is acceptable.

For anyone paying attention, this should be no surprise.  More and more states have been bringing in casinos, card gambling, and lotteries, and poker is popular enough it airs on a major sports channel. While the playing of the cards themselves may not be sinful, that’s up for debate, the wagering of money undoubtedly is.  The concept of stewardship appears regularly in the Bible. It refers to God giving us something and asking us to use it to His glory. Given that God owns us, He also owns our finances. Wasting our money by gambling it away ignores what God wants us to do.

70% of Americans Believe Smoking Marijuana is acceptable

This one does not surprise me, given the prevalence of harder drugs in our society. I suspect this number is actually higher but people were reticent to give their true opinion.  Analyzing this one is a bit tougher because there is no command in the Bible regarding marijuana. However, I think there is a strong Biblical principle that we also applied to alcohol in part one. Marijuana is a drug that intoxicates people. It causes them to lose control, at least to some extent, and essentially serves as a liberator. When men and women are liberated from societal expectations and logical objections the sin nature takes over. For that reason, while I can’t outright say smoking marijuana is a sin, it is a gateway to harder drugs, more dangerous drugs, and it should be avoided for testimony’s sake.

66% of Americans Believe Embryonic Stem Cell Research (ESCR) is acceptable.

My only surprise with this one is that it is not higher.   Most Americans have not connected the dots so let me connect them for you. ESRC uses embryonic stem cells. That wouldn’t be a problem except, to obtain these stem cells, a developing embryo must be killed.  This is abortion under another name, in the name of science. The most ironic thing about this is, ESRC has not produced ONE scientific advancement. Not one. ESRC is a failure. Yet scientists from some morbid obsession with murder, or perhaps to beat the definition of insanity (doing the same thing over and over expecting different results) continue to experiment with them. And because the general public does not understand that life begins at fertilization, they view ESRC in an overall positive light.

66% of Americans Believe Having a Child Out of Wedlock is Acceptable

Given that we have a staggering rate of single parenthood in this country, and the massive acceptance of extramarital sex seen in part one, this number did not surprise me either. If people are willing to fornicate repeatedly and call it acceptable, why should we expect them to be upset when a child is produced from that sin? This question’s results follow logically from the belief that all sex is ok so long as it is consensual and neither party is married to someone else. While we are grateful these children are not being butchered in abortion mills, it is still sad that having a child out of wedlock is viewed as morally acceptable.

66% of Americans believe that the LGBTQ lifestyle is acceptable

Unfortunately, I’m hardly surprised by this.  The LGBTQ lifestyle has been making huge inroads into American life for the last few decades.  Of course, this lifestyle is condemned in both the old and new Testaments, with Paul calling it vile and unnatural in Romans 1. We’ve written extensively about this issue so I won’t belabor the point here other than to point out God views this sin as an abomination.

56% of Americans believe that medical testing on animals is acceptable

This number is much lower than it ought to be. There is nothing wrong with doing medical tests on animals. Obviously these tests should not be cruel for the sake of being cruel, but testing on animals provides us with great advances in medicine. Again, this comes back to man having dominion over the earth as it says in Genesis 1. Because man has dominion over the earth, he can use the things in the earth to better both himself and society at large. But, because people lack a Biblical worldview, more people approve of the LGBTQ lifestyle, which is sinful, than testing on animals, which is not.

54% of Americans believe that the death penalty is acceptable

I’m honestly surprised that this is this high.  Even some people in the pro-life movement have embraced the idea that ending the death penalty is somehow “pro-life”. It isn’t. God instituted the death penalty for murder in Genesis 9:6. “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” This was prior to the Old Testament law so even if you believe that the Law is no longer applicable, this is.  The reason the death penalty for murder exists is that man is made in the image of God. Whoever kills a man, destroys the image of God and should justly be punished the same way.

54% of Americans believe buying/wearing fur is acceptable

This one really got to me. Really? Barely half of America thinks buying fur is acceptable? When LGBTQ, fornication, gambling, embryonic stem cell research, birth control, and divorce are more acceptable than wearing fur, you know your nation has succumbed to moral degeneracy.  There is nothing wrong with wearing fur. Period.  In fact, the very first clothes were made of animal skins according to Genesis 3.  So this is absurd, and a strong sign that the culture has descended into abject moral madness.

51% of Americans believe doctor-assisted suicide is acceptable.

This one scares me. More than half of America thinks that doctor-assisted suicide is acceptable, yet only 18% believe plain suicide is ok.  Suicide does not become more acceptable because a doctor gave you permission to do it.  The inconsistency here is maddening. Humans are made in God’s image according to Genesis 1. Anytime a human commits suicide, it is a tragedy, even if a doctor helps.

