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In Part I of the Moral Crisis series, we discussed the dramatic moral crisis occurring in China. In "Part II - Traditional Chinese Culture," we explored China's proud heritage as an "ancient civilization" which placed a high value on righteous acts and inner thoughts, where Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism either originated or took root; where people cultivated virtue and devoted their lives to attaining enlightenment; and where reaching the level of the divine and achieving a oneness with heaven were the fulfillment of life's purpose.
What changed China from a country of such high moral standards to a country with such low standards? It did not happen overnight, but, after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) gained ascendancy in China in 1949, the change was both rapid and dramatic. To ensure its reign, the CCP consciously and systematically eradicated the Chinese people's spiritual beliefs and traditional Chinese culture. Part III of the series explores how the CCP destroyed the Chinese's people's spirit, their traditional culture, and consequently their morality.
I. THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER AUTHORITY BEFORE ME
It is important to recognize the crucial role that religion and culture play in maintaining virtue in society. Culture, religion, and a belief in the divine, on the one hand, create a spiritual basis for people's morality. They enable people to understand what right and wrong are and to consciously choose and nurture high moral standards in their daily lives. These standards are a guide to what people should and should not do.
The law, on the other hand, regulates people's behavior. Law defines what people can do and cannot do. It prescribes punishment after the crime has been committed, while a milieu that nurtures virtuous behavior prevents crime from happening in the first place. For a country to be a great nation, both morality and the law have to be in place.
In over 5,000 years of history, the Chinese people recognized and internalized traditional values, values that played an essential role in establishing and maintaining morality in China. For thousands of years, the Chinese people knew to respect divine beings; they believed that "good begets good and evil begets evil"; they emphasized the role of virtue in their lives and paid attention to ethics.
China's...