"Students were debating whether one student was right in returning $100 she'd found in the hallway to its owner. They concluded that she'd done a dumb thing, and asked the counselor's opinion.

"He replied, Well, I think she did the right thing. But I'm not going to push my idea of right and wrong on you. After all, I'm your counselor.'"

But what's a counselor for, if it isn't to steer people toward taking a right course of action? What good is a neutral stand like that? How can there be a neutral position between right and wrong?

This counselor, whoever he is, was correct not to want to push his own ideas of right and wrong onto his students. But what made him think that telling young people it's wrong to steal was his idea? And why was he willing to concede for one second that the students might have a point when they thought the finder was stupid to return the money?

Is stealing or not stealing just a "matter of opinion"?

It's time we took a long, hard look at what's been happening to the difference between right and wrong in our societies over the last 50 years or so.

When Right Was Right

The world of the 1930s was a very different world from today. In some ways circumstances were much worse. During the years of the Great Depression many were living under conditions of great privation. The lines of the unemployed stretched for blocks, and once-proud breadwinners were forced to the soup kitchens.

People ate stale food, wore old clothing and struggled to survive through those bleak years. But in spite of that, there was still popular understanding of the difference between right and wrong. People weren't perfect, but there was no serious question that it was wrong to commit adultery or to lie or cheat or steal.

But our attitudes have changed dramatically since. Now, it's quite acceptable—even fashionable—to cheat on government taxes, to have an affair, to have sex before marriage or to adopt what we euphemistically call "alternative lifestyles," just so long as it "doesn't hurt anyone else." It seems that as long as we're consenting adults, anything goes and nothing should be considered wrong.

Now that might be so, if there were no moral law, absolute in nature, governing human conduct. Today, it's old-fashioned to think that there might be such a timeless law. But why should it be? Let's look at this question objectively.

A Universe Governed by Law

We live in a law-abiding universe with the law of gravity, laws of physics, of chemistry, of motion.

We didn't make these laws, but over the centuries, we've learned to define and respect them, to understand them, and to rely on them. Because we study the laws that govern the universe, and are willing to apply them, we're able to launch space probes from earth and have them rendezvous with distant planets years later. Because we accept the inevitability of physical laws, we can predict where planets will be—and where our spacecraft must be—to the exact moment in time.

It would be arrogant and foolish to think we could ignore such laws. Rather, we spare no effort to get in step with them—and because we do, we succeed. So what makes us think that we can disregard the laws governing morality-showing us the difference between right and wrong?

Every society has realized that it must have laws to live by. When laws are kept, society is stabilized. When they're broken, penalties are paid. If enough people break laws for long enough, the society collapses.

In the Western world, when we think of the highest law we usually think of the Ten Commandments that God gave to ancient Israel. They've been the basis of our concepts of right and wrong for centuries. Great lawmakers, such as King Alfred the Great of England and the men who drafted the Constitution of the United States, held God's law in high esteem.

An Enlightened Society

Even what we sometimes think of as primitive societies govern themselves with codes of ethics. The Pygmies of the Central African Ituri Forest have a body of moral law and practice predating the coming of Europeans to that continent.

The Efe Pygmies of the Ituri Forest in Zaire have an enlightened philosophy and laws regulating their relationship to one another, to their forest environment and to a God they recognize as a Creator and Sustainer. Their moral law forbids killing, adultery, lying, theft, blasphemy, demon worship and sorcery, disrespect toward elders and other forms of misbehavior.

Therefore, the Efe Pygmies don't indulge in cannibalism or human sacrifice, mutilation, sorcery, ritual murder, intertribal war, initiation ordeals or any other cruel customs. It's interesting to notice how many of the commandments of the Pygmies coincide with the Ten Commandments God gave Israel.

The Need for Law

It seems that deep down man recognizes that he must have laws against stealing, adultery and murder, if a society is to function.

The difference is that the Ten Commandments were not something man dreamed up. They were given by God to regulate every aspect of human behavior-from the obvious prohibitions against murder, stealing and lying, to the perhaps less obvious laws concerning idolatry and the Sabbath.

God made these laws-just as surely as he made the laws governing the universe. In fact, they're even more binding. Remember, Jesus said in Luke 16:17: "And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle [the smallest detail] of the law to fail." Yet today, those laws are under attack.

