Has America Lost the Values and Morals that Made her Great?
By debrakcarey
@debrakcarey (19887)
United States
September 3, 2009 9:15am CST
Basic Values Dictate The Strength Of An Understanding
As understanding is values and reason, and reason is mainly the exercise of a facility to connect cause and effect, which is almost mechanical, so reason must be considered the servant of values. Hence it is the set of values that control an understanding and so decide its strength. The significant difference between the understanding of the early Romans and their neighbours (a subject that so fascinated Polybius (200-118 B.C.) a Greek statesman, that he wrote a book The Rise Of The Roman Empire) was that of basic values (morality). The various peoples surrounding those ancient builders of civilization had the same ability to reason, access to the same technology and resources, but they became the vanquished as the Roman army conquered the world. The discipline and organisation allowed by Roman understanding created something that was superior to anything ever before seen in the world. The health, wealth and prosperity of humanity were hugely improved just by the appearance of the set of values making up Roman morality.
Roman Civilization Was Roman Understanding
Roman civilization was Roman understanding, which was founded upon Roman values. All civilizations are in effect a set of values, or morality. And like all civilizations, Ancient Rome thrived when it adhered to its basic values, it fell when it discarded them. Western Civilization is an understanding based upon the morality outlined in the bible, and it's our adherence to this morality that controls the strength of our civilization.
Morality Is A Set Of Values Which Form The Basis Of An Understanding
There can be no intelligence, artificial or organic, that can exist without a set of values. It is an essential part of every creature's mind, as it must be formed before that creature can use reason—understand. And this set of values is the Morality of the creature. Hence for us, Morality is not just a set of values, but a vital and permanent part of ourselves, formed in childhood before the age of reason, which dictates how we understand the world.
http://www.ourcivilisation.com/moral2/moral2.htm
1 person likes this
4 responses
@bestboy19 (5478)
• United States
3 Sep 09
As long as there are true Christians in America, we still have our moral compass. I'm afraid, though, that it is dwindling. I think one of the things that really got it going down was when women were told their lives were not fulfilled if they didn't work outside the home. Children lost the parental guidance they needed. Those children are today's parents who don't know how to be parents, because they never learned from their parents, and now children are allowed to behave badly because the parents don't want to be bothered. Parents have relegated the rearing of their children to schools, churches, and television. Schools can't discipline for fear they'll get sued. So the children are getting their moral education from television and/or movies. What an unfortunate teacher.
1 person likes this
@bestboy19 (5478)
• United States
3 Sep 09
"Christianity had already lost much of its truth...." I don't believe Christianity has lost it's truth or ever will. God's truth is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We are the ones who are loosing our truth. If we followed God as He intended us to follow Him, our country would be blessed beyond measure. We have been bless by God, but just as Israel did, we have stopped giving God the glory and have given it to ourselves. And when left to our own devices, we've made a total mess of things.
1 person likes this
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
4 Sep 09
That is what I meant...you said As long as there are true Christians in America
I meant that what passes for Christianity, has lost the truth...it's watered down and full of lies and distortions.
I am in complete agreement with you. 
@Destiny007 (5805)
• United States
3 Sep 09
Yes, America has lost the morals and values that made it great.
This has been done through media manipulation and educational indoctrination, and the government is seeking to step up the process.
That is why they want to put an end to homeschooling and parental control, so that the young impressionable minds can be indoctrinated by the secular state.
This has been occurring for a very long time, and the only way to reverse the damage is to take back our schools from the government, and clean up our media.
1 person likes this
@Destiny007 (5805)
• United States
4 Sep 09
That is because the government is trying to be our god.
Check this article out... part 1 of it is linked at the bottom as well....
http://www.americanvision.org/article/who-is-king-part-2/
1 person likes this
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
4 Sep 09
Have you noticed that about the time we threw God out of our public lives...the government began legislating just about every facet of our lives?
People need the LAW...not man's law as much as God's law...we need it to find peace and security just like we need human law to keep order.
@gwoman2 (710)
• United States
22 Sep 09
Hi debrakcarey,
what moral values? America was "discovered"? Actually it was taken away from the original people who were the Indians! And if you look back further you'll see that it's all about what you can take from others...is that what makes America great? I'll never understand it!!
