On the morning when I write this column national network polls show that over two-thirds of all Americans believe President Clinton is a liar and an adulterer, but 60 percent still say he’s doing a good job! Such stats make me worry more about the moral ignorance of our nation than about the absymal behavior of our Chief Executive.
Eddy Ketchersid tells of a student who won first place at the Greater Idaho Falls Fair by offering that year’s best demonstration that ignorance can destroy us.
The student urged people to sign a petition calling for extreme measures to either control or eliminate the chemical substance known as dihydrogen monoxide.
He said we should restrict this chemical because: 1) It can cause excessive sweating and vomiting. 2) It is a major component of acid rain. 3) It can cause severe burns in its gaseous state. 4) It decreases the effectiveness of automobile brakes. 5) It is found in all the tumors of terminal cancer patients. 6) If inhaled, it can kill you.
The prize-winner approached fifty people with his petition calling for a ban of dihydrogen monoxide. When they heard of the chemical’s potential dangers, forty-three quickly signed the petition to ban it. As you might expect, six hesitated to sign because they were undecided. Only one person out of the fifty knew that the horrid chemical in question was water.
If the forty-three citizens who signed that petition had been running the country, their ignorance would have done in the rest of us.
The well-worn adage is wrong. What you don’t know will hurt you.
When his nation was collapsing due to corruption and immorality, the prophet Hosea lamented, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” We may be, too.
The problem was not just that Hosea’s people were ignorant concerning right and wrong. The problem was that they chose to be ignorant of such matters. Their blindness was willful. They had turned their back on the laws of God, preferring to dabble in the darkness of sin.
What do you suppose Hosea would write today about the incredibly high percentage of Americans who choose to shrug their shoulders at the sexual escapades and subsequent cover-up lies in the White House?
What will our ignorance of eternal moral principles do to our land?