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This has been on my mind as of late and would welcome anyone to weigh in.... in your opinion, has our morals and values in modern society eroded in the last 10, 20 even 30 years? Or has it always been this way but now we are more open about it?

For example, homosexuality. I went to public school and I never heard about this. I didn't know any gay people. Now everyone "identifies" has something other than straight. I'm told that its *cool* for high school girls to be bi-sexual!

Shacking up (living in fornication) seems to be all the rage. Very few couples date and get married. Just live together until it doesn't work out any split. Did we always have these situations, but it was kept quiet? Are we more open about it now?

Discuss.

I think Christian sexual morality has clearly been ditched by most Americans, who would not look to the Bible to decide how to behave. That scares me.

I think we are generally much more moral about things like slavery, lynching blacks who are guilty of no crime, etc.

I'm not sure what the trend is for things like financial fraud, etc.

I think that we've decayed in a very backwards sense. The message of (blatant) acceptance, equality, and "love" has set itself on the center stage, and anyone not on board is a bigot. Now there are other movements, but I see this as the main trend among the upcoming generations
This mindset permeates churches and culture alike. An awful shame.

For those of us who have TVs, my guess is that we would agree that what was not viewable morally a few decades back certainly has gone down hill. Even commercials that come up on history, travel and home building shows are in your face with sexual attention getters. Lately more swear words that once were bleeped out just get said and there are shows with nakedness that are less and less fuzzy on bodily private parts. Disrespect for various areas of authority, in general, have also grown. I think the openness and general acceptance of areas like homosexuality causes some who may have curiosities in these areas to experiment more.

The sin of Sodom is often referred to when speaking of homosexual activity but I find this text in Ezekiel 16 speaking of other sins leading up to Sodom's destruction -

Your younger sister was Sodom. She lived to the south of you with her daughters. You did all the terrible things they did, but you also did much worse! I am the Lord God. As I live, I swear that your sister Sodom and her daughters never did as many bad things as you and your daughters. “Your sister Sodom and her daughters were proud. They had too much to eat and too much time on their hands, and they did not help poor, helpless people. Sodom and her daughters became too proud and began to do terrible things in front of me. So I punished them!

Interesting the other areas, pride, over-eating, leisure life style, not helping the poor and needy and pride being mentioned twice. Sounds very typical of our western culture.

steve-in-kville wrote:This has been on my mind as of late and would welcome anyone to weigh in.... in your opinion, has our morals and values in modern society eroded in the last 10, 20 even 30 years? Or has it always been this way but now we are more open about it?

For example, homosexuality. I went to public school and I never heard about this. I didn't know any gay people. Now everyone "identifies" has something other than straight. I'm told that its *cool* for high school girls to be bi-sexual!

Shacking up (living in fornication) seems to be all the rage. Very few couples date and get married. Just live together until it doesn't work out any split. Did we always have these situations, but it was kept quiet? Are we more open about it now?

Discuss.

No, it really has gone down the tubes. People who say they are christian and even attending evangelical churches living together, and the church not doing anything. That just was not done in the 70s. A really loose girl with a reputation might get involved in snogging, seldom anything more. Casual sex and homosexuality were unheard of. And BTW, I went to a public high school.

I just hope we can keep this sort of stuff out of our culture. It is so destructive. It totally separates physical intimacy from the lifetime commitment of marriage . "We will be together as long as we both shall love." Particularly destructive to the gals.

BTW Steve, this is what you are dumping your kids into if you go to a church that has ditched any pretense of standards.

J.M.

Judas Maccabeus wrote:People who say they are christian and even attending evangelical churches [blatantly and unrepentantly sinning], and the church not doing anything.

This is perhaps one of my biggest problems. Also one big reason I desire to be a part of a CA congregation.

Judas Maccabeus wrote:BTW Steve, this is what you are dumping your kids into if you go to a church that has ditched any pretense of standards.

J.M.

For the record, the church we have been attending takes a pretty hard line against divorce/remarriage, homosexuality, "shakin' up" and such like. But thanks for the warning!!

At 82 years old I can offer the "long view" observation:

In a word, yes, the culture at large has increasingly accepted immoral behaviors. What was once taboo is now touted publicly. The "sexual revolution" in the 1960s was the first mass public promotion of sexual immorality in the US. The internet has accelerated it with easy access to porn in the privacy of the domicile as well as social media offering anonymity in the sharing of such ideas. God will not be mocked and God will prevail. We cannot control others but we can control our own choices to live faithfully as a disciple of God.

MaxPC wrote:At 82 years old I can offer the "long view" observation:

In a word, yes, the culture at large has increasingly accepted immoral behaviors. What was once taboo is now touted publicly. The "sexual revolution" in the 1960s was the first mass public promotion of sexual immorality in the US. The internet has accelerated it with easy access to porn in the privacy of the domicile as well as social media offering anonymity in the sharing of such ideas. God will not be mocked and God will prevail. We cannot control others but we can control our own choices to live faithfully as a disciple of God.

So is it as bad to-day as it was in pre-Israelite Canaan? Or in the time before the flood?

silentreader wrote: So is it as bad to-day as it was in pre-Israelite Canaan? Or in the time before the flood?

Interesting question. I'd be curious to hear some opinions on this!