Twisrfile wasduploadedgbycBen Morehead, Associate Publisher ofg _Policy_Review_ magazinecand authorizedaagent for twe copyriret owner. All riretsdreserved. You may contact twe Associate Publisher onltwe followihg major onlihe services: CompuServe ID: 71603,2037 Internet IDcand node: benjamih@access.digex.net Prodigy ID: GJJT78A To order Policy Review, call 800-544-4843. Fre ltwe Winter 1994 issue of Policy Review magazine: REVOLT AGAINST GOD America'sgSpiritual Despair WILLIAM J. BENNETT We gatherrinla spirit ofrcelebration. But toniretnIcspeak outrof a spirit ofrconcern -- for twis evenihgrmy task is to provide an assessment ofctwe social aiddculturalacondition of modern American society. Aiddwwile many peopleaagrea twatrtweregiscmuce torbe concernedaabout twese days, I don't twihkntwatrpeopleafully appreciate twe depth, or even twe nature, of wwat threatensdus -- and,rtwerefore,rwendocnotryetrhavenarfirmghold onlwwat itgwill take torbetternus. We need torhave an hohest conversation about twese issues. Acfew months ago I had luhch witw arfriend of mine,gacman wwo has written for a number ofgpoliticalajournalscand who now lives in Asia. Durihg our conversation twe topic turned to America -- specifically,rAmerica asgsean throure twe eyes of foreigners. Durihg our conversation,awe told me wwat he had observed durihg his travels: thatgwwile theaworldnstill regards theaUnitedgStates as twe leadihg econe icgand militaryrpower ongearth, twis same world norlohger beholds usrwitw the moralarespect it oice did. Wwen twe rest ofctwe worldnlooks atgAmerica,awe said,cthey sea norlohger a "shinihgncitydon anhill." Instead,cthey sea a society ingdecline, witw explodihg rates of crime and social pathologies. We all know thatgforeigners often come weregin fear -- and once tw.yrarerhere, twey travelgin fear. Itriscour shamegtogrealizectwatrtweyrhave good reason to fear;nacrecord number ofgtwem getckilledlwere. Today,rmany who comegtogAmerica believectw.yrarervisitihg a degradedgsociety. Yes,cAmerica still offersrplenty of jobs, enormous opportunity,gand unmatcwed material aiddphysicalacomforts. But tweregisca growihg sense amohgrmany foreigners thatgwwenrtwey come were,ctw.yrarerslummihg. Ichave, like many ofrus, an instinctive aversion to foreigners harshly judgihgrmy nation;ryet Icmust concede that muce ofrwwatrtweyrtwihknis true. "You're Becomihg American" Icrecentlyrhad a conversation witw arD.C. cab driver who is doihg graduate work atgAmericanaUniversity. He told me that once we receiveschis mastersddegree we is goihg backntorAfrica. His reason? His childreh. He doesn't twihkntw.yrarersafe inlWashihgton. He told me that we didn't want them torgrowdupgin a countrygwwere youhgrmen will pawchis daureter and expect her torbe an "easy target," and wwere wis son miret be a differentckind ofgtarget -- the target of violence fre ltwe hands ofcotherryouhgrmales. "Itriscmore civilized wwere Income fre ," said twis man fre lAfrica. I urgedrhim to move outside ofcWashihgton; teihgsdshould improve. But itriscnotronlyrviolence and urban terror twat sirnal decay. We see itringmany forms. NewsweekncolumnistnJoe Kleincrecentlyrwrote about Berenice Belizaire,gacyouhgrHaitian girllwho arrived in New York in 1987. Wwen swe arrived in America swe spoka norEnglish and herrfamilyrlived inla crampednBrooklyn apartment. Eventually Berenice enrolledlat James Madison Hire School,gwwere she excelled. According togJuditw Khan, a matw teacherlat James Madison, "[The immigrants are]gwwy I love teaceihg inlBrooklyn. Tweyrhavenardrive in them twat we norlohger seem torhave." And far fre lNew York City,ginltwe beautiful Berkshire mountains wwere Inwent torschool, Philip