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You may have felt a bit of ethical satisfaction weekend before last when the Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit against Goldman Sachs for a variety of corrupt practices. At last, it seemed, some clear-headed, sound moral thinking will be inserted to help clean up the ethical sesspool of the American economy.
Then came the disclosures about high officials at the SEC using government computers and time to search out pornography on the web. And not just a few hours - days, and thousands upon thousands of hours. And not just a few low-level paper-pushers with too much time on their hands. No, top officials as well were found to have indulged their smutty minds on the taxpayers' dollar.
So we have corrupt examiners watching over corrupt financiers, and we hope that's going to lead to a sound ethical judgment and renewed morality in the economy? Are we kidding? The corruption at the SEC and Goldman Sachs is just a sampler of the corruption that exists just below - and sometimes right on - the surface of our entire society.
Which is simply to remind us that moral recovery and ethical renewal cannot come from the engines and agencies of this world, driven and operated by the corrupt minds of self-interested men. Some of us may be hoping for a major renewal via the ballot box in November, but, if so, we're headed for more disappointment.
The corruption of sin is endemic in the systems of this nation because the men and women who run and manage those systems are corrupt with sin themselves. Unless we seek a route of renewal that is able to deal with the inherent problem of human sin, this nation, its economy, its government, and all our agencies and institutions, will continue their slide into the slough of destruction via the paths of self-interest.
Only real revival of men's souls can help us, and that revival is only available as we seek it fervently from God. If you are not daily praying for the revival of the Church, the renewal of our mission, and an awakening to truth throughout this land, why not?
T. M. Moore