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Like many evangelical Christians, I am concerned about theslippery slope of decline on which America finds herself today. Ihave observed the steady decline of morality in our nation over thepast 30 years in particular with growing despair. Judge Robert Borkhas produced the most sobering appraisal of this decline, bringingthe bits and pieces, the incremental changes, into focus in acomprehensible manner.
I've just finished "Slouching Toward Gomorrah." I started it justafter Christmas 1996, and it's taken this long (July 27, 1997) tofinish it. Meanwhile, I read (and really enjoyed, Michael Behe's"Darwin's Black Box" which was a rather intense look at ratheresoteric arguments for intelligent design. Plus, of course, other"routine" reading and research. So, I know I can still read andcomprehend!
Soon after I received the book as a Christmas gift, my family andI were checking out a new major outlet mall, one of the largest inthe country. The parking lot was crowded, and as we entered our earswere blasted with extremely loud rock (I will not use the term music,as no music could be discerned between the driving beat of bass,drums and incessant dissonant twang of electric guitars). That shouldhave been our cue to leave, but we had driven 40 miles to check itout, so we stayed (looking for quieter places).
What struck me most was the gangs (mobs, herds, droves?) ofteenagers; boys in baggy pants, crotch hanging to their knees, cuffsdragging the ground (looking for all the world like boys who had -excuse the reference - pooped in their pants!) slouching along,accompanied by teenage girls dressed like prostitutes. Hair invarious hues, black lipstick, black eyeliner, black fingernails,parading their belly-buttons (usually adorned by a ring). Theyaffected the sullen faces of their rock band heroes and heroines, andsneered at the general populace around them.
I turned to my wife and said, "yep, there's Bork's book title -Slouching Toward Gomorrah."
No, he doesn't focus on this aspect of our non-culture, but theirindifferent, sneering, "whatever" attitude is the end product.Slouching toward Gomorrah.
It was taking me a long time to read Bork's book, and I couldn'tfigure why. It is well written, interesting, extremely welldocumented, closely reasoned - but not boring! Yet, I could only reada few pages at a time.
One day, after I had read a bit and the book lay closed on my lap,the answer hit me. This is one of the most discouraging books I haveever read. I am not discouraged in the book, but in the conclusionshe draws. It was much easier reading as in the early chapters hepainted the historical background for the decline of America. As hebegan the section on The Collapse of Popular Culture, it got darkerand darker. Not only the magnitude of our decline, but the darkdead-end alleyways in which we find ourselves - often with no reallight at the corner to lead us out. It is convincing stuff.
Finally, I told my family what was happening, and I said, "I'mgoing to plow on, and in the last section we'll see a note ofoptimism.
NOT!
All said, the book is convincing evidence of why the liberalsdedicated themselves so fiercely to destroying this man's appointmentto the Supreme Court. He has stripped back the facade of contemporaryliberalism and exposed the inherent ugliness that is rottingAmerica's heart. Few of us knew at the time of his appointment whatthe man knew and believed - we might have fought harder (thoughfutilely) for his approval.
I heartily agree with the jacket blurbs on this book (partialquotes).
Robert P. George, Department of Politics, Princeton University: "A judge as wise as Solomon has become a prophet as powerful as Isaiah."John Cardinal O'Connor "...one of America's clearest thinkers..."
Ralph Reed - "...a must read for anyone concerned about the state of American society at the close of the twentieth century."
Michael Novak - "... May be the most important book of the '90's."
My opinion doesn't amount to a great deal, I suppose. But, I wouldsay that every concerned American ought to plow through this book. Iam surprised it has not had a greater promotion in the Christiancommunity, though it is not expressly "Christian" in the evangelicalsense.
His conclusion is that we are at least in the suburbs of Gomorrah.As another writer has suggested, we may be on the brink of the newdark ages. It is a dark book.
The ONLY offer of hope in the book comes in the last chapter. Iquote:
"What may be feasible is a moral regeneration and an intellectualunderstanding capable of defeating modern liberalism. In a discussionof that possibility with friends, we came up with four events thatcould produce a moral and spiritual regeneration: a religiousrevival; the revival of public discourse about morality; acataclysmic war; or a deep economic depression. Though there wasincreased social discipline during the Second World War and perhapseven more, during the Great Depression, we may safely drop the lasttwo items on that list, as to say the least, social policies lackingbroad public support.
Perhaps the most promising development in our time is the rise ofan energetic, optimistic, and politically sophisticated religiousconservatism. It may prove more powerful than merely political oreconomic conservatism because religious conservatism's objective arecultural and moral as well."
Is there really any hope? As Bork notes, the latter two optionscan be safely dropped for a variety of reasons, not the least ofwhich is that the only institutions which could provide the impetusfor a secular-based renewal are already too far gone. As to "therevival of public discourse about morality," we could say much thesame. What repository of "morality" and ethics remains? Primarily,the church; indeed, primarily, the evangelical church. True,officially the Roman Catholic Church remains largely committed totraditional morality, but at they lay level, the church has lost muchof its authority. Among ultra-conservative and orthodox Jews, theJudeo ethic remains strong, but reform Judaism and the vast majorityof non-religious Jews have bought into the modern culturalmilieu.
And who would suppose that liberal protestantism would even wishfor a "religious revival?" The revivals that accompanied birth of ournation, and its subsequent times of crisis, were evangelicalrevivals; the Great Awakening, the Camp Meeting Revivals on thefrontiers, the revivals under Finney and Edwards, the Prayer MeetingRevival.
It is only one ray of hope. But it is a mighty ray of hope, for itis founded in the faithfulness of the God of all hope.