By William L. Self
1 John 1:8-10; Romans 3:8
Several months ago I, like you, sat in front of the television set listening as former President Bill Clinton was being interviewed by Dan Rather and was reflecting on his life. Obviously, he was promoting his book. Dan Rather put the microphone in his face and asked him the question that every one of us has wanted to ask him.
Dan Rather asked him about the affair that he had with Monica Lewinsky while he was the President of the United States. The President gave an answer that is the moral code of our culture, and speaks more to our day than it does to his particular situation. When he was asked about Monica Lewinsky, he simply said, "I did it because I could."
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The tragedy of America and of the world that we live in today is that attitude has become our moral code. It defines the morality by which most of our culture lives. If we have the power to do something, that gives us the right to do it. The moral implications of what we do are meaningless and ignored. The effects of my actions on others are meaningless and ignored.
I did it because I could explains why the executives of Enron raped the company and stole the retirement plans of millions of people.
I did it because I could explains why millions are stolen from the public trough each year by public officials all across the nation.
I did it because I could tells why abortions are used as a form of birth control by countless thousands in our nation.
We did it because we could explains why two teenaged girls kill the grandparents of one of them because they want more freedom in their lives.
We did it because we could explains why people continually ignore the laws of our land.
I did it because I could explains why a South Carolina mother drowns her two sons by strapping them in the back seat and driving the car into a lake.
I did it because I could explains why a Texas mother kills her five children.
I did it because I could explains why a nine-year-old child, recently reported in the news, drowned his three-year-old neighbor in their swimming pool and pulled up a chair to watch him drown, and then got excited when he was on the news that evening.
I did it because I could seems to be the word of our day. We see the problems of our day as ignorance so we run to education. This is not saying that education is not important; I've spent a lot of my life around educational institutions. We seem to think that the problems of our day are inner disorganization, so we run to therapy. We seem to think the problems of our day are financial so we run to Wall Street. We seem to think the problems of our day are environmental so we run to legal systems. We seem to think that the problems of our day are political so we throw ourselves into that particular arena.