An American Plague

The dictionary defines “plague” as: “any widespread affliction, calamity, or evil.” Normally, we associate plagues with things such as disease (as in bubonic plague), drought, or famine. Plagues cause much harm to the human family.

I was shocked while reading an MSNBC.com article the other day. The article outlined how the teenage cyber-hangout, MySpace, had deleted the profiles (accounts) of over 29,000 convicted sex offenders. This information was not particularly shocking in light of all the attention online sexual predators have been getting. The article called the online sexual predator problem an “exploding epidemic.” MySpace deserves praise for trying to make the Internet a bit safer.

What shocked me was the last line of the article. It stated, “As of May, there were about 600,000 registered sex offenders in the United States." That shocked me. If these registered sex offenders were their own state, they would be in the top 20 or so. This is not an epidemic, it is a plague. It is a scourge. It is sickening and saddening.

The Bible says, “Godliness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs,14:34, TLB).

One simply cannot spin the moral condition of America in a positive way. We are beginning to rot from the roots up. I think it is fitting (though not very bright) to remove the Ten Commandments from public display. They no longer have much personal influence. As I said, it is fitting though not very smart to remove the Ten Commandments. I look for the national slogan, “In God We Trust,” to fall by the wayside soon. Then, out goes “One Nation Under God.”

This is altogether unsurprising considering the moral decay in America. About the only absolutely deviant behavior recognized in America today is for some preacher to point out America’s deviant behavior. We are becoming a nation plagued by immoral, deviant behavior and we seem to lack the resolve to do much about it.

May the Church of Christ raise a banner of righteousness.