Bringing Back Values

There are so many good people in this world, and yet we are constantly bombarded with evil on a daily basis. I find myself wondering what has been fueling this immoral behavior. Sexual predators, mass shooters, terrorists, the list goes on. I’m not sure if it’s been getting worse, or if we just hear about it more often, but the fact that it goes on is unsettling.

After spending quite some time trying to understand the route of this sinful behavior, I may have reached a conclusion. I can confidently say we are faced with an epidemic due to religion, and the lack thereof.

I myself have never been overly religious, which is very common among millennials. Our generation has been pushing religion to the back burner, even criticizing those who practice their faith. I was raised as a Christian and occasionally attended church as a child, so I asked myself why I never stayed committed.

I think most people reach an age where they start to doubt the scripture of their religion. They are “stories” after all, and written quite some time ago, which makes them rarely relatable. It becomes unpopular to have “faith”, like being the only kid who still believes in Santa Claus. And it isn’t until you get older that you understand the meaning behind those stories and the purpose of having faith.

Our culture has slowly been distancing itself from any form of “God”. In fact, often our culture attacks the very idea of faith. The entertainment industry is a perfect example. Our music, movies, t.v. shows and news are infecting our culture with sinful behavior. Young girls idolize female “artists” that sing about sex and drugs, and wear extremely revealing clothing on stage while dancing provocatively.

Young boys are brought up on violence with video games, music, and movies. Not to mention all the sexual references plastered everywhere. Our culture is constructed in sex, violence, drugs, and hatred. We are force fed these sins on a regular basis, and this causes problems when faith and religious values are non existent.

We all need to pull together here, forget about religious labels and focus on the values. So many people are turned off by the thought of religion, and they ignore the greatness that surrounds it. We need to stop glorifying immoral behavior, and be more cautious about what we let our children see and hear. Young minds are impressionable, and currently they are learning more bad than good.

If everybody could bring themselves to merely pretend they were religious, imagine the difference that would make. If they didn’t have to go to church or read ancient stories about miracles, but lived by the moral code instilled in most religions, that would be enough. And for the most part, people are like that, but we learn what we are taught and not enough people are teaching this anymore.

I believe people have begun to think that morality comes naturally in humans, when I think it’s quite the opposite. I feel that there is a balance between good and evil, in all of us, everywhere. Only when we add more evil than good do we begin to tip that scale. Unfortunately that scale has been tipped for quite some time, and it's up to us to put in the effort to bring back the balance, and hopefully start tipping the other direction.