The Two Americas

Conservatives are examining one of the deepest divides troubling America today: the moral divide.

From CNS News:

Taking a page from the playbook of Democratic 2008 presidential hopeful John Edwards, social conservatives attending the 34th annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., Thursday agreed there are 'two Americas' -- but the division, they said, is over morals, not money.

'It's been said that there are two Americas, and what I'd argue is that if there are two Americas, we're not divided economically, we're divided morally,' Wendy Wright, president of the group Concerned Women for America, said during a panel discussion entitled 'Beyond Our Pocketbooks: Social Issues and the Conservative Movement.'

The article is a good one, but it doesn't go into detail about the relationship between moral and economic issues as much as I'd like. Still, they do at least touch on it:

"The other party doesn't seem to acknowledge or understand the interrelationship between the social and economic issues," he continued. "They think they can do one without the other."

What the Left refuses to acknowledge is that the economic problems they love to whine about are largely due to moral problems.

There will always be rich people and poor people, even if you try to build your socialist paradise (remember the "Animal Farm," where some animals were "more equal" than others?). But many of the economically disadvantaged people in this country are in that position because of poor moral choices.

Studies show that most of the poor are in broken homes. Broken homes are almost always the consequence of a variety of moral failures on the part of at least one spouse/parent: infidelity, easy divorce, unwed pregnancy, substance abuse, gambling addiction, poor work ethic, etc.

A friend and I try to minister to a number of people who might be described as the "down and out": lots of problems such as relationship issues, poverty, etc. My friend and I talked just a couple of nights ago about our frustration in bringing people to the point where they can see that doing things God's way usually reaps benefits--not only in the life to come, but in this one, too. You may not become rich by taking the moral path, but your basic needs will almost certainly be met, and you'll have a lot less heartache.

But with all the distractions of our fast-paced and distraction-laden American lifestyle, it's easy to miss this truth. It also doesn't help that society, with the help of the media, sends out a constant drumbeat that says, "You deserve to have it all. You CAN have it all without paying a price. Doing whatever you want will bring you happiness."

That's a lie. It seeks to hide the truth that is ultimately inescapable: Moral choices have economic consequences.