Saturday, June 6, 1998

Group hopes to stem nation's 'moral decline'

By TOM SCHAEFER / Knight Ridder Newspapers

A 15-year-old opens fire on a classroom of students.

A professional athlete spits on an umpire.

A motorist, in a fit of rage, runs another driver off the road.

From violence to vile behavior, our society is losing the moral resources necessary for our democracy to survive.

That's the conclusion of a group of 25 people, from various social and political perspectives, who met last week (May 27) in New York to discuss the erosion of values in our country.

"Our democracy is growing weaker because we are using up, but not replenishing, the civic and moral resources that make our democracy possible," the group states in its just-issued report, "A Call to Civil Society."

"At the end of this century, our most important challenge is to strengthen the moral habits and ways of living that make democracy possible."

The report was written by the Council on Civil Society, a joint project of the University of Chicago Divinity School and the Institute for American Values.

Participants included Democrats and Republicans, scholars and religious leaders, non-profit executives and community activists.

"We come together as citizens of diverse beliefs and differing political affiliations to issue an appeal for the renewal of the American experiment in self-governance," they declare in the preamble of the report.

In 25 succinct but thought-provoking pages, they describe the problems our society faces and offer some challenging solutions.

Theirs is a call that most agree needs to be heeded. The question is: Will anyone care enough to do anything about it?

Here's a quick look at what the council says is wrong with our society and what it believes must be changed. To start, the council turns to public opinion polls to take the nation's pulse.

Daniel Yankelovich, a leading analyst of social trends and one of the council members, reported these results: Eighty-seven percent of Americans fear that "something is fundamentally wrong with America's moral condition," up from 76 percent the previous year. In addition, 67 percent of Americans believe the United States is in "long-term moral decline."

Symptoms of that decline include teen-age pregnancies, children born out of wedlock, extramarital affairs, "casual" sex. All threaten family stability, the fundamental institution of society, the council states.

Other symptoms -- children who are rude to adults, declining loyalty between employers and employees, an absence of common courtesy -- underscore the coarsening of values and the decline of civility throughout society.

"According to leading analysts," the council says, "the citizens of our nation have reached two conclusions about our current direction: First, we suffer from growing inequality, and second, we suffer from moral depletion."

No one is suggesting a return to some idyllic Ozzie and Harriet era. What the council calls for is a rebirth of "civil society," which it defines as "families, neighborhood life and the web of religious, economic, educational and civic associations." All contribute to the character of the individual and the cohesiveness of society. Without such character and cohesiveness, says the council, our ability to govern ourselves is at risk.

To rebuild the moral foundation of the nation, the council proposes three major goals:

1. Increase the likelihood that more children will grow up with their two married parents.

2. Adopt "a new civil society model," based on a variety of approaches at a local level rather than one based on government regulation and economic incentives, for evaluating public policies and solving social problems.

3. Revitalize "a shared civic story" informed by moral truth. Even with our differences, we need to define what unites us as a people, the council notes. "Our main challenge is to rediscover the existence of transmittable moral truth."

The council insists that every societal institution and organization has a role to play in achieving these goals -- families, communities and neighborhoods, churches and other religious groups, civic organizations, the arts and art institutions, local governments, primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, business, labor and economic institutions, and the media.

"At the end of this century," the council states, "our most important challenge is to strengthen the moral habits and ways of living that make democracy possible."

It's a daunting task, and more fully outlined in the report. What remains to be seen is whether there's a willingness and a sense of we're-in-this-togetherness to follow through and reshape society.

Or will we continue to bemoan another crime of violence, another act of vile behavior, another sign of moral deterioration -- and do nothing?

For a copy of the council's report, send a $7 check to the Institute for American Values, Suite 211, 1841 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10023.

(Tom Schaefer writes about religion and ethics for the Wichita (Kan.) Eagle. Write to him at the Wichita Eagle, P.O. Box 820, Wichita, KS 67201, or send e-mail to tschaefer@wichitaeagle.com)

(c) 1998, The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.).

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