I wanted to wrap up my thoughts on Judge Moore's poem. He expresses a sense I've often heard that America is in a rapid moral decay caused by turning away from God. The poem alludes to rampant teen sexual activity and drug abuse.

These are serious problems and any parent can tell you how frightening they are. I would never suggest that we turn our backs on them but the situation is not quite what we fear it is. Teen drug abuse is on the decline, as is teen sexual activity, and violent crime along teens. That flies in the face of our perceptions but the statistics are readily available. A few I found in a brief search yesterday were:

http://www.agi-usa.org/pubs/fb_teen_sex.html
http://www.contemporaryfamilies.org/public/fact14.php
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2004pres/20041221.html
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dcf/du.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-09-09-crime_x.htm

This cuts to the heart of what I don't like about Judge Moore's poem. It's all about fear. Take some frightening subjects, put a spin on them to make them even more frightening, and then add the frightening thought that God is angry and ready to abandon us and you have some powerful rhetoric. Fear and anger (which always begins in fear) are effective ways to sell an idea or to rally people.

The problem is fear and anger do not help us see clearly. They distort the problems and allow us to justify extreme and often cruel solutions. WE must face the issues that Judge Moore points to, but I pray we can do it with clear heads and compassionate hearts, not with fear.

There's a scripture that says a lot to me about the way we approach life.

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love." 1 John 4:18.

The kind of love this passage deals with isn't nearly as popular a rallying point as fear is. It invlolves a much greater level of responsibility. It takes as honest an approach to understanding the problems as possible. Instead of finding a 'them' to blame it asks 'how must I change' to address these problems. Instead of trying to restore a comfortable status quo it often asks us to embrace difficult responsibilities for the sake of justice and peace. Instead of imagining a God ready to abandon us it reminds us that, if we have the courage to follow God's call, we will never be alone.

I'm back to Coretta Scott King again because she and Martin embodied this sort of life. My hope for America is one he lifted up in a famous sermon, may God give us 'strength to love.'