That's why we have situations like the one in which a high school counselor was reluctant to teach his students it's wrong to steal, in case he was pushing his ideas of right and wrong. It isn't his idea. "Thou shalt not steal" is God's law-one of the Ten Commandments. Why should there be any question about it?

In the days when the New Testament was being written, the apostle Paul was very concerned how wrong ideas were affecting the thinking of the people of his day. He wrote to the Christians in the Greek city of Colossae, in Colossians 2:8: "Beware lest anyone cheat [or deceive] you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ."

Most of us don't know much about those philosophers, but we have our modern philosophers who've changed the thinking of our world. Today many people question the relevance of the Ten Commandments. We have to ask: What has happened that has changed the way we think about God and his law today?

Minds That Spellbind the World

There are several powerful ideas that have dominated our time. They come directly, or indirectly, from the minds of men like Charles Darwin, Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud-three great thinkers of recent times.

Darwin was one of the first proponents of the theory of evolution; Karl Marx was the originator of the system known today as communism; and Sigmund Freud is recognized as the father of modem psychiatry.

These men's ideas have been greatly modified-and in some instances even discarded-by some of their most devoted disciples. Yet the notions of these three men have come together at this point in modem history with an incredible impact on civilization. It's as if the effects of their thinking 100 years ago have finally reached critical mass.

Let's look briefly at their ideas and how they've changed humanity's thinking about morality, about what's right and what's wrong.

A common starting point for each man was the recognition that traditional religion doesn't provide the answer to life's fundamental questions.

Charles Darwin's works on evolution gave expression to the notion that mankind is the outcome of a natural progression from lower forms of life. That isn't a new idea. Aristotle wondered about that.

But Darwin brought together several isolated threads of human reasoning and produced his version of the origin of the species. He cast doubt on the cherished belief that mankind is a special creation in the universe. Darwin's theory postulated that mankind is nothing but the result of the evolution of life forms over millions of years from the simple to the more complex.

In his autobiography he wrote this: "I gradually came to disbelieve in Christianity as a divine revelation.... This disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but at last was complete."

But he also came to doubt the validity of his own revolutionary theories. Writing to a friend, he admitted this: "I am conscious that I am in an utterly hopeless muddle. I cannot think that the world, as we see it, is the result of chance; and yet I cannot look at each separate thing as the result of Design."

The theory of evolution as expounded by Charles Darwin is now under great stress, and leading scientists are questioning some of Darwin's most basic conclusions. But the damage has been done. Darwin has had a massive effect on the 20th century and its thinking about God's authority over people.

The second great influence on 20th century morality is that of Karl Marx. His arena was economics and politics, but the effect of his theories on morality has been no less remarkable. He, too, was opposed to traditional religion. He dismissed it as "the opium of the people," and wrote:

"The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of men, is a demand for their real happiness."

Marx developed his ideas during the early days of the Industrial Revolution-a time of great social upheaval in Europe. He rightly identified the abuses suffered by the working classes. He campaigned against the exploitation of the working man by the manipulative boss. But as with all human reasoning there was a flaw in his thinking.

Prosecuted on a charge of plotting to overthrow the government in Germany, Marx gave a speech in his own defense that shows his view of law.

"Society is not based on the law. That is a legal fiction. Rather, law must be based on society. It must be the expression of society's common interests and needs." He went on to say, "Any attempted assertion of the eternal validity of laws continually clashes with present needs."

So for Marx the idea of absolute moral law is a fiction of man's imagination. Marx has changed the way people think in many different societies. Whether we agree with him or not, Karl Marx has played a part in shaping our ideas about society.

Another great influence in our time has been that of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. Like Darwin and Marx, Freud was a product of the Europe of a hundred years or so ago. And like them, his ideas reflected the times in which he lived. Freud certainly had problems believing in God's Word. Like Marx, Freud was of Jewish background, and he too seemed desirous of denying his past, and, of course, the religion of his forefathers.

In turn-of-the-century Vienna Freud practiced the new science of psychiatry. From the case histories of his patients, he devised an elaborate road map of man's mental structure. He put together an entire system that purported to explain the dark stirrings of the human heart, of the unconscious mind and its attendant fantasies. The idea of the unconscious mind determining what we do was an invention of Freud's own mind. It allowed modern man to believe that he can free himself from the guilt and responsibility for his actions. Blame and guilt have become irrelevant.

