Does Morality Matter?
There's an old saying, " You can't legislate morality." This cliché is considered by many to be a fundamental truth. It's another way of saying, "you can't make someone want to obey the law." So what? What difference does that make? Only God knows the workings of man's heart…that's His business. Public morality is what we are concerned with. Our public morality is the culmination of 6,000 years of historic and cultural standards. If our society punishes murderers, for example, it's because of public morality. What difference does it make if the murderer enjoyed the crime? Leave that to God.
But people who say, "You can't legislate morality" are really saying, "don't stand in the way of change."
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Does morality matter? Yes. Society pays the price when lives are destroyed by sin. When 69% of black babies are born out of wedlock, we pay the bill. 60% of black males end up in the penal system - almost all these men grew up without a father figure. Among American born Latino mothers, the illegitimate birth rate is 48%. |
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Fatherless
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Congressman Charles Rangel, in his address to the Democratic National
Convention in 2004 said, "The promise of America is that government
does not seek to regulate your behavior in the bedroom, but to guarantee
your right to provide food in the kitchen. The issue of government is
not to determine who may sleep together in the bedroom, it's to help those
that might not be eating in the kitchen."
That may sound good, but only because our society has accepted the world
view of Hugh Heffner. Back in the 1950's, he came up with the (then) shocking
paradigm that whatever two (or more) consenting adults did in the privacy
of their bedroom was their business alone. The problem with this
position is it assumes that society is not affected by immoral sexual
relationships. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mr. Rangel
knows better than most the horrible results of sexual immorality in the
Black community. Every study shows that fatherless children are more likely
to become criminals. Every study shows that single parent households produce
a higher percentage of unproductive, destructive citizens.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Black
"Love Children"
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Way back in 1965, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Democrat Senator for New York, released a lengthy study showing the erosion of the black family in America. He warned of a trend that unless reversed, would spell disaster for this subculture. Fatherless children were far more likely to have little or no moral compunctions. Fatherless children were far more likely to become criminals. |
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Moynihan
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Bill Bennett, Secretary of Education during the Reagan presidency, warned that children raised without a moral compass would become predators with no conscience. Tony Brown, a respected commentator and author, made the statement that the black community is like a parakeet in a coal mine. If the parakeet dies, (the weakest link in a chain) it means the coal miners should get out fast. He said what happens to the black community is a harbinger of what is to come to the rest of America.
Daniel Moynihan pointed out in 1965 that 50% of black families
were receiving welfare specifically because of absent fathers.
(See http://www.dol.gov/asp/programs/history/webid-meynihan.htm)
He recommended the government reverse the trend by providing black fathers
with U.S. Post Office jobs on the condition they care for their families.
But at the time, Congress thought a mechanical answer to the problem (education
in the use of prophylactics and contraceptives) more practical. The U.S.
government decided to ignore the moral component and tried to reverse
the trend with "sex education."
It's obvious that sex education in public schools hasn't solved
the problem. If anything, it has help accelerate it. How many
millions of kids would have known what the opposite sex's genitals looked
liked (or even cared) if it weren't for public school sex education?
What Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Tony Brown and Bill Bennett warned
about has happened.
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In 1965 23.6% of black babies were born out of wedlock compared to 3.07% for whites. The government chose to ignore the moral component. Now illegitimate births are up to 69% in the Black , and 22% in the White community.. Among American born Latino mothers, the rate is 48%. |
A recent government ad campaign used celebrities to discourage kids from getting intoxicated and having sex. The commercials seem to have the opposite effect for which they were intended. Even though the celebrities were honest in relating their past indiscretions as foolish behavior, the message that came through to the kids was, "my favorite actress did it, so it's OK for me to do it." When the government imparts knowledge without morality, it is an abuse of power.
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There was an opportunity in the early 1980's when the spread of AIDS could have been checked, but the media covered up the link between homosexual sex and AIDS. The same tragedy is being replicated today with the AIDS epidemic worldwide. Instead of looking for ways of preventing immoral sex, governments are trying to educate their citizens on the use of prophylactics. The same recipe for disaster that U.S. lawmakers employed in 1965. |
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AIDS Epidemic
Worldwide
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How Hugh Heffner won the debate
I believe there is a life and death struggle going on today that is every bit as important as the Civil War Between the States of 1860. Houses are divided, father against son, mother against daughter, brother against brother, sister against sister. The war of which I speak is the Culture War... or as I see it, the Morality War. The two sides both think they are right and claim they represent the true America. One of the promises 2004 presidential candidate John Dean was to "take back control" of America from the "Christian Right." The America John Dean spoke of sees the Bill of Rights as the license to engage in any lifestyle one sees fit "as long as it doesn't hurt anybody."
This is a reincarnation of the Playboy philosophy. The United States Supreme Court codified this amoral perspective when they ruled that the State of Texas had "no interest" in what consenting adults did in private, thus undermining the ability of local governments to curtail sexual activity determined to be harmful by local communities. This was, in my view, our Gettysburg... in other words, I believe Hugh Heffner has won the war… all that remains now is the slow attrition of morality…unless a few good pastors stand up. Sex is the hub around which male morality revolves. Just before Israel was about to start conquering the Promised Land, a heathen king sought the counsel of a prophet of God. "How do I defeat them?" was the question. The answer was relevant to America today. "Entice them to fornicate with your women." (Revelation 2:14)
Go To Next Chapter, The Failure of Sex Education In Public Schools