The Disturbing Decline in Respect for Biblical Values
A commentary by
John Ross Schroeder
Good News magazine Senior Writer, United Kingdom
Have you recently experienced a driver carelessly cutting in front
of you? Or walked past a group of youths who hurled abuse at you without
provocation? What about people pushing in line? Today we see a serious
and growing erosion of traditional biblical values, such as respect for
the rights and dignity of others.
For example, newspaper columnist Melanie
Phillips has lamented the waning of the quality of respect in the British
Isles. She wrote: "You
can see examples everywhere in the myriad incivilities of everyday life:
the shouting and the swearing in the streets, the lighted cigarettes
dangled carelessly in children's faces by rush-hour crowds; the
casual slovenliness on the Tube [underground railway], as passengers
anti-socially chomp their way through hamburgers and leave rubbish littering
the carriages. You see it in schools where teachers find it increasingly
impossible to impose their authority upon badly behaved pupils" (Daily
Mail, 2l May, emphasis added throughout).
British Home Secretary
David Blunkett "blamed parents who fail
to accept responsibility for instilling values of respect in
their families and a breakdown of neighbourliness in villages, towns
and cities" (Daily Mail, 21 May).
Relationships in the West
are becoming increasingly fragile. Our countries are full of broken marriages,
lonely people, single mothers, confused and uncared for children—accompanied
by a marked decline in courtesy, civility and just plain good manners.
Even driving courtesy has suffered in recent years and road rage is becoming
all too common.
One of the
fundamental reasons for this general decline in traditional values
is the pervasive ignorance of biblical standards. We need to emphasize
a restoration of respect for the God who created human beings and for
the laws He established for our good.
Needed is a change of heart, turning
in an altogether different direction—one
of love and respect for others by obedience to God's basic spiritual
law, the Ten Commandments. As God said of ancient Israel, "Oh that
they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep all
My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their
sons forever!" (Deuteronomy 5:29).
 The
United Church of God publishes a booklet titled The
Ten Commandments,
showing how each one is as powerful, active and unchanging as the scientific
law of gravity. They form a blueprint for a successful society. This
basic spiritual law is the very summation of God's absolute standard
for the conduct of humankind. You cannot afford to be without this publication.
It is free for the asking.
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