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Woe Unto America
by Robert Wise

 
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20 KJV


The Bible has it right, as it always does.  Here in America we are in the midst of radical changes that are going to be very detrimental to our Country.  In the last sixty-five years we have seen many changes to the moral attitudes in the people of our Country.  At first it seemed to be, at least to the common person, the fault of the new "Rock-n-Roll" music of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and others of their like.  I have no problem buying into that thought as I was a teenager in the sixties and experienced first hand how rock-n-roll music had a huge part in my mental approach to life around me and certainly altered my decision making process from the way I born raised before the "music" came along.  But, as life went on, other changes began to take place which couldn't be blamed on rock-n-roll.  People began to demand more and more from others than they were willing to give out.  As the years progressed, we have seen a virtual avalanche of people changing their minds on the way they think in regards to what is right and what is wrong.  Doing good unto others fell by the way side as people demanded more "help" from the Government both Federal and Local.  Television which had always portrayed families as a husband and wife with children and there was always a strong emphasis on good deeds, high morals and life lessons which could be carried over into real life.  

In 1999 a survey was performed by the Boston Globe which was rather mind-blowing in regards to how television had changed.  I am including an article from jesus-is-savior.com which I believe will surprise some of you.

By Don Aucoin | Globe Staff | 02/10/99

As any regular television watcher knows, sex is not exactly taboo on TV.

But one subject seems to be largely off-limits, according to a major new study released yesterday: the ''risks and responsibilities'' of sexual activity.

A survey of 1,351 randomly selected shows by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation found that 56 percent of TV programs - and 67 percent of prime-time shows - contained sexual content in word or deed over the course of one week. Yet only one in 10 such shows mentioned contraception, safe sex, or the possibility of delaying sexual activity, the study found.

After narrowing their focus to only the 88 scenes in which sexual intercourse was either ''depicted or strongly implied,'' researchers discovered that not one program in the smaller sample ''made even a passing reference'' to safe sex.

With teenage pregnancies reaching 1 million per year and sexually transmitted diseases annually striking more than 3 million teenagers, the sexual messages sent by TV are a matter of growing significance, according to Vicky Rideout, director of the foundation's Program on the Entertainment Media and Public Health.

''Surveys indicate that TV is one of the top sources of information for young people about sex,'' Rideout said in an interview. ''Obviously, parents and sex-ed classes in schools are important, but TV is a part of the sexual socialization of young people. It shows how men and women relate to each other, and what the norms of sexual behavior are.''

Just in case anyone was still in doubt, the study makes clear just how preoccupied television has become with sex. Fully 85 percent of soap operas were found to contain sexual content; TV movies, 83 percent; talk shows, 78 percent; dramas, 58 percent; news magazines, 58 percent; sitcoms, 56 percent; reality shows, 23 percent.

However, the study defined TV sex broadly, counting everything from passionate kissing to flirting to ''intimate touching'' to sexual intercourse depicted or implied. Only 7 percent of programs fell into the latter category.

Nonetheless, in detailing the extent of sexual content on TV, the study sheds a statistical light on the turnabout in recent years from the repressive attitude toward sex that characterized television's early years.

''On `I Love Lucy' in the '50s, Lucy and Ricky didn't share the same bed, even though they were married,'' observed TV historian Steven D. Stark. ''Sex on television was fairly nonexistent until fairly recently. In the '80s, with `Hill Street Blues,' it really opened up.

''Now it's everywhere. It's even in the ads and promos all the time. There are no barriers anymore.'' 
But television's preoccupation with the subject does not extend to sexual precautions, the study found. In general, the subject of safe sex is treated in a grudging and perfunctory fashion. For instance, even when shows did make references to sexual ''risks and responsibilities,'' half the time they were ''minor or inconsequential.'' In addition, only 1 percent of the shows with sexual content made sexual risks and responsibilities a primary emphasis.

