Teaching Morality, the Foundation of Civilized Society
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe
In spite of individual political
beliefs, we must come into an agreement that a civilized society cannot succeed
without a moral code that transcends politics.
In the government’s effort to remove religion, especially Judaism and
Christianity, from our educational and political systems, it has also removed
much of the moral code which is foundational to any civilization.
George
Washington wrote, “Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality
can be maintained without religion.
Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality
can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.” Yet, in the present atmosphere
of “political correctness”, leaders in our nation and around the world are
endeavoring to evolve a utopia devoid of religion and, therefore, devoid of
moral principle.
One of the reasons that this
has so easily come about is that moralists too often declare that something is
right or wrong without explaining the reasons for that moral stance. Likewise, too few people ask or answer questions
such as, “Why is honesty the best policy?” Instead, we discuss at length those times
when we feel that, in spite of a moral code that favors honesty, it is in our
best interests to be dishonest. In doing
so, we are undermining the moral code.
How can we Christians hope to stop this immoral intrusion into our
culture when it has so infiltrated our churches that often when morality comes
in conflict with what the world system has declared politically correct, we
dilute our doctrines and by-laws to the point where they only vaguely resemble
the Word of God?
I conducted a brief,
unofficial survey asking, “What moral characteristics
are important to you so that you can comfortably co-exist with others?” I questioned members of the Bible study I was
leading at an assisted living facility, my church congregation and my Facebook
friends. People responded most often by listing
honesty and integrity. Other thoughts
included respect for life and for the individual, a positive attitude, a good
sense of humor and the ability to enjoy life.
One of my favorite responses summed up everything, “Live life to
express, not to impress.”
Although most of my
respondents are Christians, I sense that the general population feels much the
same way. Yet, we continue to lie to
others, to ourselves and to God. We continue
to put people into leadership positions who are not known for their either
their veracity or their integrity.
While most people can quite
adequately define “honesty”, they struggle with a workable definition of
“integrity.” We know we should want it,
but we aren’t sure what it is. Integrity
is being true to our core beliefs; it is being true to ourselves no matter what
the circumstances.
Authors, through the
ages, have portrayed integrity in their characters. Shakespeare’s Hamlet features Polonius advising his son Laertes, “This above all:
to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day,Thou canst
not then be false to any man.”
Mark
Twain gives us Huckleberry Finn who will lie whenever he thinks it is
expedient, but in the end maintains his integrity by helping Jim to
escape.
Dr. Seuss’ book, Horton Hatches the Egg, depicts the
elephant Horton as one whose belief system is based on being faithful. He proves himself faithful, “100 percent”.
Horton is an elephant of integrity.
(When we
discuss the importance of honesty and integrity, the question always comes
up: What if a lady asks, “Do I look good
in this dress?” Isn’t it better to lie than to hurt her feelings? First of all,
I have been young and now I am old, and I have yet to hear a lady ask that
question. However, if one should ask,
the answer is, “If you have to ask, it means that you aren’t comfortable in
that dress. Change into something that
you’re comfortable in.”)
Because morality is essential in establishing and
maintaining a civilized society, it is imperative that we both practice
morality and pass those values to upcoming generations. The teaching of values is problematic because
we are concerned that it will include promulgating liberal attitudes toward
sexuality. Liberal sexual attitudes,
however, are the result of a lack of the moral education.
Moral education must begin in our homes and
in our churches. Children must have
strong moral values before they enter the education system. We must encourage educators to reaffirm the
importance and the value of honesty and integrity.
Moral
education is not only teaching the difference between right and wrong; it must
include the importance of choosing the right. In MPowered Parenting, Dr. Michelle Macrorie, writes, “The problem,
however, is that the true heart of morality, is not only to know the difference
between right and wrong, but more importantly, it is the ability to care about what is right
from wrong.
“It’s
quite possible to be able to distinguish right and wrong but not care about
doing the right thing. A child on a playground who knows it’s right to be nice
and wrong to hurt others might still push a classmate to the ground when the
teacher is not looking because his classmate raced to be first in line before
they went out to recess.
“This
is where parents and other important caregivers come in. It is the
responsibility of the parents to take the teachings of their belief systems and
to make it matter to
their children. The parents must be the instruments by which children
learn to care, for moral
integrity is an essential quality that connects people to one
another and creates a world in which people can live together in peace.
No lectures, sermons, or Sunday school lessons can ensure that your child will
care about doing the “right” thing. He’ll learn about ethics and morality
not from what others tell him, but from how you treat him.”[i]
“Even a child is known by his
deeds, Whether what he does is
pure and right” (Proverbs 20:11 NKJV).
Now is the time to make honesty and integrity
priorities in our lives. Let’s
demonstrate their value by the way we live.
Let’s teach world by our example.
Pray:
Declare the following before the Lord:
▪Psalm
101:2 (NKJV)
2 I will behave wisely in a
perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a
perfect heart.
▪Proverbs
20:7 (NKJV)
Because my
righteousness is in You, I will walk in my integrity and my children will be
blessed after me.
▪1 Peter 2:12
I will keep my conduct among the worldly honorable, so that when they speak
against me as an evildoer, they may see my good deeds and glorify God.
Act:
As Dr. Laura Schlessinger often says, “Now, go do the right thing.”
[i] http://www.mpoweredparenting.com/secret-to-teaching-morality-to-our-kids/