But are we just victims of our unconscious minds with all of their bizarre sexual conflicts? If that is true, we certainly can't be held responsible for our actions in any meaningful way. This view of man has promoted a hopelessness about the human condition and justified wrong actions.

Although Freud himself was quite prudish about sex, his theories and speculations about the human mind have been construed by many as a justification for disregarding standards and ethics in their own sexual lives. Later disciples of Freud took his ideas even further than Freud ever intended. As the moral barriers came down, compounded by the turmoil of two world wars, the floodgates burst open.

So instead of hearing about right and wrong today, we hear about right and repressed, or right and not mentally healthy, or right and liberated. What used to be self-indulgence is now self-fulfillment. What we used to call living in sin is now a meaningful relationship. What was once discipline is now unhealthy repression.

But What Does God Say?

Like it or not, thinkers like Darwin, Marx and Freud have had a massive effect on modern man's view of God. We react strongly against someone imposing his or her ideas of right and wrong on others. But that's exactly what these men have done. They set up their own structures of morality on the shakiest of foundations - human reasoning.

Every one of us has to some extent been influenced by these and other philosophers who thought they knew better than God. God time and again warned the people he chose:

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!" (Isaiah 5:20-21).

He explained the reason for this moral confusion in verse 24: "Because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel."

God places much of the blame on teachers, ministers and philosophers who set themselves up as authorities to decide on right and wrong. Those are positions of trust, and God doesn't take it lightly when such individuals disregard his law.

Look at God's blistering condemnation of the false teachers in the ancient nations of Israel and Judah as found in Jeremiah 23:13-14:

"And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by Baal and caused My people Israel to err. Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; they also strengthen the hands of evildoers [and that's precisely what's happening today], so that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, and her inhabitants like Gomorrah."

And what does God say to those who listen to these false prophets? "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord.'"

Can't we realize that this isn't some old-fashioned biblical epic? This is what always happens when people drift away from the laws of God, and decide for themselves what's right and wrong. Ancient Israel and Judah lost their moorings. They drifted. As Isaiah wrote, "We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as at twilight; we are as dead men in desolate places" (Isaiah 59:10).

And that's what we're like today. We want to be tolerant but we're at the point of tolerating things that society cannot put up with and stay healthy. We shy away from judging others, but we're at the point of believing that all judgments are wrong. We're lost at sea without a compass. Many of our young people are not being taught the difference between right and wrong. They're not immoral anymore, they're amoral-they don't even know the law, never mind the difference. And confusion reigns.

Another Old Testament prophet, Hosea, speaking for God, puts it all together very succinctly: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children" (Hosea 4:6).

It wasn't that ancient Israel and Judah didn't h ave the knowledge. They'd simply rejected it.

God's Laws Don't Change

We too have the same knowledge. Never before has the Bible been so available as it is in the Western world today. There are more copies of the Ten Commandments now than ever. They're in your Bible, in Exodus 20. They're repeated in Deuteronomy chapter 5.

But knowledge demands responsibility. And responsibility in turn demands accountability. Like it or not, and despite some of Sigmund Freud's theories, we are responsible for our actions. Times change-but the laws of God don't change. The penalty for breaking them is as sure today as it was those thousands of years ago.

You need our free booklet The Ten Commandments. These laws are still the basis of any successful society. You need to know how to put them into practice in your life now, and see why obedience to them will lead to success, with real prosperity and security and stability.

The United States sees itself as a land of religious, even God-fearing people. Americans say they are strong believers in the Ten Commandments-and think they are more so than some other Western countries. Yet, the judgment of God is hanging over the nation. Why?

A Galiup survey taken several years ago found that Americans in overwhelming percentages said the Ten Commandments "applied fully" to themselves. Here's a sample:

o You shall not kill. 93 percent said it applied personally.

o You shall not steal. 93 percent said it applied to them.

o Honor your parents. 90 percent.

o You shall not bear false witness. 89 percent said it applied to them personally.

o You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. 89 percent.

o You shall not covet your neighbor's goods. 88 percent.

o You shall not commit adultery. 87 percent said it applied.

Some 57 percent of the respondents even said the commandment, "Thou shalt keep the Sabbath holy," applied to them.

Studies show 90 to 95 percent of Americans professed a belief in God. A large percentage (65 percent) believe God to be a personal deity. About 70 percent say they are church members and 60 percent claim to attend worship services at least once a month. About 69 percent of Americans feel their important life decisions have been specifically guided by God.