Researchers did find that on shows with sexual content involving teenage characters, the shows were twice as likely to make reference to safe sex or delaying sex. However, that still amounted only to fewer than one in every five shows, and Rideout noted that many shows popular among teenagers feature young adults, programs in which safe-sex messages were rare.

''Unprotected sex in this day and age? Where are they coming from, with AIDS a major life-and-death disease?'' remarked Peggy Charren, founder of Action for Children's Television.

But the foundation's study also encountered some criticism yesterday within hours after it was released. Privately, some network executives complained that such studies apply a quantitative measure to a qualitative issue, that simply counting the number of sexual remarks or acts does not convey the subject's treatment.

In addition, Robert J. Thompson, head of the Center for the Study of Popular Television, said it is unrealistic to expect sitcom repartee to include safe-sex messages, and objected to what he saw as attempts to ''mandate what television ought to be doing.''

''As uncomfortable as I am that every time I turn on a sitcom at 8 o'clock there's an erection joke, we also have to look at the potential positive role television may be playing in sexuality,'' said Thompson. ''Some of the shows are beginning to talk about sex in a sophisticated way. It can be done crudely or very well; `Ally McBeal' is doing it very well, Howard Stern may not be doing it very well.''

Rideout emphasized that the Kaiser foundation, a California-based, independent philanthropy that has recently begun including the entertainment industry in its studies on public health issues, is ''not approaching this from a moral or ideological point of view.''

''We do not see ourselves as sex police,'' she said. ''We're not blaming TV for teen pregnancy. We're saying that when one out of every two shows is communicating something about sex, it's a great opportunity for people in the television industry to play a positive role, to inform at the same time they're entertaining.

''And there's a lot of people in the television business who care very much about the impact they have and are trying to incorporate responsible messages into their shows,'' she added.

For example, Rideout praised the WB network's popular ''Dawson's Creek'' for depicting two teenagers ''talking about wanting to be prepared with condoms if they have sex.'' She also lauded the UPN network's ''Moesha'' and the WB's ''Felicity'' for incorporating discussions of safe sex.

Researchers also acknowledged that sex is more talked about than consummated on most shows, citing racy banter on ABC's ''Spin City'' and ''Dharma and Greg''; NBC's ''Friends,'' ''Veronica's Closet,'' and ''Working''; and the WB network's ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer.''

Nevertheless, Rideout said the consequences of sex should be ''part of the picture'' even when it's just talked about, because ''the way people talk about sex is communicating important information about it.''

Among the 88 shows that depicted or ''strongly implied'' intercourse without any discussion of safe sex, the study singled out a pair of daytime soap operas, CBS's ''The Young and the Restless'' and NBC's ''Sunset Beach,'' along with TV's top-rated show, NBC's ''ER,'' and one of its most talked about, Fox's ''Ally McBeal.'' The study also cited Fox's ''Party of Five'' and CBS's ''Chicago Hope'' as shows that have tried to convey safe-sex messages.

There are signs that some in the TV industry have grown uneasy with the medium's increasing preoccupation with sex. Scott Sassa, the new president of NBC Entertainment, recently told TV critics he has directed NBC writers and producers to cut down on the amount of gratituitous sexual banter and situations.

CBS spokesman Chris Ender, while saying the network would reserve comment on the study until officials have a chance to read it, said that ''overall, we believe we're very responsible in our portrayals of sex.'' Spokes men for NBC, ABC, Fox, and the WB said network officials would have no comment until they see the study.

This story ran on page A17 of the Boston Globe on 02/10/99.
Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.

Now one may think along the lines that "oh, well, things change and after all it is the 21st Century, but I as a Christian know that there is more to the story than that.  If we take a look at the past 10-15 years we can without a doubt see that more people are on "welfare" than ever before.  Naturally, some of that is due to the economic conditions we have been going through.  Men and women have "come out" as they like to say and proudly display their love for homosexuality.  Men openly display their desire to become a woman while women  are having operations to become a man.  The sad part of this from a human perspective is that though they may look like a different person on the outside, they are sill what God made them on the inside.  Man cannot change what he is in regards to male and female.  Outside appearances are only that.  Apperances.

