A Nation Without a Conscience

Tim and Beverly LaHaye's A Nation Without a Conscience (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, c. 1994) cites some impressive authorities to indicate the dire straits which threaten to crush this nation. Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter's National Security Advisor, says (rightly, I think) that our century must be labeled "mankind's most bloody and hateful century" (p. 27). We are, Chuck Colson declares, surrounded by barbarians--"new barbarians" who have emerged from our own ranks--which threaten the very existence of Western Civilization. Illustrating this, even high school students, Barbara Walters says, "have no sense of discipline. No goals. They care only for themselves. In short, they are becoming a generation of undisciplined cultural barbarians" (p. 19). At the heart of this crisis, as Alexander Solzhenitsyn saw, is this: "Men have forgotten God" (p. 53). As one examines various sinkholes in the cultural landscape--families, schools, media, government--there's a great vacuum of transcendental awareness. Man craves a Holy Other, an ultimate reason for being which gives the here-and-now meaning and direction. When God is shoved aside, banished from classrooms and courthouses, conscience evaporates and anarchy ensues. The LaHayes present a dismal portrait, unleashing something of a jeremiad. They have--at least they claim as much--hope for America, though it's muted in this treatise. Their hope, as one might expect, lies in a religious revival which will restore the America of yesterday. A Nation Without a Conscience reads easily and presents dramatic data detailing various ills in America. Readers on the conservative side of cultural issues will applaud it, while those of more liberal views will find it abrasive. I share many of the LaHaye's concerns, though I resist their resolute pessimism. Western Civilization may be collapsing, but Christ's Church will prevail! For me, the real value of the book is found in its many quotations--documented statements drawn from folks as diverse as Ted Turner and Curt Cobain, C.S. Lewis and Dan Quayle. (The notes I made in the flyleaf of my copy of this book nearly all point me to such quotations!)