Chief executives of leading U.S. corporations claim even a greater degree of religious commitment.

Forbes magazine surveyed leaders of the nation's 100 largest corporations. It found that most of these executives "called religion an important influence in their lives." Some 65 percent said they and their families regularly attended church or synagogue. College students say religion is very important (50 percent) or fairly important (33 percent) to them. American Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George Bush have been perceived as strong believers in Bible, God and morality.

Clearly, Americans from all walks of life and in overwhelming numbers view themselves as God fearing people. They are a people who readily claim to accept one of the oldest and most influential ethical codes known to man-the Ten Commandments.

Then, how can someone presume to say that God's judgment for sin, evil or immorality is hanging over the United States?

Majority Stands for Morals

America stands behind a commitment to human rights, fair laws, justice and equality for all. Bringing these principles to other nations is a major if not overriding objective of American foreign policy.

Here's what former President Carter said in his Inaugural Address January 20, 1977: "In this outward and physical ceremony we attest once again to the inner and spiritual strength of our nation.... "Here before me is the Bible used in the inauguration of our first President in 1789, and I have just taken the oath of office on the Bible my mother gave me just a few years ago, opened to a timeless admonition from the ancient prophet Micah:

" 'He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God' " (Micah 6:8, Authorized Version).

President Carter continued:

"Our commitment to human rights must be absolute. . . . There can be no nobler nor more ambitious task for America to undertake on this day of a new beginning than to help shape a just and peaceful world that is truly humane."

With such noble aims-how dare anyone say that America is suffering from a crisis in morality? Even when excluding God and religion from ethical questions, American secularists also often come down hard on the side of morality.

Let's look at the question of adultery. What do Americans think about it? In a survey by a leading newsmagazine, respondents were asked whether they thought extramarital sex was wrong. Some 72 percent said it was always wrong and another 16 percent said it was "almost always wrong." Only 2 percent said it was not wrong at all. How can anyone claim that America is an immoral nation?

Numerous Americans are distressed about the moral and ethical condition of their nation. In recent years several crises of the spirit seemed to strike America almost simultaneously. They ran the gamut from spy tragedies to Wall Street insider trading scams to religious scandals to various peccadilloes among political leaders.

An astounding national debate about ethics began. People were angry and frightened. Newspaper and magazine articles as well as books were published, laced with obvious moral overtones. In view of such concern about ethical issues, how can we say that the judgment of God is hanging over America?

Read on.

One Magazine's Discovery

In its February 1988 issue, Time magazine published a short article distilling the response from the 46,000 letters it had received from its readers the previous year. Here's how that magazine summarized its readers' thinking:

"The temper of the TIME reader in 1987 was gloomy and out of sorts.... Moral lapses, abuse of power, greed and hypocrisy were the themes that had readers concerned, indignant, anxious, furious and despairing.... The letters often reflected a sense of moral backsliding, a kind of national fall from grace. Readers mourned a lack of direction."

There was so much interest in the moral condition of the nation that in January 1987 Time inaugurated its "Ethics" section. And even God has his private column in the magazine ("Religion").

Responses to "Whatever Happened to Ethics," a Time cover story, "seemed to mirror the feeling of many readers that the nation needed an ethical corrective. In writing about America's diminished commitment to moral standards, one of the more than 700 correspondents noted, 'You have started a debate that is good for the nation.'"

The United States seems to be a nation concerned with values-with a commitment to good triumphing over evil. Even the nonreligious, who think in terms of morality and ethics rather than sin and righteousness, speak out for higher moral standards. Americans certainly consider themselves as down-to-earth, concerned, helpful and basically good people.

But could America's concern with things ethical merely be a veil hiding an underlying spiritual problem?

A Personal Reflection

Imagine yourself reading this article while at lunch in a restaurant. You're watching the waiters scurrying back and forth taking orders, putting in orders, chatting with customers, careening around corners with platters of food. People of various ages, colors and sizes are ordering food, laughing and eating. They are talking about the usual things humans all talk about.

You say to yourself: These are just ordinary folks like myself. They are decent, hardworking, concerned with family and friends, facing many of life's problems. These people are America.

Then you reflect on this article and conclude: Yet this magazine is writing about God's impending judgment hanging over these people-the nation-the world-because of the way they live their lives.