One of the latest ideals to come along is that all people should have and equal amount of everything.  There should be no rich, no one should be allowed to have a better house than another, all should be allowed to make the same amount of money per hour, etc., etc., etc.  It never has been that way, even in Bible times.  People are demanding more handouts from the Government now than ever before while they have no intention of trying to do for themselves by getting a job, working hard etc.  But if we are willing to take a deeper look at the truth of the situation, we will see that this should have been expected.  God made it clear that He would not honor those who make the decision to accept any old doctrine that comes along.  When people get to the point that good is no long a honorable thing and evil runs rampant in the minds of the people, there is a price to pay. 

When people accept open displaying of sex on television or anywhere else, which is certainly evil according to the Bible, they are allowing the evil persuasions of the devil to permeate their minds into thinking that it is all ok and acceptable.  It becomes the "norm" of society.  Recently Bruce Jenner, who was renowned for his athleticism made the decision to have plastic surgery performed so he could look like a woman, there was praise from all corners of the country proclaiming how brave he was to not only make this change but to do it so openly.  After all, it was his right wasn't it?  Of course it was his right.  I couldn't agree more.  BUT, that right to make the decision has consequences according to the Bible.  And, I might add here and now.  I believe the Bible to be the Word of God and to be correct.  Woe unto those who call evil good and good evil.

Let's make one thing clear for all to understand.  Jesus the Christ of the Bible is a real person.  A man who was born of a virgin and was the Begotten Son of God.  I realize that many people do not agree with me on this but for a world full of people who do not believe in the Bible and certainly do not accept Jesus as the Savior of mankind, it amazed me how our society and the societies of most countries live around the precept of Jesus.  Phil Robertson of the Duck Dynasty fame says it better than I can.  Here is a short excerpt from an interview with Phil Robertson from CNS News.

"Robertson said he advised the show’s producers, in West Monroe, La., that they and the entire world kept time, the “year of Our Lord,” A.D., Anno Domini, based upon Jesus Christ

“I said, let’s see now, what year is it?” he said.  “They said, what?  I said, what year is it? They said, well, it’s 2012. I said 2012 AD. Anno Domini, the year of Our Lord. I said, you Hollywood cats are counting time by Jesus just like I am. “

“I would think out of all the people that walked planet Earth, if we’ve all decided in America here to count time by just one of them, Jesus of Galilee, then I don’t think it hurts to throw His name in there from time to time,” recounted Robertson, who is an elder at the White’s Ferry Road Church of Christ in West Monroe, La.

“Your calendar’s based on it,” said Robertson."


So back to the moral decay that have invaded our Country.  How has this all come to be?  Like I mentioned before, Satan is working overtime.  Satan knows that all of mankind have ego's.  Satan works on those ego's by slipping little thoughts in the minds of people and IF that person is not a Child of God who has the Holy Spirit living inside them, they are very susceptible to the allures of Satan.  Nothing works as easily to make someone agree with you on something as does stroking their ego.  People love to be praised.  They love to be loved.  They love to be thought well of.  Most of all, they love to be ACCEPTED!   John 12:43 tells us the following: "For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."

I believe we are about to experience the "Woe unto you" mentioned in Isaiah.  Our society has become as bad if not worse than that of Sodom and Gomorrah. And, if you know the Bible, you know that God destroyed both of those cities for their wickedness.  We are no different nor are we any more special than any other people that God destroyed because of their lack of faith and lack of obedience. 

I realize that I could have included many more examples of the fall of society in our Country.  But, I believe you can agree, if these few examples were the only ones to look at, it would still be enough for God to say: "Woe unto You!"

Please change your way of thinking.  Change from the evil ways of life and turn to the Lord Jesus while it is still today for tomorrow may not come. 

God's Blessings upon You,
Pastor Wise
July 9th, 2015

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