A CRIMINAL Society?
Are we becoming a criminal society?
For years, on The WORLD TOMORROW program, and in these pages, I have emphasized juvenile delinquency, growing disregard for law and order, mounting crime and preoccupation with violence in our sports and entertainment.
Yet, tragically, each year crime INCREASES in the United States.
Now, we see the international spectacle of Americans in frenzied criminal orgies on such a scale as to require troops of the United States Army to train their guns at our own citizens.
For years, I have insisted HUMAN NATURE IS CRIMINAL. Sometimes, people are shocked to hear me say a baby is BORN "criminal." Sweet, precious, lovely though he may be to his parents — a tiny, struggling, helpless little life. He is nevertheless capable of huge passions — and unacceptable behavior.
Every baby must be TAUGHT self-control. He is not born with any instincts of kindness, patience, goodness, love, understanding, emotional control, honesty, integrity, faithfulness.
He is born, rather, with a pull in his nature toward SELF. His first instincts are totally SELFISH — directed inwardly.
Each individual child, black or white, must be TAUGHT everything from control of his bodily processes to control of his emotions.
But what CHANCE have millions upon millions of Americans had — allowed to "grow up" (certainly not "reared") by careless, unqualified, selfish parents in an atmosphere of self-centeredness, fights, hatred, racism, and unbridled emotion?
And what "chance" have millions of Negro youths had — many of them knowing no father of their own, having no stable home life whatever (every fourth Negro child is illegitimate, according to proven statistics), and "learning" everything they "know" in an environment of illicit sex, broken homes, fights, stealing, street gangs, prostitution, dope addiction and all assorted kinds of crime?
Each person must be TAUGHT to be honest. He will not BE honest "naturally." Sometimes that lesson must be PAINFUL. MILLIONS of Americans have admitted, privately, to committing acts for which they could have been JAILED at one time in their lives or another (over 90 percent, according to a recent poll).
MILLIONS of us would have to admit — if we would be HONEST WITH OURSELVES — that it was only the fear of being caught, and PUNISHED for criminal acts that held us back — kept us from giving vent to a natural drive of human nature.
Each person must be TAUGHT to have patience, kindness, understanding. He is not naturally gifted with these loftier human emotions. He must be TAUGHT to have them.
And sometimes the lessons are severe. But ARE most people being taught these values? ARE little white children taught it is a DIRTY SHAME, and a hypocritical bit of Nonsense, to call a Negro a "nigger," or a Jew a "kike," or an Italian a "wop"? No! Most GROW UP in an ENVIRONMENT of racism and prejudice.
Are white children taught to HATE racism? Are they taught to wonder what it is like to be a member of another race? To learn RESPECT and appreciation for the differences in each race, and in every other human being?
Sadly — sickeningly, THERE EXISTS VIRTUALLY NO SUCH TEACHING IN HOMES ACROSS AMERICA TODAY!
Are most Negro children TAUGHT it is wrong to feel inferior, and to HATE white people? Are they TAUGHT TO FORGET THE PAST, and look toward the FUTURE? Taught to have patience, understanding, and a great capacity for forgiveness?
Of course not! And racist reaction to such a statement will be the typical ones of "YEAH! You want US to be 'patient' while you use our women, steal our property, work us to death for no wages, treat us like dogs, etc., etc., etc."
The NON-racist reaction will be one of understanding.
MILLIONS of Americans flock smugly in and out of their churches each weekend — listening to the droning voices of thousands of preachers intone thousands of platitudes — and go home clasping their racist hates to their breasts just as firmly as ever!
Face this truth!
MILLIONS of white persons LEAVE THE STEPS OF THEIR CHURCH every Sunday with their "nigger" jokes, and their suspicions and hatreds just as FIRMLY ENTRENCHED in their lives as ever!
There has been just about as much RACE HATRED spawned from PULPITS as from Ghetto streets! Deny this, and you deny some of the most obvious facts of our WRONG way of life. Deny it, and you're denying YOUR OWN HUMAN NATURE that is within you — denying your own race problems!
Yes, babies are BORN criminal.
Each little child MUST BE TAUGHT to have the ideals of honesty, integrity, and understanding. And all too few have been taught these principles.
Let's understand MORE about human nature!
HUMAN NATURE — What It Is!
It's HUMAN NATURE to hate.
GOD, the Inventor of the human heart, REVEALS its true nature. "The heart is deceitful above ALL THINGS, and DESPERATELY wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)
Yes, the Normal, natural, fleshly mind — the mind with which you were BORN — IS DESPERATELY wicked, unless it has been CHANGED by the nature of God!
Paul was inspired to write, "The carnal mind [the natural mind of every person] is ENMITY against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be"! (Rom. 8:7.)
The normal, natural, CARNAL mind of every man and every woman — yes and of every child — RESENTS the things of God! The natural mind is ALWAYS SUSPICIOUS! It is ENVIOUS, LUSTFUL, EVIL, RESENTFUL, and HATEFUL!
James wrote, "Do you think that the Scripture saith in vain, 'The spirit that dwelleth in US LUSTETH TO ENVY?' " (James 4:5)
Today, if you feel you're basically a "Christian" kind of person — you probably feel Christ really WAS the promised Messiah. You feel, whether or not you are a really zealous Christian — that Jesus Christ probably really WAS genuine. At least, if you're like most people, you couldn't call Christ a guilty EVIL-doer, could you?
