Britain in Serious Moral Decline
A commentary by John Ross Schroeder
Good News senior writer, United Kingdom
 Tawdry
events have shaken popular confidence in both governmental
and religious authority figures in the United Kingdom.
Overall they reflect
the gradual decline of traditional values caused in part by the combination
of spreading secularism and growing ignorance of true biblical morality.
Evidence of decline
Noted Daily Mail columnist Melanie Phillips sums up this sad
state of affairs in the British nation: "The government is convulsed
by spiralling revelations in which ministers and their aides are all
swearing, plotting and spinning…Meanwhile the [London] Metropolitan
Police is reeling under mounting claims of brutality at the G20 demonstration...Indeed,
almost everywhere the governance of Britain appears to be crumbling
before our eyes" (April 20, 2009, emphasis added throughout).
The latest incident involves the disclosure of a private e-mail by
a senior government political advisor virtually slandering a few prominent
members of the opposition Conservative Party. This official was subsequently
forced to resign. But as Melanie Phillips observed, "True responsibility
lies with the politicians who have used such creatures to carry out
their destabilising campaigns and have perverted the whole of politics
as a result" (ibid.).
This incident reveals the contempt that some political leaders have
for their opponents. How can the country pull together when its political
leaders are so divided?
Root Causes
Conservative Party leader David Cameron, boldly addressing other worrisome
trends, wrote:
"So as we survey our broken economy, the hallmarks of our broken
society are clearer than ever—crime, fear, incivility, teenage
pregnancy, wasted lives. There's a theme that links all of these
things together. We see it in root causes of family breakdown, welfare
dependency, debt, drugs, poverty, poor policing and failing schools.
It all comes down to a society that is in danger of losing its most
important value: responsibility.
"You can see this loss of responsibility in the decades-long
shredding of our civic fabric. There's been a deep erosion of
duty, and of the unwritten codes of courtesy and neighbourliness that
sustain our communities. This can't go on" (Scotland on
Sunday, April 26, 2009).
Absence of moral leadership
Meanwhile Rod Liddle writes in the well-respected Spectator weekly
magazine that the leaders of the Church of England "…have
ditched its traditions and reduced it to a sort of superannuated ad-hoc
branch of social services. It has lost all sense of mission and direction" (April
11, 2009).
Mr. Liddle's indictment accurately reflects the suspicions of
many of his fellow citizens. He continues: "It [the Anglican Church]
seems to have swallowed whole every convenient shibboleth [watchword, Webster's]
of modern liberalism, every transient political fashion—just as
have, by the way, our judiciary, our social services, our education
department. It has become an institution which is more politically correct
than even our government; you look to it for moral leadership and
it offers none whatsoever."
Spiritual standards needed
Of course other churches have residence in the United Kingdom, but
the Church of England remains the state or established church and the
one expected to set proper spiritual standards for the whole nation.
Yet, with its focus on long-running controversies like the ordination
of women bishops and the role of gay priests, the Anglican Church in
Britain somehow seems to have forgotten its purpose.
Policy makers in the Church of England should remember that if we claim
to follow God's instructions, we need to live by all of
His standards. God doesn't sanction the rewriting of His rules
by humans simply because humankind is naturally inclined to sin.
Accepting responsibility
The apostle Paul warns, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked;
for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Galatians 6:9).
Church leaders who claim to believe God's Word should permit themselves
no other option than to strictly adhere to biblical standards. Not to
do so invites the negative consequences for sin that Paul writes about.
As David Cameron observed, "We need to make sure that everybody
recognises their responsibility to wider society, not just to those
they are closest to—and that means tackling the causes and consequences
of crime and disorder in their communities. This is intrinsically connected
to the issue of family breakdown" (Scotland on Sunday).
But will this acceptance of responsibility really happen? Will the
current trends in Britain ever be reversed?
The promised solution
The Bible states plainly that conditions will become much worse before
our social and religious irresponsibility is corrected. But it also
reveals that the God of the Bible has a clear plan to thoroughly renew
the spiritual integrity of the British people—a people whose biblical
identity you need to know.
 To receive this essential knowledge simply request or download our
free booklet: The
United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy.
Related Resource
Redefining Morality: Why a Torrent of Trouble Threatens to Engulf Us
Today the major English-speaking nations watch as a storm of problems
draws ever nearer, a storm created by hostile forces that blurred and
weakened their sense of morality. Does the Bible indicate where we will
go from here?
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