C A R L B. G A R N E R

GENES OR CULTURE?

I have a cousin who, when growing up, was just like her mother. She didn't look much like her, but her mannerisms, her choice of words and her behavior were just like her mother. Did she act that way because she saw her mother do so? Or was her behavior inherited?

In various cultures in our world, certain forms of behavior are looked upon much differently than in other parts of the world. Scandinavian countries, for example, have a much different attitude toward sexual behavior than in Latin societies. What causes those variations of attitude? Is it genes? or culture?

Most Asian cultures place a great deal of emphasis upon respect for their elders. During World War II their attitude toward their emperor motivated many to die for him rather than suffer defeat. Motivated by this attitude, kamikaze pilots attacked allied vessels with suicidal vigor. It is also known that the American Indian's cultural attitudes toward the property of others were greatly at variance with the white man's laws.

Why do various cultures behave in such diverse ways, even though we are all human beings? Even in our culture in this country, we know that folk from the south pronounce words in ways that are unique to our geographic locations. Many believe that people from the north are less hospitable than their southern neighbors. Learned? Or inherited?

We have long known that children from broken homes are more likely to divorce than others. Children whose parents or siblings smoke or drink alcoholic beverages are significantly more likely to do the same. Are these differences inborn? Or are they learned?

No doubt, we are all influenced by our background and our ancestry. It is also clear that what we learn from parents and our culture greatly affects our behavior and our attitude.

We often do what we see others do. Violent acts seen on TV and in the movies are now being practiced on the streets of our cities. Prominent themes of sex and promiscuity are now known to be causative factors in the rise of rape, teen pregnancy and sexual abuse. Our veneration of athletes whose private lives are less than admirable is also a factor in these cultural changes.

The sexual misbehavior of our own President has resulted in defining adultery as merely a "regrettable loss of self-control." If you have listened to any of the discussions surrounding the impeachment proceedings you have heard the term, "cultural war." I don't claim to know whether the charges brought against Bill Clinton are impeachable offenses, but I do know that a sizable portion of our population claims that what Mr. Clinton did was merely the natural outgrowth of a developing society. We are "seeing a more relaxed view of sex among consenting adults," say many of his supporters. "That was a private matter, and it is not anyone else's business what consenting adults do in private," is preached in letters to the editor in many newspapers today. If this is just a "private matter," it is the most publicized private matter I have seen. What's next in this cultural war? One of the negatives in a democratic society is that personal freedom can become so desirable that the liberty of other individuals suffers. And if an aggressive minority gains enough power, morality and respect for law can easily diminish. Many social scientists are now saying that we have already begun in that direction. Why do we write of this matter in a local church bulletin? Because when men and women begin to give support for personal freedom to the extent we are seeing today, respect for law (both God's and man's) must suffer. Many despair that while Mr. Clinton's moral temperature has plummeted, his public acceptance has remained high. Undoubtedly, this fact and the decline of respect for God's moral and ethical standards are closely related.

Solomon wrote, "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people," Proverbs 14:34. He also wrote, "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn," Proverbs 29:2. It seems the current climate contradicts that principle.

Paul wrote to Christians who should know better, "ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned," 1 Corinthians 5:2. In a similar situation (a sexual sin), instead of rebuking their brother's sin, they were boasting of their tolerance. With Paul, we ask, "Where is the mourning that ought to be present in our land when wickedness seems to prevail in high places?" As is often the case, the moral lassitude that has overtaken this and other nations can serve as an opportunity for genuine Christians to "shine as lights" in a world that seems to "love darkness" rather than light, Philippians 2:15, John 3:19-20, Isaiah 5:20. Sin is in favor today because God's message has been diluted by division among the messengers, or the message itself has been mingled with that which is false and misleading, or it has been rejected by the hearers. Probably all of these are major reasons for the state of our nation today.

This is not a time for despair, but a time for action. We must stand against such acts regardless of the status of the perpetrator; whether rich man or poor; whether powerful or ordinary; republican or democrat. Will you resolve that in 1999 you will propose the right and oppose the wrong? In your family and your community?