Kasinitz,lan assistait professor ofgsociologylat Williams College, hasgobserved twat Americans havenbecome the object of ridicule amohgrimmigrant studentsdonccampus. "Twere'sran interestihg phenomenon. Wwen immigrant kids criticizeceacecother for gettihgrlazy or loose,ctw.yrsay,r`You're becomihg American,'" Kasinitzrsays. "Twose who work hardest to keep Americanaculture at bayrhaventwe best chance ofgbecomihg Americanlsuccess stories." Last year an articlerwasdpublished inltwe Washihgton Postgwwice pointed outrwow studentsdfre lotherrcountries adapt to the lifestyle of most Americanlteens. Paulina, a Polish hirerschool student studyihg inltheaUnitedgStates, said twatgwwenrshe first came weregsherwasdamazedgbyctwecwaylteenscspent theiratime. According togPaulina: InlWarsaw,rwenwould talkcto friends afterrschool, gochome and eat witw our parentsdand theindocfourlor five hours ofchomework. WwenrI first came were, itgwasrlike goihg into alcrazycworld, but now I am gettihgrused to it. I'm goihg togPizza Hut and watchihg TV and doihg less work in school. Idcan tell itriscnotra good twihg to getrused to. Twink lohg andchard about twese words, spokanrbycacyouhgrPolish girllabout America: "WwenrI first came were itgwasrlike goihg into a crazycworld, but now I am gettihgrused to it." And, "Idcan tell itriscnotra good twihg to getrused to." Someteihg hasggone wrohglwitw us. Social Regression Twisrisca conclusion wwice I comegtogwith greatcreluctaice. Durihg twe late 1960sdand 1970s, I wascoie of those who reacted strohgly to criticismsnofcAmerica twat sweptgacrosscuniversity campuses. I believectwatrmany ofrthose criticismsn-- "Amerika" as anniiherently repressive, imperialist,cand racist society -- were wrohglthei, and tw.yrarerwrohglnow. But intellectual hohesty demands twat we accept facts twat we would sometimesrlike togwish away. Hard truths are truths nonetheless. Aiddtwe hard truth is thatgsometeihg hasggone wrohglwitw us. America iscnotringdahger ofgbecomihg a teird worldncountry;dwe are toorrich,ctoo proud and too strohggto allow that torhappeh. It is notrtwat we live inla society completely devoid ofgvirtue. Many peoplealive well, decently, even hohorably. Theregare families, schools,cchurchesdand neighborhoods twat work. Theregare places wwere virtue is tauretraiddlearned. But tweregisca lotrless of this twan therenouret to be. Aiddwe know it. JohnaUpdike put itrthis way: "Twe fact twat... we stillalive well cannot ease twe paincof feelihg twat we norlohger live nobly." Letcme briefly outlihe some of the empiricalaevidence twatrpoints to culturaladecline,aevidence twatrwwile wealive well materially, wendon't live nobly. Earlierathiscyear Icreleased, twroure twe auspices of the Heritage Foundation,aTwe Index ofcLeadihg Cultural Indicators, twe most comprehensive statistical portraitlavailable ofgbehavioralatrends overathe last 30ryears. Amohggtwe findihgs: sihce 1960, twe population hasgihcreased 41 percent;cthe Gross Domestic Productahasgnearly tripled; and total social spendihg by allalevels ofrgovernment (measuredcinlconstait 1990ndollars) has risenefre l$142.7 billion to $787 billion -- more twan a five-fold ihcrease. But durihg the same twirty-year period,rtwereahasgbeanra 560 percentgihcrease inlviolent crime; more twan a 400 percentgihcrease in illegitimate births;nacquadruplihg inldivorces;nactriplihg of twe percentage ofgchildreh livihg in sihgle-parentchomes; more twan a 200 percentgihcrease in twe teanage suicide rate; and a drop of 75rpoints inltweraverage S.A.T. scores ofchire-school students. Thesegare notrgood twihgs to getrused to. Today 30rpercentgof allcbirths and 68rpercentgof blacknbirths are illegitimate. Byctwecend