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Paradigm Shifts in Society on Morality

Acts-perienced Poster Posts: 11849 **3/22/18 1:06 am**

I have read that in the time of Caesar Augustus/Octavian, when he took over, Rome was a very sexually decadent place, and he instituted policies or did something to change the culture, and Rome became less that way. Of course, I think Augustus had divorced his wife married a woman whose husband had been forced to divorce her so she could marry Octavian, for political reasons. Octavian was apparently not that moral when it came to marriage and sexual issues, by Biblical standards.

I have read that in the early days of John Wesley, England had become largely an immoral and decadent place, like France before the French revolution. The revival he took part in supposedly changed the culture in terms of morality in the country.

Somehow morals in England shifted to the degree that they may have been excessively prudish during the Victorian era.

I have heard the stories of the revival in Wales, where mules that worked in the mines had to be retrained due to newly converted men not cussing anymore, bars shutting down, churches being full.

And I consider our society. I watched a comedian several years ago. He was going on about themes in porn movies, detailed stuff you'd have to watch movies to know about. The audience laughed like they knew what he was talking about, men and women. When Sarah Pailin was running for VP, I learned from seeing a few clips of wise guy political commentators that she apparently looked like some kind of character or stereotypical character type out of porn movies.

On college campuses, those who speak out against the idea that same sex activity is wrong could face persecution or protest from student activists. College administrators do not just put up with these activists, but cowtow to them or actively support their cause. Weirdos can come into kindergarten classrooms and tell little children that they can choose their own gender, and there doesn't have to be just two. Those who speak out against such things may face persecution.

And we live in a culture where fornication is presented as normative, too. Divorce is highly socially acceptable, and even encouraged if both parties aren't feeling it.

There is, of course, the problem of violence in schools, children coming in and shooting up the place with assault rifles.

I believe the most powerful force for societal transformation is the Gospel. When revivals occur, not everyone gets saved, but the influence of the Gospel seems to put some restraint on people. But even aside from that, there seems to be shifts in cultures when it comes to issues like sexual morality, that even pagan emperors can, by laws and policies, inhibit some libertinism.

I believe the most powerful things we can do is share the Gospel. But there may be other things we can do to help transform our society through media, voting for the right kind of leaders, being involved in schools and government on the local level. Do these things work in a democratic society with a (in some ways too) free media? Aside from revival, do social pressures against decadence and libertinism only work in totalitarian type societies where authoritarian figures frown on such things or actively oppose them?
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