The following report is from O Timothy magazine, Volume 6, Issues 10-12, 1989. The author holds all rights. O Timothy is a monthly magazine. Annual subscription is US$20 FOR THE UNITED STATES. Send to Way of Life Literature, Bible Baptist Church, 1219 N. Harns Road, Oak Harbor, Washington 98277. FOR CANADA the subscription is $20 Canadian. Send to Bethel Baptist Church, P.O. Box 9075, London, Ontario N6E 1V0. WHAT AN AMAZING COINCIDENCE! By David W. Cloud How often do we hear the tired argument by the world that the sure consequences of sin are only "coincidence." Consider with me a few examples, and I think it will appear just how amazing it would be if indeed these were but coincidences: Consider first--The coincidence that the vast majority of AIDS can be traced directly to behavior that the Bible calls immoral and which it warns us to avoid--homosexuality, adultery, fornication, and other forms of sexual activity outside of holy matrimony. How many times we have heard the wise of this world scoff at the idea that those things the Bible calls immorality are destructive. The Bible says that immorality is innately destructive; it is also punished by a holy and righteous God. It would seem that nothing could prove the truth of this more clearly than the terrible AIDS plague. It is such a horrible, frightful disease and it can be traced directly to things the Bible calls immoral and wicked. But of course, all of this must be a coincidence because we know God does not punish homosexuals or other moral perverts. It couldn't be more than a coincidence. Could it? Consider second--The coincidence that pornography often leads to increasing moral debasement. Serial murderer Ted Bundy testified that pornography had played a role in his moral downfall, that he started looking at pornography as a small boy, and had become addicted to increasingly viler and viler forms of it, and had experienced connected, compelling desires to act out his wicked thoughts. Many other murderers and rapists have testified the same thing. Scientific surveys and studies have come to the same conclusion. "Some alarming evidence buttresses the contention that a correlation exists between pornography and sex crimes: Twenty- nine serial murderers interviewed by FBI agents confessed that pornography influenced their thinking and conduct. The Los Angeles Police Department points out that in the more than 40 child sex abuse cases it investigated between October 1976 and March 1977, pornographic photos were found in every case. According to attorney Charles Keating, founder of the Arizona- based Citizens for Decency Through Law, police vice squads report that 77 percent of child molesters of boys and 87 percent of child molesters of girls admitted trying out the sexual behavior modeled by pornography. A study by Canadian scholar Dr. William Marshall of Canadian rapists in prison reported that "various forms of pornographic fantasies may lead to crime." Ten of 18 rapists confessed that pornography influenced them to coerce females to have sex. In thousands of cases of sexual abuse of children throughout the United States, police have discovered that the sex offenders either collected or produced pornography." (The Christian News, February 27, 1989) "From an FBI study of 36 serial murderers, 81 percent said pornography was one of their highest sexual interests. Dr. William Marshall found that 86 percent of rapists regularly used pornography, with 57 percent admitting they imitated porn scenes when they carried out their crime. Child molesters are often hooked by kiddie porn. Detective William Dworin of the Los Angeles Police Department has helped arrest more than 700 child molesters in the last 10 years. More than half had child pornography in their possession." ("Off a Deep and Dangerous End," by Mike Yorkey and Dean Merrill, Focus on the Family, October 1989) Bundy testified: "In the beginning (pornography) fuels this kind of thought process ... Like an addiction, you keep craving something that is harder, harder, something which ... gives you a greater sense of excitement. Until you reach a point where the pornography only goes so far, you reach that jumping off point where you begin to wonder if maybe actually doing it would give you that which is beyond just reading it or looking at it ... I am saying now that there (are) loose in the towns and ... communities people like me today whose dangerous impulses are being fueled day in, day out by violence in the media in various forms, particularly sexual violence." But of course, we can't believe any of this. It couldn't be true. The close connection between pornography and moral debasement could not be more than an interesting coincidence. Could it? Consider third--The coincidence that the legalization of gambling results in an increase in compulsive gamblers. With government sponsored lotteries so popular now, we hear on every side the wise men of this world laughing at the idea that there might be a direct connection between legal lotteries and the rise in compulsive gambling. The Bible says man's nature is fallen and sinful and excess-prone. When we make gambling or alcohol or pornography readily accessible, the Bible and common sense tell us men will be much more influenced by these things. In fact, a study commissioned by the U.S. Congress stated, "A government that wishes merely to legitimize existing illegal wagering must recognize the clear danger that legalization may lead to unexpected and ungovernable increases in the size of the gambling clientele." But of course, all the evidence indicating a direct connection between