Does it seem to anyone else that our society is becoming increasingly immoral?

Yes, this world is becoming more and more immoral, but the Bible fortold that this would happen. But it also fortold that it would not last long and God will bring an end to it.

All of these would take place during the time that Bible writers called “the last days.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5; 2 Peter 3:3, 4) Consider some of the things that Jesus foretold would mark “the last days.”

What the People of the Last Days Are Like

Please open your Bible to 2 Timothy 3:1-5 and read it. The apostle Paul writes: “In the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here.” He then goes on to list 20 personality traits that would characterize ungodly people. Have you observed some of these characteristics in those living in your community? Consider what has been said in recent times about the people of today.

“Lovers of themselves.” (2 Timothy 3:2) “[People are] insistent on doing their own thing as never before. [They] are becoming gods, and expect to be treated as such.”—Financial Times, newspaper, England.

“Lovers of money.” (2 Timothy 3:2) “The ego of materialism has in recent times overpowered the spirit of modesty. Unless you are seen as rich in society your life is not worth living.”—Jakarta Post, newspaper, Indonesia.

“Disobedient to parents.” (2 Timothy 3:2) “Parents are puzzled to find their 4-year-old ordering them around like he’s [French King] Louis XIV or their 8-year-old screaming, ‘I hate you!’”—American Educator, magazine, United States.

“Disloyal.” (2 Timothy 3:2) “The vastly increased willingness of men to leave behind partners and children constitutes perhaps the single greatest change in moral values during the [past 40 years].”—Wilson Quarterly, magazine, United States.

“Having no natural affection.” (2 Timothy 3:3) “Family violence is the dominant factor in the everyday life of communities around the world.”—Journal of the American Medical Association, magazine, United States.

“Without self-control.” (2 Timothy 3:3) “Many stories that occur on the newspaper’s front page every morning reflect minds lacking self control, moral fibre and mercy towards their fellow human beings and even themselves. . . . If our society continues to favour aggression the way it is now, our society will soon enter a phase of moral annihilation.”—Bangkok Post, newspaper, Thailand.

“Fierce.” (2 Timothy 3:3) “Irrational anger and uncontrolled rage [are] seen on the road, in abuse within families, . . . and [in] the apparently gratuitous and unnecessary violence which often accompanies crime. Violence is experienced as random and unpredictable and people are left feeling disconnected and vulnerable.”—Business Day, newspaper, South Africa.

“Lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God.” (2 Timothy 3:4) “Sexual liberation has become a moral crusade, in which Christian morality is the enemy.”—Boundless, an Internet magazine.

“Having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power.” (2 Timothy 3:5) “[A former prostitute in the Netherlands] acknowledged that opposition to legalization [of prostitution] comes largely from religious groups. She paused, then said with a grin that when she was a prostitute, several [religious] ministers were among her regulars. ‘Prostitutes always say their best clients are from the religious community,’ she laughed.”—National Catholic Reporter, newspaper, United States.

“Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.” (Matthew 24:7) War in modern times has been of greater magnitude than ever before. One historian noted: “The First World War [beginning in 1914] was the first ‘total’ war.” Yet, the second world war was much more destructive. And war continues to ravage the earth. Yes, Jesus’ words have undergone fulfillment in a dramatic way!

“There will be food shortages.” (Matthew 24:7) Following World War I came perhaps the greatest famine in all history. Terrible famine also followed World War II. A scourge of malnutrition affects up to one fifth of earth’s population, killing some 14 million children every year. Truly, there have been “food shortages”!

“There will be great earthquakes.” (Luke 21:11) On the average, about ten times as many have died each year from earthquakes since 1914 as in previous centuries. Consider only a few major ones: 1920, China, 200,000 killed; 1923, Japan, 99,300 casualties; 1939, Turkey, 32,700 fatalities; 1970, Peru, 66,800 killed; and 1976, China, about 240,000 (or, according to some sources, 800,000) casualties. Surely, “great earthquakes”!

“In one place after another pestilences.” (Luke 21:11) Right after World War I, some 21 million people died of the Spanish flu. Science Digest reported: “In all history there had been no sterner, swifter visitation of death.” Since then, heart disease, cancer, AIDS, and many other plagues have killed hundreds of millions.