44% of Americans believe abortion is acceptable.

This is good news. No really, this is good news. Having less than half the country thinks abortion is unacceptable is great.  However, the number should be zero.  Murdering a child in the womb should never be acceptable. Worse, this number is trending the wrong direction. Since this poll began in 2001, only once has the support for abortion been higher. We’ve written extensively about abortion so I will not belabor the point. However, just remember, abortion is murder, no matter how you slice it.

38% of Americans believe teen sex is acceptable

Oh boy is this arbitrary.  Underage kids shouldn’t be having sex, but sex between two adults is ok. Again, the inconsistency is frustrating. Why should it be any different when two teenagers have sex compared to two adults? Their age? Well, then why is two 18-year-olds having sex on their 18th birthdays ok, but not the day before? The absurdity of the secular position should be crystal clear.  The same arguments that apply to fornication apply here as well. God made sexual activity for the marriage relationship between one man and one woman for life.

36% of Americans think pornography is acceptable.

There is no way this number represents the number of Americans who view pornography at least weekly.  The biggest porn site on the internet receives billions of views per year, and there are probably millions of websites like it. Porn is a blight on society and many “performers” are trafficked into the industry, leading to a very blurred line between people doing it because they want to, and people being forced to do it.  This number should be zero.  The Bible makes it clear that even looking at a member of the opposite gender with lust in your heart is sin (Matt 5:28). And that is exactly what pornography is.

34% of Americans believe cloning an animals is acceptable

Wait….animal cloning is less acceptable than pornography? Yikes, are we in trouble!  There is nothing wrong with cloning an animal.  Period. Now obviously we shouldn’t try to increase an animal’s suffering or be cruel, but cloning an animal is perfectly acceptable. We have dominion over the earth according to Genesis. If it meets the needs or wants of man and is not being a poor steward, cloning is fine.  The fact that it rates worse than pornography just shows how sick and twisted our society has become.

20% of Americans believe Polygamy is acceptable

I mean, we’ve redefined marriage from the Biblical definition of one man and one woman for life to include two men or two women so why not make it more than two?  We wrote an article and did a podcast on polygamy so I won’t repeat myself here. Instead, I will note that, when the culture rejects the foundation of Genesis, nothing, even two people in a relationship, is safe.

18% of Americans believe suicide is ok.

Suicide is a tragedy every time. Even when a wanted criminal kills himself, it is a tragedy because his victims do not get the justice they are owed.  Why can we make this argument, then argue the death penalty is acceptable (which we will do in another part of this series (spoiler))? Because the death penalty was only to be instituted after a person had committed a crime worthy of death and been found guilty by his peers. In the case of suicide, a person decides to end their life, often merely out of depression or loss. The thing is, according to Genesis 1, we are made in the Image of God. We are special and uniquely crafted from the mother’s womb by God according to Psalms 139:13-16.  Given God owns us (1 Cor 6:20), He alone has the right to determine when our lives end.

12% of Americans believe cloning a human is ok.

Ok this one gets tricky. There is a range of ethical questions to ask here from, “would it even be human?” to “would it have a soul?” This is a question we will probably grapple with more fully with this in a future article on human cloning. However, given that current techniques would require destroying dozens of embryos to get to this point, human cloning should be regarded as unethical and anti-Biblical in its current form at least.

9% of Americans believe adultery is ok.

Dropping to the bottom of the list, this number does not seem to quite square with the rest of the numbers. Americans are fine with pre-marital sex, but extramarital sex is not ok.  Apparently, the wedding vows have some meaning as long as you both choose to keep them.  It is fairly obvious from Scripture that adultery is a sin. Don’t take my word for it, take God’s. He wrote it with His very finger on tablets of stone in Exodus 20:14 “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

Wrap Up

In case you haven’t noticed folks, we are rapidly losing the culture. In fact, it’s already lost. When divorce is more acceptable than wearing fur….the Christian culture your parents had and you may have grown up with is gone. It’s not coming back, through politics or anything else short of a miraculous revival. Given the state of most of the remaining churches in this country, I’m not expecting one of those. Get ready for a rough ride folks. It’s going to get a lot worse in a hurry unless Jesus comes back soon.  We need to be reaching as many people as we can while there is yet time.

 

Do you know what’s going to happen when you die? Are you completely sure? If you aren’t, please read this or listen to this. You can know where you will spend eternity. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us, we’d love to talk to you.