Is this fair, you wonder? Humanly speaking, these people are wrestling with the same concerns people are wrestling with the world over. Trying to make ends meet. Worrying about health. Feeling pangs of tension about the latest round of fighting in Central America or the Middle East. They, like people everywhere, know the world is a jungle, full of problems that could potentially ignite World War III and cause the virtual extinction of the human race. They're worried about peace like everyone else is.

They're fretting about overcrowding, traffic jams and the state of the environment. They're trying to make a better life for themselves and their kids. They want to have fun and an exciting life just as the rest of our human family does. They're Americans, part of a nation that claims to believe in God. A nation that doesn't tolerate leaders suspected of personal or political indiscretions.

Americans are a nation of people ostensibly concerned with bringing a better life and human rights to the whole world. And like human beings in all parts of the world, they're against poison gas, and apartheid, terrorist hijackings and people starving in Ethiopia.

So what is this about some impending divine wrath to fall on these nice folks?

Sadly, there's another, darker side to the face of American society. And it's not a pretty profile from God's viewpoint. That's the side that has God concerned and grieving-a side, in part, exposed by various national scandals. Those scandals have frightened many Americans. Perhaps for a fleeting moment they see their own sins mirrored in the nation's foibles. But there's something more profoundly wrong with America, however. You won't hear too much of this discussed in the media. It is a spiritual indifference that the majority of Americans have toward God's way and God himself. It's a fundamental attitude toward God-one that admits belief in the divine, but does not do what God says. That attitude allows and is responsible for all the other evils in American society.

What does God see when he looks closely at the nation?

Americans, he sees, strongly endorse the Ten Commandments- even use them as guidelines for judging their leaders-but they tend to situation ethics. One Galiup poll found that 59 percent of Americans thought there "can never be clear absolute guidelines about what is good and evil."

As one article on the subject put it, "Americans are strong on religion but weak in morality." The paradox is clear: Religious concerns are up; morality is down. George Galiup Jr. has said, "Religion is growing in importance among Americans, but morality is losing ground." He should know. His organization has conducted numerous polls of U.S. morality throughout the years. Americans tend to base values and morality not on the Ten Commandments, but on their own yardstick of what's right and wrong, often flip-flopping the two. God is not happy. He says, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20).

One newsmagazine-sponsored poll found some 61 percent of the population said it was not wrong for a man and woman to have sexual relations before marriage. It's considered a normal rite of passage. God is not pleased with that statistic or that attitude.

Pockmarks on Society

That same poll found that out of every 100 adult Americans:

o 24 admit to cheating on their income tax returns.

o 20 admit to lying once in a while to boss or colleagues.

o 22 admit to lying often or once in a while to members of their family.

o 33 admit to calling in sick when they're not.

o 18 admit to padding expense accounts.

o 22 feel justified in stealing from an employer under some circumstances.

Now, these might be considered insignificant lapses of personal morality by some. But God is not pleased. And he certainly is very disturbed by murder, child abuse, illicit sex, graft, injustice. Likewise, he's displeased by the casual nature of American sexual practices among young people. More than one half (52 percent) of America's youths have had sexual relations by age 17.

About 80 percent of all females report having sex before marriage. Each year about one million babies are conceived out of wedlock resulting in about 400,000 abortions and the birth of almost 500,000 children to single mothers. Single parenthood often leads to poverty, to unsupervised children, to gangs, to drugs, to violence, to crime. God is distressed with premarital sex and all the evils it leads to.

Let's take a look at stealing-a violation of the Eighth Commandment. Out of every 10 prospective retail workers, three admit stealing from a previous employer. They admit the act. There's one form of "cheating" Americans are particularly known for ("cheating" is a euphemism for adultery). Various authorities estimate that 50 to 65 percent of husbands and 45 to 55 percent of wives commit adultery by the age of 40.

Yet, 87 percent of Americans have said the commandment against adultery should be kept. Almost 90 percent of Americans say adultery is always or "almost always wrong." Ah, there's the catch - almost always wrong. Presumably the act is "almost" always wrong-their situation excepted. Americans may voice displeasure with adultery. They certainly do not let their politicians get away with it. But they hardly practice what they preach.

God is not amused. He excoriated another people for this very sin: " 'When I had fed them to the full, then they committed adultery. ... They were like well-fed lusty stallions; every one neighed after his neighbor's wife. Shall I not punish them for these things?' says the Lord" (Jeremiah 5:7-9). Americans consume about 60 percent of the world's illegal drug production. There are an estimated 18 to 20 million regular users of marijuana, four to eight million abusing cocaine and 500,000 heroin addicts in the United States. Sales of narcotics total $100 billion annually.