But what about those who lived right with Jesus Christ? Who SAW His miracles WITH THEIR OWN EYES?
What about those who lived in Jerusalem during the time of Christ's merciless BEATING — His terrible night of KICKS, CURSES, SPITTING, HATRED, VENOMOUS ACCUSATIONS? What about those who HAD A PART IN IT?
What about the hate-filled MOB that screamed out their animalistic bestiality — "KILL HIM! CRUCIFY Him!
BUTCHER HIM!"?
God tells you NOT to bear them any malice — NOT to HATE THEM — even as Christ Himself said, from His tree of death, "Father forgive them — they know not what they do!"
But do you UNDERSTAND the reason they acted as they did?
Do you RECOGNIZE the EXACT, SAME IDENTICAL NATURE IN YOURSELF?
It's THERE — recognized or not.
Many of those same participants in the illegal crucifixion of Christ took their hatred, their firm belief they had rid the world of a TERRIBLE person — to their graves with them.
They somehow convinced themselves they should be terribly, indignantly, "righteously" ANGRY at Christ!
They CONVINCED themselves He was a FAKE! They thought they "KNEW" they were uncovering, exposing, and punishing some GREAT EVIL!
Christ Says It Will Grow Worse!
And remember — Jesus predicted this evil disease of HATRED would grow worse and worse — heightening in intensity until blind RAGE would characterize our day.
Paul said, "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind [a deceitful, hateful, DEGENERATE mind], to do those things which are NOT RIGHT [margin]; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of ENVY, MURDER, DEBATE, DECEIT, MALIGNITY; whisperers [delighting in SCANDAL — in filth, evil, RUMOR!], backbiters, HATERS of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of EVIL things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers [not true to their word, NEVER willing to give the other fellow the benefit of the doubt], without natural affection, implacable [their minds UNWILLING to change — to admit new light, to see new facts, or accept the truth!], unmerciful: who KNOWING the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of DEATH, not only DO the same, but HAVE PLEASURE in them that do them" (Rom. 1:28-32).
This world is literally FILLED with human beings who fit this very description! And why not? It's a description of HUMAN NATURE in the raw — human nature JUST THE WAY IT IS!
Jesus warned, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). He prayed to His Father, "I have given them [His disciples, and true followers in ANY age] thy word, and the world hath HATED them, because they are not OF the world [they're living DIFFERENT lives — lives that have been CHANGED to conform to the life CHRIST led] even as I am not of the world" (John 17:14).
He had said earlier, "If the world HATES you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are NOT of the world, but I have chosen you OUT of the world, therefore the world HATETH you"! (John 15:18-19)
Yes — like it or not — admit it or not — the plain facts of your Bible are that suffering HATRED will be the lot of anyone who truly repents, and strives diligently to LIVE the abundant, happy, joyous life Jesus Christ makes possible!
Jesus said, "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin"! (John 15:22)
The thousands of "rioters" who took to the streets in April were deluding themselves with the SAME EVIL NOTIONS. They had somehow convinced themselves they should be "TERRIBLY ANGRY" with the whole white race. They deluded themselves they were "doing it for Dr. King" when they gave vent to their passions and lusts. They became righteously indignant, ANGRY at shopkeepers, and wealthy people around them. They became ENRAGED at the symbols of authority, the police.
They kidded themselves they were LICENSED to do it. That they were DESERVING of the privilege to riot, loot, and bum. They, too, like the deluded ones who crucified Christ, believed they were punishing some GREAT EVIL.
But what a shameful hypocrisy!
Why destroy a man's whole life's accumulation of work with one Molotov cocktail because of the insane crime of another man? Why add one murder to another and suppose the first justified the second?
Today, as NEVER before, people allow themselves to become consumed with purple-faced, blind, mind-chilling, vicious RAGE against members of another race.
And the way of life of Christ's true servants makes others ANGRY! Because it's natural to RESENT THE WAY of God — the way of LIFE God reveals in His sacred Word!
It's about time you really SAW human nature — YOUR nature, and recognized it for what it truly is. No amount of "reasoning" and arguing about the "good" ideas and deeds of humans will change the truth of God's Word. Human nature is rotten!
Human nature is RACIST!
It's an evil, filthy, DOWNWARD PULL — tending toward violence, destruction — no good thing! Paul was inspired to say, "For I know that in me (that is, IN MY FLESH,) dwelleth NO GOOD THING" (Rom. 7:18).
The human heart is evil — even the human heart that likes to THINK IT IS GOOD!
Human nature is NATURALLY fearful, resentful, self-justifying, egotistic, vanity-filled, hateful, despicable, proud, defiant, rebellious, boastful, obnoxious, annoying, acidic, selfish, self-centered, jealous, lustful, disobedient, stiffnecked, blasphemous, destructive, corrupt, presumptuous and vile!
It really is! That's why God says REPENT! CHANGE human nature by taking in some of the very nature of God (II Peter 1:4).
Take a look at your own mind and heart. THINK about the lives of others around you. Ask yourself a few personal questions — and be honest with yourself about your own nature!