I see that the Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a censorship case stemming from celebrities’ use of isolated expletives as well as images of partial nudity during primetime broadcast programming. The legal hairs are being split with the discussion ranging from the old shield of freedom of speech to the new shield of technology advances making censorship unrealistic in any case.
It is ironic to find the government defending decency on the airwaves. After all, they have watered down so many church teachings in the name of separation of church and state. But then, I believe that the government does not understand the big picture. They want to preserve our rights to act poorly, yet they also want us to act in accordance with the law. In some places the government has even sanctioned, if only until legally challenged, the posting of the Ten Commandments in the hopes that it would influence righteous activity. You see, they know the church is right, but they can’t get out of their own legal quagmire.
Put another way, the government wants folks to have total freedom to be worldly and yet it expects them to behave like church folk.
However, it is truly said that you cannot have it both ways. Remember that Joshua directed the people to choose whom they would serve, their Lord or something else. The wisdom behind that well known phrase still rings true today. You cannot serve two masters (the world and the Way). Peter urged us in his first letter to abstain from the sinful desires of the world and instead live in Jesus. You cannot be a friend to the world and a friend to God.
So the government finds itself on the horns of a classic dilemma where they have to make a choice; and we all know how the government reacts to having to make choices. Enter the Supreme Court.
However the Supreme Court ultimately rules, one thing is for certain. We, as a society, have been on the slippery downhill slope toward the gutter for a while. The church tried to prevent it; the government said laws – yes, but religious influence – no. Now Mr. and Mrs. Middle America have trouble finding something decent and worthwhile on TV or radio as societal standards drop. The truth is that the church finds itself as the last refuge for those who find such behavior unacceptable at any time and in any media.
Are we still truly one nation under God?