Alas we have life and so we must live until that our time comes...that's about it in a nutshell for me.
I respectfully agree to disagree with you.
~G~
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
23 Sep 09
Hello gwoman...and I respectfully agree to disagree with you.
My grandmother was full blood Ojibwe. You aren't telling me anything I don't already know and FEEL. I do understand that 'America' was discovered. My point was that the framers of the Constitution and other founding documents....as well as the mind set of the Europeans that settled here, was one of MORALITY. They valued the tenets of the decalogue and attempted to live moral and ethical lives. The laws of the land were basically Christian. I understand that NOT ALL were Christians....nor did ALL ACT in a Christian way towards the inhabitants of the land...but history does prove that the first settlers and leaders were men and women of morals and values.
My grandmother was full blood Ojibwe. You aren't telling me anything I don't already know and FEEL. I do understand that 'America' was discovered. My point was that the framers of the Constitution and other founding documents....as well as the mind set of the Europeans that settled here, was one of MORALITY. They valued the tenets of the decalogue and attempted to live moral and ethical lives. The laws of the land were basically Christian. I understand that NOT ALL were Christians....nor did ALL ACT in a Christian way towards the inhabitants of the land...but history does prove that the first settlers and leaders were men and women of morals and values.@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
23 Sep 09
And if you want to get all technical about who was here first...the Native American peoples were most definately MORAL and ETHICAL.
@nenuphar (117)
• France
4 Sep 09
As a non-Us citizen, I think you've been to severe judging the Americans! I think the loss of values and morals is not an American problem, it's all over the world. We have the same problem here in Europe! What's more important is to educate our young ones, be they Christian, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, or else, that we are one country and one people, they should set their religions aside. I think the governments should practice what they "preach". The main problem is that our governments "preach" one thing and do another. Bringing this down to a smaller scale, the parents "preach" one thing, and they do otherwise... how do you expect their children to react? I hope I'm in the discussion :)
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
4 Sep 09
Nenuphar...you have contributed wise words to this discussion. And you are very correct that it is happening all over the world.
The world is being 'prepared' for a New World Order...another way to say it is ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT. People laugh and call names like conspriacy nut when you bring this up..but even presidents and other world leaders have used this term and spoken of the plan to usher this in.
You cannot have such a thing without first a crisis to scare the people into accepting it...and then the hammer falls.
We will never see governments practicing what they preach...they have bought into the lie...there is no turning them back peacefully.
There will be a crisis...and it will usher in a horrible period in human history.
America was great...she was great because she acknowledged the Creator and the people of America for the most part gave God credit for her greatness and obeyed God's laws. That is not how it is anymore. Europe, too has given up their culture and their minds and souls to the lie...they have been Christian in name only for decades, perhaps generations.
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
5 Sep 09
I would disagree with you on one thing...you say that we are one country and one people...and should set religion aside.
That sounds wonderful...but the only way to acheive that is through indoctrinating everyone with a NEW religion and a NEW patriotism...and nenuphar, that is what HITLER tried to do. It cannot be done without much atrocity and blood shed.
What truly needs to be done is a NEW heart (spirit) for each human being. And that IS possible...through Christ Jesus. The Savior. The Messiah. The Truth. The Way. The life. God. That is the ONLY way to acheive peace on earth.
@nenuphar (117)
• France
5 Sep 09
God forbid... no we don't want another Hitler, do we?
Perhaps you've misunderstood what I meant by ONE COUNTRY - ONE PEOPLE. I think it's the diversities of culture and religion that make a country GREAT. When I said putting aside religion, I meant to include color, culture and all the differences we have as human beings. We want the citizens to be proud of their country... say I'm an American, and not I'm a Christian American, or Jewish American, and so on and so forth. For me, what is important is the country, and not you nor me as an individual.
I truly believe that if we could all respect each other, given some tolerance, less individualism, we can make it to ONE COUNTRY - ONE PEOPLE! But I also believe that we should leave space for oppositions because then we'll protect ourselves from walking the Hitler era or any extremists. The target of the oppositions should not focus on systematically going against whatever the current government proposes, nor to uprooting the current government; but to keep check on them so there will be no extremes on either side. If we can then project this on a world scale... What a wonderful this would be!
Thanks for listening to my voice.