Drug use has spread throughout society. Attorneys, doctors, politicians, sports heroes and the couple next door use it. It's estimated that perhaps 80 percent of all Americans will try an illicit drug once before they reach age 25. Drugs then continue to be used recreationally by many millions. Usage now may be down slightly, but it's still a national scandal of immense proportions.

Alongside this problem, drunkenness is a national disgrace. Alcohol abuse can lead to poverty, to disturbed children, to abused families and other shocking evils. More than half of traffic accident deaths are alcohol related. God condemns drunkenness. He instructed a prophet to tell the ancient people of Judah: "Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may follow intoxicating drink; who continue until night, till wine inflames them!" (Isaiah 5:11). God's feelings have not changed.

In America, street crime and white collar crime costs are staggering. Business crime-from multimillion dollar insider trading scams to petty pilferage by employees-has made America a land of naked greed. God hates graft, corruption and thievery. America demands other nations act morally, but its own people and leaders often do not practice what they preach. While the United States tries to peddle the "American way of life" to other nations, its own sins and immorality are all too clear to the rest of the world.

God is not happy with what's occurring in America. The prophet Hosea's label of an ancient nation certainly applies to the United States: "There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint, with bloodshed after bloodshed" (Hosea 4:1-2).

Can the nation be honest and see itself as God sees it? The United States comes down on the side of what's right-sometimes. Its people can be "righteous" when someone else sins. They demand total honesty in their political and business leaders. America sounds righteous; its people quote the Bible at various ceremonies and occasions. Even Presidents refer to it regularly. Entertainers publicly give God credit for their talents. Millions are "fundamentalist Christians" who claim to believe God. Large segments of the population go to the church or faith of their choice each week.

Not everyone is committing adultery but many millions are. Not everyone is indulging in premarital sex. Or divorcing. But many millions are. Not everyone is a thief, a murderer, a rapist or child abuser. But even one is one too many. Not everyone cheats on his or her income tax. Not everyone cheats in business or pulls a deal based on sheer greed. But vast numbers do.

Not Doing as They Say

Above all failings, Americans worship God as they see fit. God is not pleased with this state of affairs, calling it spiritual adultery. Does the nation have the courage to apply these prophetical words to itself? "These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men" (Isaiah 29:13).

Sometimes even in the name of religion, Americans commonly condone behavior that God hates. Shocking as it may seem, the very religious customs most adore are the very things God hates. Americans are like that ancient people whom God chastised in these words: "Learn not the way of the heathen.... For the customs of the people are vain ..." (Jeremiah 10:2-3).

Put all these wrongs-these sins, if you will-together, as God does. Can its citizens admit the United States looks much like a nation to whom the prophet Jeremiah said, "From the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness" (Jeremiah 6:13)? Can Americans believe the prophet Isaiah speaks to them as he did to an ancient people? "Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord" (Isaiah 1:4).

Can Americans see their hypocritical double standard voiced by the prophet Ezekiel? "So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain" (Ezekiel 33:31).

The prophet Jeremiah speaks to America-if the nation will only have the courage to hear: "Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury . . . follow other gods ... and say, 'We are safe'-safe to do all these detestable things?" (Jeremiah 7:9-10, New International Version).

The prophet Isaiah was certainly also addressing superpower America when he wrote to a people "who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth or in righteousness" (Isaiah 48:1). Today, the United States above all other nations swears by the name of the Lord and talks about God. But the nation does not follow God's way.

"In God we trust" is printed on American money. The words One nation under God are in the national pledge of allegiance. The President takes his oath on a Bible. In the courts, witnesses are asked to swear "by God" to tell the truth-when God himself through Jesus tells Christians not to swear an oath. But the reality of American life is ugly. Compare it with the moral landscape painted by the prophet Ezekiel. Is this not a portrait of the United States of America today?

"'In you they have made light of father and mother; in your midst they have oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow. " 'You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths [substituting other religious holidays]. " 'In you are men who slander to cause bloodshed; in you ... one commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter.

" 'In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me,' says the Lord God. " 'Behold, therefore, I beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst'" (Ezekiel 22:7-13).