legalization of gambling and a dramatic increase in gambling addiction could not possibly be anything more than coincidence. Could it? Consider fourth--The coincidence that immoral, violent music leads to immorality and violence. Great numbers of people have noted a connection between the increase in the popularity of rock music and the increase in immorality and violence among the youth. And as rock music as grown increasingly violent, increasingly immoral, increasingly suicidal and occultic, youth who listen to this music have become increasingly involved in all these things. What an amazing coincidence. Of course it couldn't be more than coincidence. Could it? Consider fifth--The coincidence between the removal of Christian influence in public education and the terrible breakdown in morals within the public school system. Until the 1950s and early 1960s, public education in many parts of America was influenced greatly by the Bible and Christians. Bibles were allowed to be given to students, and millions upon millions of New Testaments were distributed this way to the young people of our nation. Prayer was frequently said at the beginning of the school day, and at many school functions. The Bible was often used in the classroom by Christian teachers. Christmas--in addition to the attention always given to Santa Claus and Jingle Bells and mistletoe--was also a time for Bible-based plays about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, for singing Christian hymns, and for other activities highlighting the fact that Jesus Christ was a historical character who came to this earth as the virgin- born Son of God to die for man's sins. The Ten Commandments and other portions of the Holy Scriptures were displayed prominently in many schools. Evangelistic Bible clubs were allowed on school property. All of this was conducted in the public schools of America until just a few years ago! Since legal decisions were made to remove Christian and Bible influence from the public school system, though, there has been a horrible breakdown in morals, in discipline; a frightful increase in violence, in vandalism, in unwed mothers, in cheating, in beatings, in looting, in nakedness, and other forms of destructive behavior. A report in The Inner Circle, March, 1987, sheds some light on the changes which have happened in the public education system: "It is interesting to note the top seven offenses in public schools in 1940 and 1982. In 1940 the top seven were talking, chewing gum, making noise, running in halls, getting out of turn in line, wearing improper clothing, and not putting paper in wastebaskets. In 1982, however, the top seven were rape, robbery, assault, burglary, arson, bombings, and murder ... behavior in the public schools resembles a `mini-nuthouse'." To be more specific, consider these facts: Nearly 600,000 babies are born each year to girls between 10 and 18 years old. One out of 5 children in the United States has sexual intercourse by age 13 or 14. In 1978, 9,000 babies were born to girls 11 or younger. More than half of all illegitimate births in 1980 involved teenagers. Children are having children at the rate of 1,540 per day; every hour about 64 babies are born to teenage girls. Counting estimated miscarriages, there were 11.1 million teenage pregnancies in 1980. Out-of-wedlock teen births tripled between 1950 and 1980. Today the United States has the highest teenage birth rate of any industrial nation. (Christian News, December 2, 1985) Of course, we all know this seeming connection between the removal of Christianity from public education and the breakdown in discipline and morals in that same school system is nothing more than coincidence. It couldn't be more than that. Could it? Consider sixth--The coincidence that the promotion of evolution has gone hand-in-hand with increase in suicide and other inhumanities. Thirty-four years ago I started attending the public school system of America. In 1967, twelve years later, I graduated from high school in that system. During that time, a dramatic change occurred in the basic worldview underlying the educational system. Whereas it had been based on a worldview which accepted the Bible and God and creation as truth, it became based on a worldview which denied these realities. The religion of humanism became ascendant and youth were taught that man evolved, that man was merely an animal, that spiritual and eternal realities were myths. As the worldview of humanism replaced that of the Bible, there was a terrible decline in morals among the young people involved. The suicide rate among youth was almost zero in the 1950s, but has doubled over the past 20 years, becoming the second most common cause of death after traffic accidents. "Every 90 seconds a young American attempts suicide.... Each year in the United States an estimated 30,000 people kill themselves, including some 5,000 young Americans between the age of 15 and 24. An estimated 100,000 youths attempt suicide annually. Almost 1,900 adolescents, most of them white males, succeed in killing themselves each year." (The Rising Nepal, Friday, May 5, 1989) Of course, if you teach young people that they are mere animals and that they have no spiritual or eternal existence, it is nothing more than coincidence if they begin acting like animals in their morals, if they begin to take their own lives because they cannot see any meaning in their existence and have no great dread of going into eternity without a Savior. But of course, this couldn't be more than a coincidence. Could it? (O Timothy magazine, Volume 6, Issues 10-12, 1989)