What is the root cause of moral chaos?

Today, the pressing questions that we are asking ourselves are: Why is there so much violence in the U.S. and internationally? Why are America and the world spinning apart? Although we sometimes tend to blame law enforcement, various types of weapons or our political leaders, of first importance is identifying the cause of the problem.

Violence in Chicago is a prime example. The New York Times reported on May 20: "As of mid-May, 216 people have been murdered in Chicago, a 62 percent increase...."

Dramatic changes in the values and behaviors of society do not happen overnight; these extreme changes take time. Disbelief in an intelligent designer, God, has a long history. In ancient Rome there were the Sophists and Epicureans. Later, there were such skeptics as Spinoza, Knutzen, Rousseau, Voltaire, Hume, Herbert, Shelley, Marx, Nietzsche, Mao, Stalin, Dawkins, and many followers of Darwin.

This disbelief in a supreme creator has laid the foundation for rejecting Biblical values in favor of moral relativism, which instructs the individual to select his own values and act on those. You see, if every individual does what is right in his own eyes, the inevitable result is moral and societal chaos. Imagine how dangerous the highway would be if every driver made up his own traffic rules. We could not use the highways for fear of losing our lives.

Perhaps the theory of Nihilism, popularized by the 19th Century Russian writer Turgenev, is the best example of the anti-God movement. It may be defined as the belief that traditional morals and ideas have no value and must be destroyed.

Genesis, chapter 6, tells us that the world was filled with violence before God sent the universal flood. In Matthew 24:37-39, we read: "...But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Therefore, societal violence is one of the signs prefacing Christ's second coming.

You see, attacking God's values has been, and still is, popular in our materialistic world. The best summary of God's values is found in the Ten Commandments, the only portion of the Bible written by God's own hand. God wrote them in stone to ensure that there would be no changes made by man. Nor did He trust man to write them. They are a summary of universal values that are applicable to people of all times.

Let's look at an example of a typical attack on the Ten Commandments: The ACLU of Virginia filed a lawsuit against the Giles County School Board after Narrows High School posted a display on law with 10 equal-size frames, one of which included the Ten Commandments. The county school board voted to settle the suit.

Our schools can teach such theories as atheism, humanism, nihilism and materialism, but they can't teach the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments. All of these "isms" are religions, for religion is an organized system of beliefs. Since these secular religions are taught in schools, a policy which would allow for the teaching of the Ten Commandments should also be available to all schools.

Not only do we find attacks on the Ten Commandments in the courts, but we also find disregard for them by some in the religious community who, consciously or unconsciously, depreciate some of these commandments. There are those who violate the first commandment by making the love of money (or other things) their god. Some violate the third commandment by using God's name in a frivolous way. Others violate the fourth commandment by doing their pleasure on God's Sabbath, which was founded by Him at creation when He blessed and rested from His work of creation on the seventh day (Isaiah 58:13 and Genesis 2: 2,3). Some violate the seventh commandment by attempting to change the definition of marriage, which is the union of one man and one woman (see Genesis, chapters 1 and 2). Others violate the sixth commandment by supporting the murdering of the unborn child, who cannot defend himself.

Therefore, it appears that the root cause of violence is the lack of following God's moral values as summarized in the Ten Commandments. In Chapter 2, the apostle James reminds his readers that if we break one of the Ten Commandments, we are guilty of breaking all of them, for by breaking any one, we are telling God that we know better than He what is morally right. We are, in fact, attempting to take on the role of God, coveting His position as creator, law-giver, and judge. The Ten Commandments are a mirror, showing one his sins; this knowledge drives that person to the cross, where he confesses his sins and asks for forgiveness through the grace of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Mankind should go back to the Bible, asking God for power to follow His Word. We know that Jesus and the Father are one (John 10:30). Jesus taught: "If you love me, keep my commandments." Obedience to God will go far in erasing hate and violence. Remember, we "reap what we sow!" (Galatians 6:7). For far too long, society has been sowing exaltation of human wisdom rather than exaltation of our eternal Creator, the source of all wisdom. Heavenly Father, please save us from ourselves!

By Fillmer Hevener. He may be contacted at [email protected]. ©2016 by Fillmer Hevener, used by permission. Opinions expressed are those of the author.