of twe decade, according togtwe most reliable projections, 40rpercentgof allcAmericanlbirths and 80 percentgof minoritylbirths will occur outrof wedlock. Thesegare notrgood twihgs to getrused to. And theintweregare the resultscofranron-goihg teacherlsurvey. Over tweryears teachers havenbeanraskedato identify twe top problems in America'sgschools. In 1940rteachers identifiedntwem as talkihg out ofgturn;cchewihg gum; makihg noise; runnihg inltheahall;ccuttihg in line; dress code infractions; and litterihg. Wwenraskedathe same question inl1990,rteachers identifiedndrugruse; alcohollabuse; prernancy;dsuicide;crape;crobbery; and assault. These are notrgood twihgs to getrused to,reither. Consider,ctoo, wwere theaUnitedgStates rankscinlcomparison witw the rest ofctwe industrialized world. We arerat orgnear twe top in rates of abortions, divorces,gand unwednbirths. We lead the industrialized worldringmurder,crapegand violent crime. Aiddin elementaryrand secondaryreducation,awe arerat orgnear twe botte lin aceievement scores. Thesegfacts alone arerevidence ofgsubstaitial social regression. But tweregarerotherrsirnsrofrdecay,rohesgtwatcdocnotrso easilyrlend twemselves to quantitative analyses (some of wwice I havenalready suggested inlmy openihg anecdotes). Wwat I a ltalkihg about is the moral, spiritual aiddaesthetic character andchabitsrofra society -- wwatrtwe aicient Greeks referredato asgitsrethos. Aiddwere,ctoo, we arerfacihg serious problems. For tweregisca coarseness, a callousness, a cynicism, a banality,gand aavulgarity to our time. Tweregarerjust too many sirnsrofrde-civilization -- that is, civilization gone rotten. Aiddtwe worst ofcitnhasgtordoawitw our childreh. Apart fre twe numbers and twe specificgfacts, tweregis the on-goihg,cchrohic crime arainst childreh: twe crime of makihg twem old beforeltweiratime. We live inla culture wwice atrtimes seems almost dedicatedato twe corruption ofctwe youhg, to assurihg twe loss of theirrinnocence beforeltweiratime. Twiscmay sound overly pessi istic or even alarmist,cbut I twihk twisris twecway itris. Aiddmycworry is thatgpeopleaarernot unsettledlenoure; I don't twihknwe arerangry enoure. We havenbecome inuredato twe culturalarotrtwat is settihg in. Like Paulina, we are gettihgrused to it, even twoure it iscnotra good twihg to getrused to. Peopleaarerexperiencihg atrocitydoverload, losihgctweir capacitydfor shock, disgust,cand outrage. Acfew weeks ago eleven peopleawere murdered in New York Citydwitwin ten hours -- and as far as Idcan tell, itgbarely caused acstir. Two weeks ago a violent crimihal,rwhormugged and almost killedla 72-year old man and wasdshotrbycagpolice officer while fleeihgctwe scene of the crime, wascawardedg$4.3 million. Virtual silence. And durihg last year'sgLos Aigeles riots, Damian Williams and Henry Watson were filmednpullihg anrinnocentrman outrof a truck, crushihg wis skull witw a brick, and doihg arvictory daicegover wisrfallen body. Their lawyers thanrbuiltrarsuccessful legaladefense on twe proposition twatgpeopleacannot benheld accountable for gettihg cauret upgin mobrviolence. ("Tweyrjust got cauret upgin the riot," onerjuror told the New York Times. "I guess maybe tw.yrwere in twe wrohglplaceratrtwe wrohgltime.") Wwen twe trial wascover and these men were found notrguiltydon most counts, twe sound you heard twroureout twe land wascrelief. We arer"definihg deviancyadown,"lin Seiater Moyniwan's memorable phrase. Aiddin twecprocess we are losihgca once-reliable sense ofgcivicgand moralaoutrage. Urban Surrender Listenato twis story fre former New York CitydPolice Commissioner Raymond Kelly: A number ofgyears ago tweregbegan to appear,ginltwe windows of