“Increasing of lawlessness.” (Matthew 24:12) Our world since 1914 has become known as one of crime and violence. In many places no one

I see no causative link between religion and morality. Religions may have adopted many of the moral values than underpin a sustainable society but they have introduced other 'values' that are not necessary or beneficial for such a society. I was not around before 1900 and have no way of verifying the accuracy or completeness of any records that might date from that period. Maybe we should consider the possibility that it is perspective rather than the underlying morality of society that changes as we get older. Or maybe, there is a constant drift in society's values and that, as we get older, we are less well able to adapt to that drift and see it as a relative decline. In my lifetime, I perceive that greed has become more acceptable and that moral values typifying personal gain over social responsibility have become prevalent. That may not be true, but its a perception. Another perception is that this change is related to the cultural influence of certain overseas territories (I'm in the UK) that have grown in economic and political power during my lifetime. You don't have to agree. A perception is no more than a personal truth. I just know that I, like you, find the result unacceptable.

No.

Moral issues change all the time. It used to be morally acceptable to deny women and slaves equal rights. Now, it is morally unacceptable to hold those same beliefs. I wouldn't say acceptance of equality made the world increasingly immoral.

If your talking about the increasing reports of crime, that is a byproduct of 24 hour news. We hear about more crime because there are more ways to hear about crime. If you look throughout history, nothing in the last 50 years is any worse than what has happened in the last 5000. War, genocide, murder, theft. These are not new crimes.

In fact, slavery has ended. That's more moral. Women and freed slaves the world over have gained equal rights. That's more moral. There hasn't been a direct world war that killed millions of people since 1945. That's more moral. No nation has used a weapon of mass destruction since 1945. That's more moral.

No. The multiple atrocities comitted in the past were hardly "moral." These days, if anything, most societies are more accepting towards different religions, lifestyles, nationalities than ever before. Sexual promiscuity seems less rampant than it did in past decades, and women are finally considered the equals to men. So how are we increasingly "immoral?"

Absolutely not. Every generation since civilization began, at some point, begins to think that society is becoming increasingly immoral. It's a misconception. What we perceive as immoral behavior has remained relatively consistent throughout history. It's what a given society decides is immoral that determines the degrees of immorality it perceives.

I see some dare you to define morality.

Sadly, we are now a post-Christian nation.

When we were a Christian nation (even the Supreme Court once defined us as such), we had established norms, morals and ethics.

As a post-Christian nation there are none. It's all good. Tolerance is expected for all acts, thoughts and words no matter how disgusting. Judging is bad, etc, etc, etc.

As a result, we become less moral because there is no standard anymore. Morals are subjective and we each have a different standard.

Anarchy awaits.

NO

And I actually hate these questions.

Murder, rape, theft, people killing their kids has always occurred within humanity.

Dudes on horses used to rob trains and kill people in the street.

Women used to kill their kids and bury them in the back yard or throw them in the pond.

Roman Gladiators...thats says a lot right there.

Serial killers and spree killers date back pretty far in history.

A few things have changed that make it appear so to people though.

1) Crime investigations and forensics have improved so more people actually get caught.

2) Standards of moral behavior has changed. We no longer accept things like burying a kid in the back yard just cause you have too many as a norm. Or forcing 2 people to fight to the death in an arena is a good sport. (This would indicate people are actually becoming more moral)

3) The media is able to portray these things faster and to more people which brings awareness. I bet you did not know that one of the most brutal spree killings was in 1938 or the biggest school related massacre happened in 1927.

People who are increasingly immoral are not going to admit to being immoral. Take heart, Armageddon is right around the corner and soon all immorality will be gone along with those who are immoral.

Immoral, no.

In the US, the disease of fundamentalism has spread way too much ignorance and hate. We can erdicate this disease from our society but it takes education to rise above ignorance.

No. If you go back a few hundred years, you'd be amazed at some of the horrible stuff people did to each other. Just because we have a long way to go doesn't mean that it's getting any longer over time.

No. Our morals aren't decaying, they're changing. I'm sure people in the 50s and 60s thought we were becoming more immoral when we started giving black people equal rights.