My Political Science professor recently made a very interesting comment. He said that in his ideal democracy, the people would have one day every week to focus on politics. At first, taking into account the state of our democracy, this seemed a reasonable idea, but it quickly became disturbing in my mind.

The only major convention in this country that involves taking one day a week to focus on something explicitly is religion. Many americans have set aside their Sundays (and some their Satrudays) for worship in churches across the country. Once upon a time, it was accepted that this practice of giving a day to God helped to strengthen our families and our country, but slowly, Americans seem to be abandoning this sacred tradition. At the same time, our crime rates are rising, dissatisfaction with the government is increasing, our families are disintegrating, and many would say our society is headed toward destruction. I am sure that I'm not the only one to see a correlation in these events.

Since Americans are no longer placing value in their worship, they are searching for something to fill the void. Something that they can make an integral part of their daily lives that has an effect on their destiny. Every day, it seems, America is becoming more and more obsessed with its own government and politics. People claim to be disinterested in politics, but take a look at the things on your TV and radio. How many shows are on eveing television dealing with current events and politics? How many people are tuning in to hear about the latest scandal on Capitol Hill? How many call-in political talk radio shows air in your area? Why are people fascinated with the judicial process, and specifically, the O.J. Simpson trials most recently? How many times each week do you hear about demonstrations and activists accross the country? How many times in the last month have you heard the phrase "politically correct"? Why do we have so many laws on our books and thousands more waiting to be passed? Why have our government officials become celebrities? Why are the American people putting our governmental system in the spotlight?

A system where those involved claim immunity to the concepts of right and wrong in favor of those like "legal" and "illegal" has no place in our homes and families. When the "legality" of an action matters more than its rightness or wrongness, all absolutes are thrown out and the people begin to drift. Laws can be changed or repealed, rightness and wrongness cannot. And of course our crime rates ar going up--our children are not being taught right and wrong, black and white, they're being taught legal and illegal--you can get away with it if you have a good lawyer or a decent alibi.

As our people run from the stability and absoluteness of God and turn to the unstable fog of politics, our society degrades. So back to the comment by my professor, is this the last step in the transformation? to replace a day of meditation on Holiness with a day of meditation on corruption? It is surely a sign that our country is in trouble when ideas like this arise. Politics is not the answer to all questions, but merely a decision making process. God will provide the answers if only we would listen.