We youth at EvC are in Moral Decline

...should be teaching them how to have safe sex for fun...and marriage if they need a small tax break ..

Hi TL,
I am curious why you think this? This suggests then that all marriage is for is so that one can have sex and puts the entire meaning of the relationship on this one physical aspect of a relationship....I doubt most people get married for this reason either.

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Christians called the Department of Child Services and said that me and my friends were having sex with children, even though they knew it wasn't true. A pastor on a message board managed to track down the last four states I lived in and my name, then posted a fictitious story about a crime I was supposedly involved in on the Prodigy bulletin board back when such boards were a lot more popular.

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Non-Christians have never done anything like that to me. Non-Christians might enjoy the gossip they hear about the community I live in, but when they meet us, the acknowledge the gossip isn't true. Christians go away and lie.

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I'm a believer in Christ, but I fully acknowledge that the Christianity I see in the United States is an utter failure. If Jesus of Nazareth was and is really the Christ of God, as I believe, then Christianity is probably the most embarrassing thing that has happened to him.

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I was part of fundamental Christianity, and I was mean, rude, obnoxious, close-minded, short-sighted and brainwashed, and I when I started feeling bad about it, I was rejected.

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I have my own views, and my views are strongly influenced by the community I am a part of. Very few of my views align well with modern Christianity nor with the conservative right.

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All I'm doing is making clear that what Christians think and do is really none of my business, and it sure isn't an indication of what think and do. Very few things that are issues to Christians are issues to me.

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An excellent post TL...I wish more of the right leaning Christians would learn this simple lesson...

Hi TL,Sorry if it came accross that way but I certainly was not trying to trivialize the difficulty of your experiences. What I meant by simple is that you had very concisely set out a "Christian" way of thinking that fundamentalist Christians reject completely probably because it would force them to give up power and control over other people (and their money)...and they would actually have to behave well towards one another (including those that do not share their beliefs). I would like to think more people share your views.cheers,
M

That is exactly why when I read the Economists lists of average income that they publish annually, I see the US high on the list, though countries like Norway and Finnland are higher I wonder what is behind the numbers. In Germany I see that most people do not have as high an income as those in the US for similar jobs..I certainly earn less than I did...but my standard of living is a hell of a lot higher..in fact, I don't know of anybody who is really rock bottom. I think the averages mask the fact that a very small percentage of people in the US have amassed almost all of the wealth and the rest have a lower average probably than many other rich economies.

I wonder if the rise is due to better methods of tracking due to technological advance such as the pervasiveness of computers and computer databases and an increase in the reporting of certain types of crime such as sexual assault....I always find it a bit odd when people like buzsaw claim what a great time it was morally at the beginning of the last century..when millions of people were killing each other in two world wars..oh yeah..much better then...

That is an interesting idea. But I guess it depends on whether crime is so density dependent (maybe this has been studied). At extreme densities I am pretty sure crime would increase i.e. you don't do whatever you can to get food you die... Since the topic is US crime I guess if we restrict it to the developed world the US would be an anamoly. Population density per kilometer in many parts of western europe is far higher than in the US i.e. less wide open spaces. Less natural resources to. In terms of violent crime i.e. gun related the levels are far lower than the US. Depending on how you define crime I am not sure whether the U.S. scores higher or lower i.e. corruption in business. On the other hand, most european countries are social democracies of some sort or another i.e. national health care, welfare etc. so the distribution of wealth is a bit more even...so I guess there are less cases on average of people really barely surviving well below the poverty line where there would be a high incentive for criminal activity i.e. sell drugs so you can eat...as you said, it is ultimately economics.

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........And to get closer to topic, the reason many, I say many, not all, cannot pay the rent is moral depravity.
1. Drunkeness
2. Drugs
3. Laziness (let the working taxpayer support me.)
4. Dishonesty (can't be trusted in a job)
5. Thievery (again can't be trusted or record ruined for hiring) 6. Poor rent record. (ruins homes rented in past or spent rent money on drugs or boose.)
7. Flat out refusal to pay rent due even when able.
On and on the list could go.

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Hmmm this list largely describes George Bush Jr. (Mr. proud to hold up conservative Christian values) and many heads of major corporations i.e. Waksal the soon to be jailbait ex head Imclone...so it would seem your list of moral depravity is also a key to political and financial success...go figure..or go get drunk and run a country to ruin.

I have tried the getting drunk part without doing the rest of the list..and am still not leader of a country (though I do pay my rent)..it must be the combination of the 7 that makes one a member of the ultra-conservative religious elite ...

smoking is a bad and addictive habit that can have consequences for ones health...but immoral? why.Drinking (not alcoholism) can have long term health advantages...so why is that immoral?smoking pot...why is that immoral?sex...don't want to spoil the surprise for you but its real good...even when its bad..its good......but maybe you could explain why you consider it immoral.Though a bit sarcastic in parts don't take anything I said as an attack on you. I like Dan Carrol are wondering why you attribute immorality to each of the examples you list.