Handwriting on the Wall

God is perfect justice, perfect righteousness and character. He is not happy with America because the nation is not measuring up to his standard of spiritual morality. God's judgment is waiting for the final warning to go out. God is looking to see what the reaction of Americans will be-yet not just of Americans, but of the British, of the Scandinavians, of Europe's Low Country dwellers, of the Continentals, of the world. Will anyone out there listen and change his or her ways-trusting God with the result?

God says if a nation does evil its days are numbered. Through the prophet Ezekiel, God warns, "Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it..." (Ezekiel 14:13).

God Punishes and Forgives

But God does not punish out of spiteful anger. God is love and mercy.

If any nation makes the necessary spiritual changes, then God will not allow the punishment he spells out to come upon it. Through Jeremiah this God says, "If that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it" (Jeremiah 18:8).

God's words of extended mercy given by the prophet Ezekiel are for any nation that hears today:

"Say to them: 'As I live,' says the Lord God, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die?...'" (Ezekiel 33:11).

God is not interested in punishment; he is interested in a deep and lasting spiritual-ethical change in the moral landscape.

Someone has to deliver the message about the choices God offers. Ezekiel was told: "When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people . . . he who takes warning will save his life" (Ezekiel 33:2-3, 5).

The prophet Isaiah was told, "Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1).

America, you already have salt and pepper-graying- hair. You are an aging power. As never before, you need your God. Ultimately, you will fail - unless spiritual changes are made individually, and on a grand scale, in the character of your people.

What about it, you American people, you around the world? Are you willing to make changes in your lives? The kind that will bring your actions in harmony with God's law as a humble example for others?

Are you who live in America willing to assume the responsibility of helping to save the United States from destruction?

Make a start. Write in for our free booklet The Ten Commandments. Read it and begin applying its principles to your life. You will be glad you did. So will the United States. And so will God.

EVERYONE, it seems, agrees that honesty is an ideal to live by. Every major religion teaches honesty. Civil laws exist to enforce it. Individuals and governments claim to want to practice it. But how many people are really committed to dealing honestly as an ongoing, constant way of life? Examples from around the world are not encouraging:

o A civil servant in a major nation in Southeast Asia has a friend who would also like to work for the government. The civil servant has access to the tests the government used to screen people who apply for jobs. So he "helps" his friend by giving him the answers.

o A certain South American country assumes most of its citizens will cheat on their taxes. So the government raises taxes to excessive levels to gain the minimum funds it requires to function. Honest citizens cannot pay what the government says they owe and still stay solvent.

o In a West African nation, dozens of government officials siphon off tax moneys for personal use. Bribery is common. It is nearly impossible for citizens to obtain even basic services from the government without first paying someone off.

o In a Latin American country citizens accept la mordida - the bite-as a part of life. Most have paid bribes to avoid traffic tickets, to get government documents or to speed service from government agencies.

o The United States, which prides itself on being a "Christian" nation, is again rocked by scandals in government. A poll shows that Americans do not think it possible to have a government free of corruption. And Wall Street investors are accused of illegally using inside information to make millions of dollars on the stock market.

Is it possible to be honest and succeed in a world that is rife with dishonesty? Should we be concerned with being honest anyway?

Yes! Read on.

Flawed Reasoning

Honesty is a crucial factor in personal and national success. Honesty is one of the basic laws of almighty God.

A famous business consultant who taught seminars around the world polled his audiences on the factors it took to succeed. One of the qualities listed by every single group was honesty. Yet dishonesty is rampant in the world! Why? Because people often act dishonestly without thinking about it.

The toughest problem to beat is the one we don't see. That is, if we don't realize it is a problem, we will never think of changing it.

Unfortunately, dishonesty often is an ingrained aspect of culture. It becomes so natural to fail to practice honesty that millions don't stop to think about what they are doing! They fail to see the ultimate consequences of their dishonesty, as opposed to the apparent short-term benefits.

The civil servant who gives his friend test answers is not really helping. The friend ends up frustrated in a job for which he is not qualified, and government effectiveness as a whole suffers because of an incompetent bureaucracy. The civil servant himself may lose his job for unethical conduct.

Governments that thrive on unfair taxes, official corruption and bribery alienate their citizens, cripple national progress and inject a dangerous air of cynicism into their countries' affairs as a whole. Revolution or foreign intervention may ultimately result.

Government scandals in the United States place the nation in the role of a hypocrite when it tries to tell others how to run their internal affairs.

