As I write this the midterm elections are five days away. As you read this the midterm elections will be concluded. What are the likely results of these elections?

I am positive that there will be results that will be very satisfying and I am also positive that there will be some results that disappoint. Whatever the results, I will respect the decision of the electorate even if I do not like the outcome.

What does respecting the decision of the electorate mean? Respect means that the issues decided must become law and the candidates elected must be allowed to function in their offices. If I disagree my option is to work harder in the next election to make my preferred changes. Sadly, this kind of respect has become extremely rare.

Why is this so?

The rarity of respect is not limited to just politicians or politics. It has become rampant throughout American culture.

Why?

For decades our courts, our so-called intellectuals, and our education system has waged war on our traditional moral values and our culture. We have been told that moral absolutes are a fantasy. If it feels good, then do it. What we see in America today is the result.

In my youth I was taught women were to be treated with respect. This respect meant that it was wrong to use force of any type against a woman. It was completely taboo to verbally abuse, physically abuse, or abuse with power of position. But what do we observe today in America? There is a complete movement of women who have been abused by men of power who were or are too stupid to realize that they would be caught.

The days of opening a door for a lady or making sure to walk curbside along a road with her seem to be gone. I recently complimented a couple as the man walked next to the road with a lady and they had no idea why I was complimenting them. Their respective positions were obviously not on purpose.

In my youth it was nearly unthinkable to verbally berate an adult. In our present day students verbally and physically assault their teachers. Walk through a Walmart on any given day and one can observe young folks openly rebellious to their parents and getting away with it.

The permissiveness of decades of deteriorating moral and religious values has taken its toll. The customs, traditions and moral values that, at one time, were passed down through the family and/or religious teachings are gone. The liberal progressives’ attempt to replace these institutions with government has been an abject failure.

Sadly, just as government has not been able to replace the family and religious teachings, the government cannot restore what has been destroyed.

Can we regain the lost respect?

Yes.

How do we regain this respect?

Nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ issued a very simple solution called the Golden Rule, “whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them” (Matt. 7:12).

Respect must begin in the home with parents instructing their children in moral values, traditions and customs.

Are there any visible signs in the public sphere that there is hope?

Yes.

No public figure in my memory has been more unjustly vilified than the recent hearings on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Liberals tried to use the power of the #MeToo movement to upend his nomination.

Upon his confirmation Justice Kavanaugh has taken his place on our highest court. When the court is in session Judge Kavanaugh sits next to Justice Elena Kagan. Justice Kavanaugh is expected to be a very conservative justice and Justice Kagan is a very liberal justice. It has been observed that at the end of one session Kavanaugh and Kagan were chatting, smiling and even shaking hands.

Maybe there is hope that those who oppose each other ideologically can respect each other.

Another View is a weekly column written collaboratively by Dale Landrith of Camden, Ken Frederic of Bristol, Paul Ackerman of Martinsville, Jan Dolcater of Rockport and Ralph “Doc” Wallace of Rockport.