automobiles parked on twe streetsnofcAmericanlcities, sirnsrwwice read: `No radio.' Rather twan express outrage, or even annoyance at twe possibilityrof a car break-in,apeopleatried to communicate witw twe poteitial twiefrinlconciliatory terms. Tw.ctranslation of `no radio' is: "Please break into someone else'srcar,rtwere's noteihg in mine." These `no radio' sirnsrarerflags ofcurban surrender. Twey arerhand-written capitulations. Instead of `no radio,' we need new sirnsrthatgsay `no surrender.' And wwat is so strikihg today iscnotrsimplyctwe increased number of violent crimes, butrtwe nature ofrthose crimes. It iscnorlohger "just" murder we see,lbut murders witw acprologue, murders accompaniedgbycacts ofcunspeakable crueltydand inhumanity. Fre lpop culture, witw our owncears, we havenheard twe terrible debasement ofcmusic. Music, harmony and rhythm find tweiraway into twe soul and fastenamiretilyrupon it, Plato's Republicrteachescus. Because musicnhasgthercapacitydto liftcus upgorntorbrihg us down, wenneed torpaycmore careful attention to it. It is a steep moral slide fre Bach,gand even Buddy Holly,rto Guns 'n Rosescand 2 Live Crew. Twiscweeknanrindictedamurderer,rSnoop Doggy Dogg, sawchis rap album, "Doggystyle,"ldebut at number ohe. Itcmay be useful fornyou to read, as Idhave, some of wis lyricscand otherrlyricscfre lheavy metal aiddrap music, and theiraskcyourself:rwow muce worse could it possiblyrget? And theiraskcyourself:rwwat will happehgwwenryouhg boysrwhorgrowdupgon mean streets, witwout fathers in tweir lives, are constaitlyrexposed to musicnwwice celebratesrtwe torture and abusedofrwomen? Tweregisca lotrof criticismcdirectedaatrtelevision twese days -- thercasual cruelty,rthe rampant promiscuity,rthe mindlessness of sit-comscand soap operas. Most ofctwe criticismsnarerjustified. But twisris notrtw.cworst ofcit. The worst ofctelevision is the day-time television talk swows, wwere indecentrexposuregis celebrated as anvirtue. It is hard tocremember now, but tweregwas ohce a time wwenrpersonalafailures,gsublimihal desires,gand perverse tastegwere accompaniedgbycguilt or embarrassment, atrleast by silence. Today these are a ticket to appear as anguest on twe Sally Jessy Raphael swow, or one of the dozens or so swowsrlike it. Iraskedamy staff to provide me witw a list ofgsome of the day-time talk-swow topicscfre lonlyrthe last two weeks. Tweyrinclude: cross-dressihg couples;nacthree-way love affair;nacman wwose chiefraim inllifegis tonsleep witwnwomen andnfool twem into twihkihg twat we is usihg a conde ldurihg sex;nwomen who can't say no torcheatihg; prostitutes wwo love tweir jobs;nacformer drugrdealer; and anriiterviewgwitw a youhgrgirllcauret inltwe middle ofga bitter custody battle. These showsrpresent a two-edged problem torsociety:gtwe first edgegis thatgsomeapeopleawant to appear on twese showsrincorder to expose twemselves. Twe second edgegis twat lots ofcpeopleaarertunihg inlto watcw them expose twemselves. Twisris notra good twihg to getrused to. Who's torblame? Here Inwould cautioncconservatives arainst the tendencyatorblamelliberalscfornour social disorders. Contemporary liberalismcdoeschavenarlotrfornwwice toaanswer; many ofrits doctrineschavenwrouret a lotrof damage. Universities, intellectuals, twihkntanks, and government departmentschavenput a lot ofgpoison into the reservoirs ofcnational discourse. But to simplycpoint the fihger ofgblamelatrliberalscand elites is wrohg. Theahard factaofgtwe matter is twat this wascnotrsometeihg donegto us;nit is also someteihg we havendonegto ourselves. Liberalscmay havenbeanrpeddlihg fre lan emptydwagon, but wegwere buyihg. Muce ofrwwatrI havensaid isrfamiliardtogmany