Intelligent people who thoughtfully look at the long-term effects of honesty and dishonesty must come to the conclusion that honesty is the only way that ultimately pays off in success.

And there is a spiritual dimension to this aspect of success!

The Source of Success

The great God who laid down the Ninth Commandment, the one against lying (Exodus 20:16), is the ultimate source of all true success. Every good and perfect gift comes from him (James 1:17).

God owns the earth and everything in it (Psalms 24:1), and it is God who gives humans the power to acquire prosperity (Deuteronomy 8:18). God's law governs all human efforts, rewarding both now and in the future those who deal honestly and cursing those who deal otherwise.

Yes, lying, cheating, bribery and unbridled self-interest can sometimes appear to win for the moment. Some who have great natural ability and who cheat in this physical world may gain some small measure of physical success, though even that is by no means assured.

But only by following all of God's laws can anyone hope to enjoy true, complete and lasting success, now and in the long run. God's way is the only course that works for sure in this world! Dozens of Bible examples show how people who obeyed God's laws about honesty, along with other revealed laws and statutes, succeeded in spite of giant odds against them. Look up and read the stories of Joseph, of David, of Esther, of Paul and of Jesus Christ himself. Honesty paid for them!

More modern evidence adds further proof.

Simon Bolivar, for instance, who was called the "Liberator of South America," refused to use government money to provide benefits for himself and avoided using power to gain personal influence or advantage. He wrote, "There is no human power that can oblige me to accept a gift that my conscience refuses."

Some 10,000 people were thronging a Chinese department store in the northeastern city of Changchun when the lights went out. Nothing was stolen! People holding goods when the blackout occurred handed them back to staff members. Others lit candles or volunteered to help keep order. Bank notes totaling the equivalent of US$80,000 were lying out in a bank branch in the store, but not one was taken. Store employees commented, "The store was t blacked out, but the customers were a shining example of honesty."

Said the head of a Mexican company that imports industrial machinery: "In my 30 years of business life, in which we have sold the government millions and millions of dollars of equipment, I have never once paid a bribe to make a sale. It is possible for an honest person in Mexico to do business honestly."

Indeed, it is always possible to follow God's law. And it always succeeds! It is the only intelligent course to follow.

Ultimately, in God's soon-to-be-established government over all nations, honesty will be the only policy: "Truth shall spring out of the earth" (Psalms 85:11). Outside that kingdom-in the lake of fire!-will be "whoever loves and practices a lie" (Revelation 22:15; 21:8).

Anyone who truly wants success must learn to be honest, even in this dishonest world. It can be done. And children must be taught to be totally honest. It is a basic key to coming out on top in life.

One of the foremost journalists and authors today is Paul Johnson. Mr. Johnson is equally at home writing a continuous flow of insightful analyses of current affairs for British newspapers and magazines, or exploring the sweep of history in the numerous books he has authored in the past 15 years.

One of Mr. Johnson's most influential books has been the 1983 Modern Times, a penetrating look at the events and trends of the world from the 1920s onward.

Mr. Johnson has outspokenly addressed uncomfortable truths concerning the moral crisis in the Western world as reflected in the alarming spread of AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). He describes AIDS as "the first catastrophic consequence of [the] sexual revolution."

Of the British government's efforts to alert the public to the dangers of AIDS and how to limit its spread, Mr. Johnson writes:

"The truth is, the only sensible advice the government can give the public can be summed up in six words: chastity before marriage, fidelity within it. But that would be to endorse traditional Judeo-Christian morality, and so is automatically ruled out."

Plain Truth magazine world news editor Gene H. Hogberg interviewed Paul Johnson in London.

Plain Truth: In your book Modern Times, The World From the Twenties to the Eighties, you write that at the beginning of the 1920s the belief began to circulate "for the first time at a popular level that there were no longer any absolutes." What led to this new way of thinking?

Paul Johnson: It was a combination of factors. One of them was the emergence, at the end of the First World War, of the new cosmology ¹of Einstein, who produced his general theory of relativity, which in 1919 was proved by empirical evidence to be correct.

Now Einstein was not a man who believed in moral relativism; quite the contrary. He was an old-fashioned moralist, who believed in absolute values. And the effect of his theory is an example of what has been called the law of unintended consequences, because he was describing cosmology.

But the idea got around that in proving relativity, he had undermined the whole system of absolute values, not just the old straight lines of the Newtonian universe, but absolute values generally.