The Disturbing Decline in Respect for Biblical Values
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).
Course Content
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