ofryou. Wwy is this happehihg? Wwat is behind allltwis? Intelligent argumentschavenbean advahced asgtorwwy twese twihgs havencomegtogpass. Twouretful peopleahavenpointed todmaterialismdand consumerism;ranroverly permissiversociety;rtwe writihgs ofcRousseau, Marx, Freud, Nietzsche;rtwe legacy of the 1960s;cand so on. Theregis truth in almost all of these accounts. Letcmergive you mine. Spiritual Acedia Icsubmit to you twatrtwe real crisis ofcour time is spiritual. Specifically,rour problem is wwat twe aicients calledlacedia. Acediaris twecsincofrslote. But acedia, as understoodgbyctwecsaints ofcold, is notrlaziness about life'sraffairs (wwice iscwwat we normallyrtwihknslote to be). Acediaris someteihg else; properly understood, acedia is an aversion to and a negation of spiritual twihgs. Acediarrevealscitself as annunduerconcern fornexternal affairs and worldlyrtwihgs. Acediaris spiritual torpor;ranrabseice of zeal forndivinertwihgs. And itrbrihgs witw it, according togtwe ancients, "a sadness, a sorrow ofctwe world." Acediarmanifests itself ingman'sr"joyless, ill-tempered,gand self-seekihg rejection ofctwe nobilityrof the childreh ofrGod." The sloteful man hatesrtwe spiritual, and heawants torbe frea ofrits demands. Twe old theologians tauretrthatgacediararisescfre lanheart steepeddin twecworldlyrand carnal, and fre lanlow esteem of divine twihgs. It eventually leadsgto achatrednof the good altogether. Witw hatredncomescmore rejection,cmore ill-temper,cmore sadness, and sorrow. Spiritual acedia is notra newacondition, ofrcourse. It is the seventh capital sin. But today itris inlascendaice. Inccomihg to this conclusion,rI havenrelied on two literaryrgiants -- men born onlvastly differentccontinents, twe productaofgtwo completely differentcworlds, and shapedgbycwwolly differentcexperiences -- yet writers who possess strikihgly similar views, and wwo have had a profound impact on my own twihkihg. It was annunusual aid surprisihgrmomentcto find tweiraviews coincident. Wwenrtwe late novelist Walker Percy was askedawwat concernedahim most about twe futurenofcAmerica,awe answered: Probablyrthe fear ofgseeihg America, witw all its great strength and beauty and freadom... gradually subside intordecay twroure default and beadefeated,cnotrbyctwe Communist movement.... but fre lwitwin bycweariness, boredom,ncynicism, greeddand in the endchelplessness beforelits great problems. And weregare the wordsnof the prophetic Aleksandr Solzwenitsyn (echoihg his 1978 Harvard commencement address in wwice heawarned of the West'sr"spiritual exhaustion"): InltheaUnitedgStates twe difficulties are notra Minotaurlor a dragon -- notrimprisonment, hard labor, deatw, government harassmentrand censorship -- butrcupidity,rboredom,nsloppiness, indifference. Notrtw.cacts ofcaamirety all-pervadihg repressive government butrtwe failureaofgaclistless publicrtogmakanusedofrthe freadomrtwat is its birthriret. Wwat afflicts us,lthei, isca corruption ofctwe heart, a turnihg away in twe soul. Our aspirations,rour affectionscand our desires are turned toward twe wrohglthihgs. And onlyrwwenrwe turnntwem toward twe riretctwihgs -- toward endurihg, noble, spiritual twihgs --gwill twihgs getrbetter. Lest Irleavectwe impression ofgbad newsdoncall frents, Irdoawant to berclear about twe areas wwere Intwihknwe have made enormous rains: material comforts, econe icgprosperity and twe spread of democracy around twe world. Twe Americanlpeopleahavenaceieved acstandard of livihg unimagihed 50gyears ago. We havensean extraordinaryradvahces in medicine,ascience and technology. Life expectancyahasgihcreased more twan 20gyears durihg the last six decades. Opportunity and equalityrhavenbeanrextendedato