Reclaiming Morality in America

By William Murchinson and William Murchison

Nationally syndicated columnist William Murchison clearly and persuasively shows that America's moral troubles result from our falling away from traditional religious teachings. He offers specific,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0785281681
• ISBN13: 9780785281689
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc
• Length: 189 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.8" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

Reclaiming Morality in America

When journalists and politicians join preachers lamenting the loss of ethics in America, it's time to take note! Weighing in on the topic, William Murchison, a syndicated columnist, published Reclaiming Morality in America (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers, c. 1994), a well-written, cogent, up-to-date reading of the nation's moral temperature. As a caption for the study, note the words of Ann Landers: "Let's face it. America is sick." Murchison agrees, arguing the sickness stems from failing to know the truth of our own moral nature. Embedded in human nature there's an abiding reality, an ethical realm. When we do right we live according to its structure; when we do wrong we violate its intrinsic properties. We all share a common humanity, for we all have a "common origin" (p. 14); we're designed by our Creator, and we're created to obey Him. Without religious roots, human morality erodes quickly away, which is precisely what's happened in this century, wherein we've witnessed its replacement with "an amalgam of individual insights and judgments" which have made it "one of unprecedented bloodshed and brutality" (p. 18). Citing data and dramatic illustrations, Murchison sketches a dismal portrait, covering such issues as illegitimacy, homosexuality, family fractures, crime, euthanasia, and abortion. One of the keys to understanding what's been happening may be found in the values which emerged in the 1960's. "It could be said actually that the sixties were about little else but sex and rights--specifically, how to get more of each" (p. 55). Since then, we've been swept along by an avalanche of collapsing moral standards. In some ways this process is best illustrated by sexual behavior of a man named Gaetan Dugas, the airline steward who played a prominent role in spreading AIDS. In the decade before the disease burst upon the nation, Dugas averaged 250 sexual liaisons a year. In his words, "'It's my right to do what I want with my body'" (p. 86). His "right," of course, cost him his life--and poisoned thousands of others. Unless we begin to deny individuals some of their "rights," insisting we all do right, we'll continue our plunge into a moral quagmire. Having assessed the situation, Murchison turns, in part two of the book, to suggesting steps we can take "toward moral recovery." First, we must intentionally teach moral standards. This means those "teaching institutions," schools and churches, must reclaim their rightful tasks, wresting them from TV talk shows, movie stars, politicians, and street gangs. They must recover a moral source higher than the opinion polls and momentary personal feelings which prevail in many parts these days. As Murchison wisely says, "There can be no plebiscites on morality any more than there can be an election to choose the highest mountain in the world" (p. 125). Moral standards resemble mountain ranges--they're absolutely there, they're measurable, they h