Great Britain has recently been rocked with scandal. Disclosures that members of Parliament have routinely padded their expense accounts with personal costs has led to a crisis in confidence in the leadership of one of the leading nations of the free world. What we have is a crisis in character.

The speaker of the House of Parliament has been forced to resign. Many members of Parliament (MPs) have been implicated, across all parties, and many have also announced they will leave office at the end of the current session in less than a year. The abuses range from small amounts of money to the expense of entirely remodeling a home—all at taxpayer expense. Queen Elizabeth II is reportedly deeply disturbed by the revelations. The speaker’s resignation is the first such occurrence in more than three centuries.

Britain has drastically changed in the past generation. Many lament the lack of values and adherence to a Judeo-Christian religious ethic that puts the Ten Commandments squarely in the center of a moral life. Of course, just talking about the Ten Commandments doesn’t make a nation righteous, but there is an argument to be made that when these values are taught, there is a corresponding positive impact upon a people.

World News and Prophecy senior writer Melvin Rhodes recently returned from a two-week visit to his home country and has written an article for the June issue. Commenting on the change between the 1950s to the 1960s in Britain, which has impacted the changing of the guard of British leadership, he says: "In the 1950s the old standards still prevailed. Each school day began with a Bible reading and prayers. On Fridays we ended the day similarly, as if we all needed fortifying for the temptations the coming weekend might offer! We were taught the Ten Commandments and basic biblical principles common to all churches. In short, there was a certain familiarity with the Bible…

"By the middle of the 1960s all this was to change… Replacing it were new values that were not really values at all. Materialistic values, money, promiscuity and a good time became the new gods as the nation rejected the old values, many of which were based on the Bible."

The changes in education in the 1960s have produced a different world today. Character is a word not fully understood. Greed consumes all levels of society. It is easy to shake our finger at those MPs who grossly abuse the public trust. But is that any different from misrepresenting our tax returns? And when we abuse credit or spend money on consumer goods that are far beyond our means, are we not falling into the same trap as the prominent leader who is caught with his hand in the cookie jar? Much of the current financial meltdown was caused by homeowners and lenders and financiers who failed basic tests of financial character. We see the results all around us today.

The national decay identified by the prophet Isaiah is applicable today. "Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward. Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints" (Isaiah 1:4-5).

The problem is spiritual. The solution can only be found by a return to spiritual values and character based on the Ten Commandments.

Keep watching,
Darris McNeely

Related Resources

The Ten Commandments
Many religious people embrace the idea of loving others as themselves but remain blissfully unaware of how the Bible defines love. As a result, they do not understand the necessity of putting into practice the biblical principles that determine the success or failure of their relationships.

The State of the Nation: Britain in Serious Moral Decline
Tawdry events, past and present, have shaken popular confidence in both governmental and religious authority figures in the United Kingdom. Overall, they reflect the gradual decline of traditional values caused in part by the combination of spreading secularism and growing ignorance of true biblical morality. Can current trends be halted and then reversed?

Must We Obey God's Commandments?
Obedience to God begins with accepting the Ten Commandments as the permanent standard for our values and behavior.

Redefining Morality: Why a Torrent of Trouble Threatens to Engulf Us
Today the major English-speaking nations watch as a storm of problems draws ever nearer, a storm created by hostile forces that blurred and weakened their sense of morality. Does the Bible indicate where we will go from here?

Is God's Law Bondage?
Some theologians associate God's law with slavery. But the Bible presents it as the missing key to true freedom.

	© 1995-2010 United Church of God, an International Association \| Request Free Literature \| Privacy Policy Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. All correspondence and questions should be sent to info@wnponline.org. Send inquiries regarding the operation of this Web site to webmaster@wnponline.org.