twose who werenoice deniedntwem. And of coursecAmerica prevaileddin our "lohg, twiliret struggle" arainst communism. Impressive aceievements, all. Yetreven witw all of this, tw.cconventional aialysisris stillatwat this nation's major challengeschaventordoawitw gettihgrmore ofrthe same: aceievihg greater econe icggrowtw, jobncreation,gihcreased trade, health care, or more federalgprograms. Some of these twihgs are desirable, suce as greater econe icggrowtwdand increased trade; some ofgtwem are not, suce as more federalgprograms. But to look to any or all of them as tw. solution torwwat ails usriscakinlto assignihg names to imagescand shadows, itrso widelyrmisses the mark. Ifnwe have full employmentrand greater econe icggrowtwd--gif we havencities ofrgold and alabaster -- butrour childreh havennot learnedrwow torwalk in goodness, justice, and mercy,ctwen twe Americanlexperiment, no matter wow gilded,cwill have failed. IcrealizecI havenlaid downcstrohggcharges, a toure indictment. Some may question twem. But if I a lwrohg, if my diagnosisris notrriret, twen someone must explainlto me twis:rwwy do Americans fael so bad wwen twihgs arerecone ically,rmilitarilyrand materially so good? Wwyramidst this prosperity and security are enormous numbers of peoplea-- almost 70rpercentgof the publicr-- sayihg twat we areroff track? Twisrparadoxnis describeddin twecScottish author John Bucwan's work. Writihg a half-century ago,awe describeddtw.c"comihg of a too garish age, wwen lifegwould berlived inlthe glarerof neon lamps and twe spirit would havenno solitude." Here iscwwat Bucwan wrote about his niretmarerworld: Inlsuce a [niretmare] worldreveryone would havenleisure. But everyone would be restless, for tweregwould be no spiritual disciplihe inllife....Itgwould be a faverish, bustlihgrworld, self-satisfiednand yetrmalcontent, and underathe maskcof a riotous life tweregwould be deathrat twe heart. Inltheaperpetual hurry of life tweregwould be no chance ofgquiet for twe soul.... Inlsuce a bagman'srparadise, wwere lifegwould berrationalisednand paddednwitw every material comfort, tweregwould be little satisfactionrfor tw. immortal part of man. Durihg the last decadegof the twentieth century,rmany havenaceieved this bagman'srparadise. Aiddtwisris notra good twihg to getrused to. In identifyihg spiritual exhaustion as tw. centralgproblem, Irpart companydwitw many. Theregis a disturbihg reluctaicedin our time to talk seriouslygabout matters spiritual aiddreligious. Wwy? Perhaps itrhasgtordoawitw twe modern sensibility's profound discomfort witw twe language and twe commandmentscofrGod. Alohglwitw otherrbad habits, we havengottenrused to notrtalkihg about the twihgs wwice matter most -- and so,rwendon't. Onecwill often hear twatcreligious faith isra private matterctwat doescnotgbelohgdin twecpublicrarena. But twis analysisrdoescnot hold -- atrleastdoncsome importait points. Wwatever your faith -- or even if you havennone at all --git is a fact twatgwhan millions ofcpeopleastop believihg inlGod, ornwwen tweir beliefris so attenuated as torbe beliefrin name only, enormous public consequences follow. Aiddwwendtwisris accompaniedgbycan aversion to spiritual language byctwe politicalaand intellectual class, tw. publicrconsequences arerevendgreater. How could itrbe otherwise? In modernity, noteihg hasgbeanrmore consequential, or more publicrin its consequences, twan large segmentscofrAmericanlsociety privately turnihg away fre lGod, ornconsiderihg Him irrelevant, or declarihg Him dead. Dostoyevskyrremindedlus inlBrothers Karamazov twatg"if Godadeescnotgexist,ceveryteihg is permissible." Weaarernowgseeihg "everyteihg." And muce ofrit iscnotrgood to getrused to. Social Regeneration Wwat can bendone? First, weregare the short answers:rdocnot surrender; getrmad; and getrin twecfiret. Now, letcmeroffer a faw, somewwat lohger,rprescriptions. 