THE DEPRAVED MIND AND THE DEATH OF A CIVILIZATION

March 6, 2009

"It is not is not the purpose of this blog to give sermons, exegete Scripture or to do a Bible
Study.  However, in light of the many social changes taking place in our civilization, e.g.
Redefining marriage, pedophilia, polygamy, and incestuous relationships, I feel compelled to
point out what is taking place in our society today in light of what the Bible says.

There are many social issues beyond the subject of same-sex marriage which prove that our
culture is in decline.  Among these are the decaying of our ecological system, the forced
recognition of other cultures on America rather than mandating the recognition of our culture on
those who would move into our country.  Then, there is the secularization of our culture with
more emphasis on human accomplishments and government intervention to aid in the lives of
special interest groups.  There is also the legislation of protecting a minority "class" (notice I
didn't say "race").  Finally, there are the many cases of litigation against businesses and persons
who, desiring to practice their religious beliefs, are forced to keep their religion to themselves
and provide services to those these "protected classes."  The so-called "protected classes"
infringe on a person's conscientious objections and superimpose their base desires on society at
large.  AS an example, I merely cite the case of Catholic Charities in Boston and San Francisco
having to end their adoption services altogether rather than be compelled by anti-discrimination
laws to place children with same-sex couples. In the Boston case, Catholic Charities was
prepared to refer same-sex couples seeking to adopt to other providers, but that was not
sufficient. 

I believe this and other infringements on religious liberties can be explained from a cursory
reading of Paul's letter to the Romans, found in the New Testament.  Let me quote from chapter
1, verses 18-32.  Please pay close attention to the bold print and the three items underlined within
this text.

18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of
men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain
to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's
invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

 21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him,
but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed
to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images
made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

 24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the
degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and
worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.
Amen.
 26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful passions. Even their women exchanged
natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural
relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent
acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

 28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he
gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become
filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder,
strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and
boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless,
faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do
such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of
those who practice them.

Within the bold print did you notice that this seems to describe our time?  Our culture?  Our
society?  Hoping to keep this article brief, I would be wrong not pointing out God's three-fold
relinquishment of humanity found in verses 24, 26, 28. 

First, God gives those who reject  Him over to the desires of the heart.  When God is said to
"give over" it denotes a deliberate act of resigning control over what is passed on.  This basically
means that if you want to do your own thing, He won't stop you.  The result is the heart will turn
away from what is right to what is thought to be the best.  The right is not always what we think
is best.  In the Bible, the heart is picturesquely the seat of the emotions.  Put in today's context
God is handing this culture over to the freedom from Him for which it yearns.  The desire to be
independent of God in achieving its end shows itself to be nothing higher than the desire for
degrading impurity.  Society, then, is emotionally wrapped up in doing its own thing!

Second, God gives those who want to believe a lie and serve creation instead of the Creator over
to shameful passions.  How does one "serve" or "worship" the creation?  Are we talking about
Animism?  Pantheism? Panentheism?  Not necessarily.  Included in the creation are items like
sexuality, business, pleasures, even the government.  In America today, there is a craving for
government solutions to everything from poverty to the right to privacy; from civil rights to
protection from God (i.e. religion).  So, we see people who would rather government enact laws
to protect them from religion (read religious bigotry) and this becomes a passion!  It is
interesting that in light of this Bible passage, Paul goes beyond the general things like pleasures
into specifics like homosexuality.  Today's society is finally coming to grips with the demands of
the gay community to be  "acknowledged as a special class," to be "protected," and to be given
special privileges and civil rights which heretofore throughout all of human history has been
within the purview of one man and one woman - marriage.  To have one's passions degraded and
become shameful brings on a God-forsaken character.  And when character is compromised,
society is on the brink of disaster.

Third, God gives those who seek after their own passions over to a depraved mind.  Here and for
the last time, Paul emphasizes the direct link between humankind's rejection of God and its
disordered state.  When a man's mind becomes "depraved," it means that man has now been set
free from God!  Psychologists and Psychiatrists are always intrigued by the power of the mind. 
As a Licensed Professional Counselor and one who has many graduate hours in psychology, I
can truly state with measured certainty that "when the mind goes, so goes the character." 

The character of American society is a never ending downward spiral toward the state of
depravity.  Mankind may have by and large come to the place in which it sees no room for God
in the world - that God doesn't exist, or worse, that God is irrelevant.  Well, according to the
Roman letter we've been considering, this truly typifies depravity at its worse.  Three times Paul
says "God handed them over" and this underscores the point that in striking free of God's
immediate control, mankind has not escaped God's overall ordering of His creation.  The simple
fact is that man cannot escape his own nature and the nature of the world as God made it.  It is
God Who has handed our society over to its desires and the endless pursuit of its satisfaction.

Just remember man's "freedom" to go his own way still leaves him within the limits set by God,
whether he rejects God as real or simply tries to ignore Him.

I offer these thoughts since I am free (right now) to speak out on the decline of our society and
the ending of the traditional values under which we once lived.  In a few years, I might not be
able to say these things without repercussions.  Since the freedom to practice religion is under
threats today, I do foresee many lawsuits coming for those who preach from passages like these. 
The end result of a depraved civilization (in this case) is that Civil rights will prevail over
Constitutional rights (like the First Amendment) as redefined by a depraved court.