American Hypocrisy

You probably missed this a few years ago. The Times of London, a reputable tabloid (if there is such a thing) based in the United Kingdom, reported on a study of the relationship between religion and societal health. The headline read, "Societies worse off 'when they have God on their side.'" (Read the article at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article571206.ece.)

Essentially, the story isn't too blatant about it, but generally points to the failure of morality in America. Let's look at a few examples that have been cited in this respect. (Let' see if what they're saying about us is true.)

During the presidency of George W. bush, who asserted his Christianity, taxes were slashed on the very rich, millions more people were allowed to fall into poverty, staggering debts were passed on to future generations, Medicare and Medicaid for the elderly and poor were cut, and a questionable war was launched. these are antithetical to the teachings of Christ.

The U.S. (as I've blogged before) has the highest incarceration rate in the world. A 2003 Justice Dept. report found that about one in 37 adults living in the U.S. have either been in prison or were in prison (at the time of the study). That ratio, according to the U.S. Justice Dept., is at least 25% higher than any other nation on earth. A 2003 report to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights said that the U.S. "now locks up its citizens at a rate 5-8 times that of industrial nations to which we are most similar, Canada and Western Europe."

An academic, cross-national study of the correlations of societal health with religion and secularism (referenced above) pointed to a striking contrast between the U.S. and other democratic nations (which aren't so religious). In America, it said, "a strong majority believe that religion is beneficial for society and for individuals." In the other developed democracies, however, religion continues to decline precipitously and avowed atheists often win high office.

What is so striking about this particular study is that the negative correlation between religion and societal health is unmistakable. "In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy, and abortion in the prosperous democracies." The report concluded that, "the most theistic prosperous democracy, the U.S., is almost always the most dysfunctional of the developed democracies and always scores poorly on the basic measures of societal health."

What are these people saying? They're saying that the U.S., as the world's wealthiest nation - with some of the worst social conditions, is therefore least efficient western nation in terms of converting wealth into cultural and physical health. In other words, their view is that wealth should translate into better cultural, societal and physical health. That it doesn't seems to point to a vast problem (at least in the experts' opinion).

So here's the thing. According to other studies I've read, something like 85% of the people in America profess to be Christians. But that appears to have little impact on how they live. In fact, in nations where the ratio (of Christians) goes the other direction, the behavior of the people is notably better. They live more modestly, are more disciplined and generally make a more positive impact on the rest of the world around them. What's up with that?

I've always been frustrated myself with the televangelists who tell people that, "All you have to do is say this simple little prayer and ask Jesus to come into your heart." Seriously, when I hear that I want to scream. It is a lie. That is not "all you have to do!" In fact, there is considerably more that you must do.

For starters, when you become a Christian, you have to change your priorities. You have to change your playground and your playmates. You have to give everything up - including your free will - and surrender it to the lordship of Jesus Christ. And you have to love and serve others sacrificially. Honestly, the list goes on. Christians are supposed to look markedly different than the world around them. If all you do is say the simple prayer, this blogger believes you will simply become a hypocrite.

One author I read stated it rather well, I think. He said, "(American) Christians are sayers and not doers. It is because they have been persuaded by the religious leaders in America that if they say they accept Jesus, what they do doesn't really matter. There is little to motivate them to act on behalf of others if they think there is already a spot saved for them in Heaven."

He continued, saying, "I know many Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists, as well as many agnostics and atheists who are far better followers of the teachings of Jesus than are vast numbers of people who call themselves Christians." Ouch! That hurts!

And there it is. The condemnation of morality in America. Despite the fact that I think this author is a heretic himself. Despite the fact that there's much he says which I don't agree with. I know what he was saying is true. I know many of those same people myself.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look at the evidence and see that many more people who don't believe in Jesus Christ live more like Jesus than the people who do say they believe in Jesus Christ.

So, American churches and religious leaders - what are we going to do about that?

American Prisoners

Maybe you already knew this. I sure didn't. I've read that the U.S. has more than its fair share of prisoners - and I'm not talking about those held illegally at Guatanamo Bay. It didn't take too much digging to find out that we are something of a phenomenon in the world when it comes to incarcerating our citizens. Let's take a look.

The U.S. has less than 5% of the world's population - but almost 25% of the world's prisoners.

The U.S. houses 756 people in jails for every 100,000 residents - a rate that is nearly 500% of the world's average.

About one in every 31 adults is either in prison or on parole in America at any given time.

Black Americans have a 33% likelihood of being imprisoned at some point in their lives.

It's tempting to think that these people probably all "deserve it." After all, we have a great justice system and everyone in the U.S. is innocent until proven guilty. That may be. But the perplexing statistics don't lie. Something is obviously different in the U.S. system of justice from the rest of the world.

It's reported that one-sixth of all the people in prison in America today suffer from mental illnesses of one sort or another. As a matter of fact, there are four times as many mentally ill people in prison as there are in mental hospitals in America!

And we're not talking about a once-in-lifetime thing here, where people serve light prison sentences for mistakes they made when they were "young and foolish." Two-thirds of ex-prisoners are re-arrested ... within three years of being released.

It's also a family affair. More than 1.7 million children in America have at least one parent in prison right now. Those kids are six times more likely than their peers to end up in prison themselves too.

Something about prisons in America seems ineffective. Instead of reforming the offenders and turning them into model citizens --- it seems the system leans more toward disenfranchising them. Even for those who don't return to prison, life is different afterwards. There is the stigma of having a "prison record," which makes it difficult to find gainful employment. So most ex-prisoners are barred from professional jobs and jobs of any key responsibility. They are most likely to end up in manual labor positions --- regardless of their capabilities.

America is one of only a handful of countries that bar prisoners from voting too. And in some states, that ban is lifelong. Over 2% of American adults and about 14% of all black American men are barred from voting in any election for the rest of their lives because of prior criminal convictions.

Perhaps the oddest thing is that the U.S. hasn't always been so different when it comes to incarcerating its citizens. For most of the 20th century, America imprisoned roughly the same proportion of its population as many other countries - about 100 people for every 100,000 citizens. But while other countries held steady at this rate, the American incarceration rate soared to 313 people per 100,000 citizens in 1985. It absolutely mushroomed after that - to 648 people per 100,000 citizens in 1997. (And we sit at 756 people in prison for every 100,000 citizens today.)

We could discuss a variety of pros and cons - surmising a multitude of reasons for this phenomenon. But I think there are some clues as to the breakdown in morality that we seem to be having. For example, about 55% of the population of federal prisons and about 21% of the population in state prisons are serving time for drug-related charges. (An astonishing 75% of those people are black men too.) Other leading reasons for such incarcerations include offenses for sexual related and financial crimes.

The United States of America is known as the richest, most powerful nation on earth. Sadly, it seems that we've used that wealth to indulge ourselves. We are increasingly giving ourselves over to the depravity of drugs, sex and money.

So, do you suppose the recession and economic contraction will have any effect on America's prison population?

Source: U.S. Dept. of Justice