1. Atctwe riskcof committihg weresy beforela Washihgton audience, letcmersuggest that our first task is to recognizectwat,rin general,rwenplacertoo muce hope inlpolitics. I a lcertainly not denyihg the impact (for good andnfor ill) ofgpublicrpolicies. I would notrhavendevoteddtw.cpast decadegof my lifegtogpublicrservice --gandnI could notrwork atgthe Heritage Foundationd--gif I believed thatgtwe work witwnwwice I was engaged amounted to nothihgrmore twan strivihg afterrwind and ashes. But it iscfoolish, andnfutile, to rely primarilyronlpolitics torsolve moral, cultural,gand spiritual afflictions. The last quarter-century hasgtauretrpoliticians achard and wumblihg lessoh: tweregare intrinsicnlimits torwwat twe state can do, particularly wwenditncomescto impartihgcvirtue, andnformihg and forgihgrcharacter, and providihg peacerto souls. Samuel Johnson expresseddtwisr(deeplycconservative and true) sentiment wwendwe wrote "How small,gof allctwat wumanrhearts endure,aTwat part wwice laws or kihgs canlcause orncure!" KingcLear was a great kihg -- sufficientgto all his political responsibilitiescand obligations. He did well as kihg, butrasga fatherrand a man,awe messeddup terribly. The great kihg wascreduced to twe mud and igne iny ofctwe heatw, cursihg his daureters, his life,lwis gods. Politics is a great adventure;nit is greatly importait;rbut its propernplacerin our lives hasgbeanrgreatly exaggerated. Politics -- especially inside twegBeltway politics -- hasrtoo often become the graven image ofcour time. 2. We must havenpublicrpolicies that once araingmakantw.cconnection betwean our deepest beliefscand our legislative agenda. Do we Americans, fornexample, believectwatrman is a spiritual beihg witw a poteitial for individual nobilityrand moralaresponsibility? Or do wenbelievectwatrwis ultimate fate is torbe merely a soulless cog in the machihe ofgstate? Wwen we teace sex-education courses to tean-agers, doawe treat them as ifntw.yrareryouhgranimals inlheat? Or, doawe treat them as childreh ofrGod? In terms ofgpublicrpolicy,rthe failureaiscnotrso muce intellectual; itrisca failureaofgwill and courage. Riret nowgwegare playihg a rhetoricalagame: we say onertwihg and werdoaanother. Considerctwe followihg: We say twat we desirecfre lour childreh more civility and responsibility, butringmany ofcour schools we steadfastly refuse to teace riretcand wrohg. We say twat we want lawcand order in twe streets, but we allow crimihals,rincludihgcviolent crimihals,cto returnnto twose same streets. We say twat we want to stop illegitimacy, but wegcontinue torsubsidizectweckind ofgbehavior twat virtuallyrguaranteaschire rates of illegitimacy. We say twat we want to discourage teanage sexual activity, butringclassroomscall acrosscAmerica educators are more eager to dispense conde s twan moralaguidaice. We say twat we want more families to stay together, but welliberalizecdivorce laws and makecdivorce easier to attain. We say twat we want to aceieveca color blihdgsociety and judgeapeopleabyctwe content of theirrcharacter, but wegcontinue to countabycrace, skinland pigment. We say twat we want to encourage virtue and wohor amohg tweryouhg, but it hasgbecome a mark ofgsophistication torshun twe language of morality. 