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Out immorality has got us on a downward slide

Out on a Limb
Ross L. Talbott
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado

When I was a young man, there was a popular saying, “You can’t legislate morality.” It was assumed everyone understood the difference between good and evil sort of intuitively. The foundational document was the Ten Commandments, and they were displayed in almost every public building.

When we began to wonder what the “definition of is, is,” and began to talk about rights and tolerance, and self-gratification, we lost sight of the consequences of self-serving behavior.

When we call good evil and call evil good, it becomes necessary for government to step in and attempt to deal with the consequences of this behavior. Unfortunately, government has a vague and inadequate point of reference for making moral legislation. Money and power are the main decision driving forces. “For the common good” is a lost concept.



Ideally, there should be three centers of authority in a society or culture.

The basic, foundational center of authority is the family. When this functions properly, children are educated, motivated and taught responsibility and self-discipline. They also have a resource of love and security that is unbeatable.



The second area of authority is the church. Whatever your religion, the organized church should establish and encourage a style of life and relationships that adds a very necessary structure to society. It sets standards of value and behavior that allow people to interact with confidence.

The third area of authority is government. Governments’ responsibility is to establish boundaries, to maintain a military for protection and to facilitate commerce. It is also responsible to establish and maintain relations with other countries and cultures.

Big problems occur when either religion or government encroaches in authority realms outside of their own. For instance, in some countries religion has become the government and dictates the law. Countries dominated by Islam may have Sharia law or other religion driven structure. If you are of another religion, you may well come under persecution.

In American culture, the government has seriously encroached on the areas of both family and religious authority.

Our American jurisprudence and political systems have, for instance, redefined what constitutes marriage.

Abortion has been called “women’s right to choose” when in reality, it is an effort to escape the consequences of a choice already made.

In fact, many of our government-defined “rights” are just an effort to escape consequences and responsibilities. Redefining the family has robbed future generations of the guidance and security of the traditional family. Catering to personal gratifications will cost us dearly, and may ultimately result in the collapse of our nation.

Denigrating and denying the faith of our fathers who built this great nation is a black hole sucking us down.

Government outlaws gambling, except what it runs to make money. It destroys families and blames others. It rewards laziness and penalizes hard work and success. It pretends compassion when the real agenda is control.

About the time the original 13 states adopted the Constitution, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish historian said, “A democracy is always temporary in nature, it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.”

The average democracy in history has lasted 200 years. Guess where we are?

Professor Tyler stated democracies have always gone through the following sequence:

1) From bondage to spiritual faith

2) From spiritual faith to great courage

3) From courage to liberty

4) From liberty to abundance

5) From abundance to complacency

6) From complacency to apathy

7) From apathy to dependence

8) From dependence back into bondage

Welcome to No. 7!

Ross L. Talbott lives in New Castle.


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