An overlooked sex survey
English anthropologist J.D. Unwin extensively studied 86 societies through 5,000 years of history. After his death in 1936 the results of his research were published under the title "Hopousia: The Sexual and Economic Foundations of a New Society."
Unwin studied cultures and empires from the standpoint of their sexual behavior. In particular he was interested in their prenuptial and post-nuptial behavior. He noticed a correlation between such behavior and what he termed a nation’s "expansive energy." We might refer to this as the capability to remain productive and maintain a position of influence and leadership among other nations.
He stated that "expansive energy has never been displayed by a society that inherited a modified monogamy or a form of polygamy . . ." (J.D. Unwin, Hopousia, George Allen & Unwin, London, 1940, p. 82, emphasis added throughout).
Self-control or chaos
Unwin discovered that "in human records there is no instance of a society retaining its energy after a complete new generation has inherited a tradition which does not insist on pre-nuptial and post-nuptial continence" (ibid., p. 84-85).
He concluded that "the evidence is that in the past a class has risen to a position of political dominance because of its great energy and that at the period of its rising, its sexual regulations have always been strict. It has retained its energy and dominated the society so long as its sexual regulations have demanded both pre-nuptial and post-nuptial continence . . . I know of no exception to these rules" (ibid., p. 89).
Bluntly speaking, Unwin’s point was that nations gain prominence when they keep their sexual drives in check both before and after marriage. They remain strong as long as societal and marital bonds are strong. When those barriers fall, a society’s days are numbered. As Unwin put it, he knew of "no exception to these rules."
Awareness of God’s sovereignty
Can any permissive society successfully defy the record of history? Are any nations exempt from the same sins, and their consequences?
American culture has dominated the last 50 years. Many nations have wanted to follow America’s example of prosperity and progress. Tragically, too many of them follow the U.S. example of immorality as well.
The United States leads the world in many categories of sexual excess. In premarital pregnancies its pace is at "a figure that’s almost twice that of other Western countries" (Rubin, p. 75). But that difference does not necessarily reflect a higher standard of morality in the other countries. It reflects America’s ambivalence about contraception and abortion. In other Western countries, "their rates of sexual activity and the age at which it begins match our [America’s] own" (ibid.).
Does any nation truly live by a moral standard that pleases God? Consider the observation of Psalms 14:2-3;
How long, O you sons of men,
Will you turn my glory to shame?
How long will you love worthlessness
And seek falsehood? Selah
But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly;
The LORD will hear when I call to Him. Psalms 4:2-3
History shows that wayward nations have suffered punishment for their conduct. God often allows the natural consequences of sin to overtake a people. "Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you." He warns (Jeremiah 2:19).
Most people believe it anachronistic to think of God as intervening in world affairs and correcting nations. Yet the living God does at times intervene according to His purpose. Ultimately He alone determines the fate of nations. God has the power to deal with empires and emperors. The Roman governor Pontius Pilate spoke to Jesus of his power to crucify or release Him. But Christ informed Pilate: "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above." (John 19:11).
In times past nations and their leaders were generally more aware of God’s sovereignty over their affairs and freely acknowledged that truth. Often they viewed God as their benefactor. For instance, America’s founding fathers recognized God, mentioning Him four times in the Declaration of Independence.
Those same men were convicted that a nation’s laws and standards should be generally based upon the Bible. James Madison, the chief architect of the U.S. Constitution, said: "We have staked the whole future of the American civilization … upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves . . . according to the Ten Commandments of God" (Benjamin Hart, Faith & Freedom, The Christian Roots Of American Liberty , Lewis and Stanley, Dallas, TX, 1988, p. 18).
Abraham Lincoln, while calling for a national day of fasting and prayer during the American Civil War, said: "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God . . . And we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own . . . It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness" (William J. Federer, America’s God And Country Encyclopedia of Quotations , Fame Publishing, Coppell, Tex., pp. 383-384).
That same American president mentioned in a personal letter to an elderly lady in September of 1862. "Yet we cannot but believe that he who made the world still governs it" ( The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln , Random House, New York, 1940, pp. 727-728).
Lincoln's words ring true today. God is the great giver of national blessings;
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. (James 1:17)
Lincoln also said in 1838 that "if destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author. . ." (David Barton, The Myth of Separation , WallBuilder Press, Aledo, TX, 1989, p. 70). He knew that nations can self-destruct.
God and morality
The paths of history are strewn with the ruins of empires and nations that ignored God’s principles, especially in the areas of sex, marriage and family.
Historians Will and Ariel Durant quoted Joseph de Maistre in their book The Lessons of History : "There is no significant example in history, before our time, of a society successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of religion" (Simon Schuster, New York, 1968, p. 51, emphasis added).
Syndicated columnist and author Georgie Ann Geyer wrote: "I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to have a moral community or nations without faith in God, because without it everything comes down to "me," and "me" alone is meaningless."
She further warned: "Today Americans have stopped acting in terms of their own moral, ethical religious beliefs and principles. They stopped acting on what they knew was right, and the "me" has become the measure of everything. However, moral societies are the only ones that work."
If anyone thinks there is not a direct and inviolable relationship between personal integrity in a society and that society’s prosperity, that person has simply not studied history . . . Great moral societies, built upon faith in God, honor, and trust in the law will blossom like a flower.
Some 160 years ago the French historian Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that "America is great because America is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great" (Federer, p. 205).
De Tocqueville saw strengths in the United States of the early 19th century. But what would he say about the America of today? Could he single out any nation on earth today for its goodness?
Is there any country on the globe that God could commend?
Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: "I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.' But now the LORD says: "Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. (1 Samuel 2:30)
Which modern nation has a way of living that honors God? Do not our mounting troubles testify to our dishonor of the God who made us? As today's chosen verse tells us;
Where there is no revelation,
the people cast off restraint;
But happy is he who keeps the law. (Proverb 29:18)
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If you would like to read the full commentary on
this subject, please follow this link to
Beyond Today
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America has discarded the teachings of the Bible,
Ignored the warnings of our Founding Fathers,
And today we see the results of our ignorance. CN
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