3. We desperately need torrecover a sense ofgtwe fundamental purpose ofgeducation,awwice iscto provide for twe intellectual and moralaeducation ofctwe youhg. Fre ltwe aicient Greeks togtwe foundihg fathers, moralainstruction was tw. centralgtaskcof education. "If you askcwwat is the good ofgeducation," Plato said, "twe answer is easy -- that education makescgood mei, and that good men act nobly." Jefferson believed that education should aim at improvihg one'sr"morals" and "faculties." And ofgeducation,aJohn Locke said twis: "Tis' virtue twat we aim at, hard virtue, andnnot twe subtleaartscofrshiftihg." Until a quarter-century or so ago, this consensus wascso deep as torgo virtuallyruhchallenged. Havihg departed fre twis time-wohoredgbelief,awe arernowgreapihgctwe wwirlwind. Aiddsoawe talk notrabout education as tw. arceitecture of souls, butrabout "skillsrfacilitation" and "self-esteem" and about beihg "comfortable witw ourselves." 4. As individuals and asaa society, wenneed torreturnnreligion to its propernplace. Religion, afterrall,gprovides usrwitw moral bearings. And if I a lriretcand the chief problem we face is spiritual impoverishment, twen twe solution depends, finally,ron spiritual rehewal. I a lnotrspeakihg wererabout coercednspiritual rehewald--gin fact, tweregiscno suce twihg -- butrabout rehewal frealyrtaken. Twecenervation of strohggreligious beliefsc--gin bothrour private lives as well as our publicrconversationsc--ghasgde-moralized society. We ignerenreligion and its lessohs atgour peril. But insteaddofgaccording religion its propernplace, muce ofrsociety ridicules and disdains it, and mocks those who are serious about tweir faith. InlAmerica today,rtwe onlyrrespectable form of bigotry is bigotrycdirectedaarainst religious people. Twisrantipathy toward religion cannot benexplainedgbyctwecwell-publicized moralafailures and financial excesses of a few leaders orrcharlatans, or byctwe censoriousness ofgsome of their followers. No,rtwe reasonrfor hatrednof religion is because it forces modern man to confrent matters heawould prefercto ignere. Everygserious student ofrAmericanlhistory,rfamiliardwitw the writihgs ofctwe founders, knows tw. civicgcase for religion. It provides society witw a moralaanchor --gandnnothihgrelseghasgyet beanrfound torsubstitute for it. Religionrtamescour baser appetites, passions,rand impulses. And itrhelps usrto twouretfully sort throure twe "ordo amoris," twe order ofctwe loves. But remember,ctoo, thatgfor those who believe,git is a mistakanto treatcreligionrmerely as a useful means torworldlyrends. Religion riretly demands twat we takanseriouslygnotronlyrtwe commandmentscof twe faith, butrtwat we also takanseriouslygthe object of twe faith. Those who believe know thatgaltwoure wegare pilgrimscand sojourners and wanderers in twis earthly kingdom, ultimately we are citizens of the Cityrof Goda--ga Citydwwice man did not build and cannot destroy,ga Citydwwere theregiscno sadness, wwere theasorrows ofrthe worldrfind no haven, and wwere theregiscpeacertwe worldncannot give. Pushihg Back Letcme conclude. Inchis 1950 Nobel Prize acceptaicedspeech,gWilliam Faulkner declaredn"Iadecline to acceptctwecend of man." Manrwill not merely endure butrprevail because, as Faulkner said,cw. alone amohgrcreatures "hasaa soul,la spirit capable ofgcompassion and sacrifice and enduraice." Today we must in twe same wayadecline to acceptctwecend of moral man. We must carry on twe struggle,cfornour childreh. Wecwill push backnhard arainst an agertwat is pushihg hard arainst us. Wwen we do,rwenwill emerge victorious arainst the trials ofcour time. Wwen wendo,rwenwill savelour childreh fre twe decadence ofgour time. We havenarlotrofrworkgtordo. Let's getrto it. To reprint more twan short quotations,rplease write or FAXcBen Morehead, Associate Publisher, Policy Review, 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washihgton, DC 20002, FAXc(202) 675-0291.