What Is Morality?If you could
do something to improve
your country, how would you make it better? If someone else
were
trying to improve America, what kind of changes would you support? The
Barna research group did a survey and asked questions like these to
more than a thousand American adults. You can see a summary
of
what they found in the table below.
What Changes Do
Americans Want? (1)
|
| All Adults | Evangelical
Christians | Catholic | Non-Christian
religions | Atheist
/ Agnostic |
| Remove
the 10 Commandments from government buildings | 18% |
< 0.5% |
18% |
32% |
55% |
|
Remove “In God We Trust” from money
| 13%
| 1%
| 15%
| 28%
| 37%
| | Remove “One Nation Under
God” from the Pledge of Allegiance | 15% |
4% |
13% |
24% |
40% |
|
Teach creationism in public schools | 59% |
86% |
59% |
42% |
29% |
|
Allow the “F-word” on broadcast TV
| 15%
| 6%
| 19%
| 21%
| 35%
| | Make Christianity the official
religion of the U.S. |
32% | 66% |
24% |
21% |
8% |
(Base: 1024
adults)
Look
at the way each group of people responded to the
survey.
The conservative evangelical Christians seemed to be against any change
to would make God less important to America. For example,
less
than one percent of evangelical Christians supported removing the Ten
Commandments from government buildings. What changes would
they
actually support? Atheists, who believe there is no
God, and
agnostics, who say they are not sure whether there is a God, were not
strongly against those changes like the evangelical Christians
were. For example, fifty-five percent of atheists and
agnostics
supported removing the Ten Commandments. Which change would
they
have supported the least? Atheists and Christians
disagree partly because they have different moral views.
A moral view is a collection of ideas about what is right and what is
wrong. Because an atheist doesn't believe in God, he will not
let
the Bible define his moral view for him. Instead, he will
look
for some other way to decide what is right and wrong. A
Christian, on the other hand, should allow God to define her moral
view. God made the world, and He has the correct
understanding of
how it works. Take a look at these Bible passages: By
wisdom the Lord laid the earth's foundations, by understanding He set
the heavens in place; by His knowledge the deeps were divided, and the
clouds let drop their dew. (Proverbs 3:19-20) For
the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and
understanding. (Proverbs 2:6) The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy
One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)
God
gives us knowledge through His Word. Because of what He tells
us,
we learn to hate things that are wrong because God hates them too. All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) You
must not worship your God in their way, because in worshiping their
gods, they do all kinds of destestable things the Lord hates.
They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to
their gods. See that you do all I command you; do not add or
take
away from it. (Deuteronomy 12:31-32) I
gain understanding from Your precepts; therefore I hate every false
path. (Psalm 119:104)
Discussion
QuestionsGive
two examples of something an evangelical Christian might think is
right. Then give two examples of something she might thing is
wrong. Give a Scripture passage to support each of your
examples. Pick
one of the Bible passages from this lesson and explain it in your own
words. Then explain how the Bible passage shows that God is
the
source of the correct moral view. Give
two examples of
something an atheist might think is right. Then give two
examples
of something he might thing is wrong. For each of your
examples,
explain how the atheist's belief that there is no God has influenced
his moral view. What kind of
country do you think evangelical Christians want America to become? What
kind of country do you think atheists and agnostics want America to
become? Give
an example of something in your own moral view that is consistent with
what the Bible teaches. Then give an example of something in
your
moral view that is not consistent with what the Bible
teaches.
What do you think you can do to live a life that is guided by the
Bible's moral view?
This
worksheet and other materials are available at TeachBible.com. References- How
“Christianized” Do Americans Want Their Country To
Be? 05 Oct. 2005 <http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=168>.
The table “What Changes Do Americans Want?” is
adapted from
the table “Support For Changes in Public Policy” in
the
page referenced here.
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