Which Way Are We Headed?

Does anyone else feel it? Maybe it's me. Maybe aging does this to everyone, but I don't think that's entirely it. For the past couple of years, I have watched our world, our culture, the status quo careening sideways at an alarming rate. The history of the world is littered with crises: wars, natural disasters, acts of terrorism, famine, moral decay...But never before have we slipped from such a lofty position.

This is not a tirade against the younger generation nor a moral soapbox from which to condemn everything I find uncomfortable. Never in my life have I been so personally comfortable. It would be easy to turn my head, close my ears, and refuse to acknowledge the haunting unease that is strengthening every day.

It's a sensation, intuitive, just a whisper, like an apparition glimpsed from the corner of your eye. You try to focus on it, and it's gone. But you know it was there. You're affected by it, even though you don't understand what it is.

The battle between the idea of moral absolutes and the popular mindset is heating up. All over the world, the suffering of mankind is escalating, much of it due to man's own evil; yet, no one refers to evil anymore. The idea of absolute right and wrong is no longer acceptable. Instead, we talk about "healthy choices," "affirming self image," "lifestyle alternatives," and "disease." None of those labels carries with it any personal judgement.

Africa is being decimated by AIDS, overwhelmingly due to the immoral lifestyle choices of the people. Yet, to hear the popular media address it, you would think it was a plague similar to polio. No one but the handful of missionaries working in the field ever speaks the truth. South American countries are being overrun by terrorists and ruling entities who seem to have no conscience. Yet, our own government--the one nation under God--plays word games and elevates dictators to the position of benevolent rulers, supporting their tyranny for political gain.

Much has been said and written about the United States's rapid decline, yet few Americans truly believe they are part of the problem. "Just as long as I'm comfortable," is the hymn sung by most, even those professing to be followers of Christ. "Don't make anyone feel bad about themselves," has become the accepted mantra of well-meaning people. But how wrong that is.

Until we see ourselves the way God sees us, until we feel terrible about our contribution to moral decay, until each of us cleans up our own act in whatever little ways we can, the slope into destruction only gets slicker.

We view our own choices as private, as though we alone have the right to define evil for ourselves. We call good what God calls abhorrent. We value what God detests. We rewrite history to exclude any intervention from Heaven. Yet, when the ship begins to sink, we all cry out to God to save us, as though the God we've renamed and redefined to suit ourselves has no choice but to obey our every wish.

The world is pushing for global unity, global ideology, global everything to the extent that soon the idea of nationalism will be viewed as suspect. The Land of the Free, the once-honorable champion of liberty, has abused the concept of liberty to the extent that we will soon be slaves once more. Those crying out to stop this headlong race to self-destruction are universally booed, labeled "phobic," and accused of "hate-mongering."

It's happened before. All throughout history, those who stood for truth and righteousness were mocked and belittled, eventually silenced. But never before has the descent into darkness originated from the brightest era of light the world has ever experienced.

We could have it all. It's right in front of us: the technology, the experience, the science, the convenience to allow us to devote ourselves to righteous causes, lifestyles of honor and purity, clear-headed decisions based on dignity, fairness, and an undisputed standard of right and wrong.

But we're going to miss it. While plunging headlong into the chaotic mess that will eventually destroy us, we think we're becoming more enlightened. We won't realize how foolish we were until it's too late.

And I'm afraid, for much of the world, it's already too late.
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