COYOTE is an acronym which stands for Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics

What Has Happened To Good Old Fashioned Morality? by Tom Wacaster There is no doubt that when Jesus walked upon this earth that it was a time of immorality and ungodliness. Matthew provides us with our Lord's very own words regarding the sinfulness of those who lived at that time: "But he answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the heaven is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day: for the heaven is red and lowering. Ye know how to discern the face of the heaven; but ye cannot discern the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of Jonah. And he left them, and departed" (Matthew 16:2-4). Of particular interest are the words, "evil and adulterous generation." Even the most superficial study of the history of the Roman Empire, and particularly the Empire during the time of Christ, will affirm the words of our Lord. But as Solomon observed, "there is nothing new under the sun," and w ith but a few exceptions in the history of mankind those two adjectives used by our Lord are a fitting description of the human race throughout history. Since about the mid 1960's our nation has been undergoing a cultural revolution that now threatens the very existence of our nation. All one need do is take a newspaper or listen to the evening news to get an idea of how wide spread are sexual perversion, political corruption, and unethical practices in business world. The sexual revolution of the 60's (as it was wont to be called by those of that generation) cracked open the door. It has been a downhill slide since then, and the "Hippies" who cast off their clothes, rejected marriage, smoked their pot, and rebelled against the "establishment, are now ruling in Washington and sitting on the judicial benches from one end of this country to the next. Why should it surprise us that, despite the assurance from religious and political leaders alike, things have gotten worse? In 1974 Paul Harvey wrote an article which was published in a number of newspapers and magazines across our country. His article, "They' Misled Us," pinpoints many of America's moral and spiritual problems. 'They' told us that, if we'd relax about sex, take our clothes off and not get all uptight about it, there would be no more sex crimes. So we let it all hang out--and the incidence of rape has increased 10 percent every year. Maybe we'd better question some of the other advice 'they' gave us. 'They' told us we'd been too tough on criminals, that we should go easy on them. So we went easy on them--and the rate of violent crimes has increased 47 percent since 1968; increased six percent last year; is increasing 15 percent this year .' 'They' said the churches were 'old-fashioned,' that they must modernize, liberalize, rationalize, and compromise. And those that compromised most are shrinking fastest . Who are these 'they' who've been misleading us? 'They' are the materialists who deify the finite sciences. 'They' meant well, but their good intentions are paving the road to hell! Now I've quit commentating and gone to preaching. I don't mean to, but I cannot separate goodness and badness from today's news and explain it. Every ugly headline in today's newspaper - and yesterday's and tomorrow's - is somebody's emotions gone out of whack. He might be as smart as all get-out, but if he's emotionally colorblind, he is an unguided missile destined to self-destruct." Paul Harvey was in a class all his own and his wisdom that was based on good-old fashioned Biblical principles is in sore need today. The voice of Paul Harvey has been silenced by death, but the voice of righteousness and uprightness is being silenced through indifference of the masses, and laws cranked out by Congress. Even as I write this article [Tuesday, January 26, 2013] the Supreme Court is hearing arguments on whether or not "marriage" can be restricted to a man and a woman. Had you told me at the time Johnnie Ann and I got married that within my lifetime our society would have difficulty deciding what marriage is I would not have believed you. When preachers of God's word seek to warn about the evils of fornication, drinking, or any other "work of the flesh," they are immediately vilified for being too "negative." No wonder our society is so confused as to what is right and wrong! Winford Claiborne shared the following with his readers regarding the moral vacu um that exists in our society: Television--especially television talk shows--movies and other media have contributed--whether intentionally or otherwise--to the confusion over moral values. Homosexuality, bisexuality, premarital sex, and even incest are glorified in many media outlets. Phil Donahue invited six women to serve on a panel for his show. At least three of them were either engaging in prostitution at the time they were on the show or they had done so in the past. Three of the women on the panel had formed an organization to protect prostitutes or to legalize prostitution or both. One sixty-year-old prostitute was from Switzerland; one was from Italy; one was Margo St. James who had established an organization called COYOTE. The word COYOTE is an acronym which stands for Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics. What message did Phil Donahue convey to the young people of America? It said, "Girls, if you are having difficulty getting an honorable job, you can always turn to prostitution. After all, sex sell s. Prostitution is the ‘oldest profession' and an honorable way to make a living. Besides, prostitution pays well, sometimes several hundred dollars per night." Phil Donahue's message to boys was: "If you are having sexual difficulties at home or if you like sexual variety, you can always turn to a prostitute." Not only is such a message morally wrong; it is physically dangerous. In some places, as many as fifty percent of prostitutes are HIV positive. Does Phil Donahue or Sally Jessy Raphael or Jenny Jones care? (Winford Claiborne, FHU Lectures 1994). There are a lot of factors that have contributed to the present moral vacuum that exists in our world. Among these would be humanism, with its atheistic, "no-God" mentality, evolution that has taught for more than a century now that man is nothing more than a glorified monkey, modernism that has sought to somehow provide man a "utopia" with unlimited pleasure to the sensual man, and false religious doctrine that has robed God of His rightful place in our lives and substituted it with the doctrines of men that make void the word of God. Jesus warned us of false teachers in Matthew 7:15-17. Among other things, He told us that we can tell a tree by its fruit. The fruit that I am seeing with regard to morals, speaks volumes about exactly what or who presently controls our media, our institutions of higher learning, our school systems, and our entertainment industry. It has not been that long ago that our nation was at peace within, and stood strong against the enemies without. Religion was respected, and even promoted by the media, our public schools, and even our law makers in Washington. Almost without exception our public schools would begin the day with a Scripture reading and prayer. Those were simple days; but they were happy days. If men are incapable of discerning the difference in our society today and that of a mere fifty years ago, what makes us think they can lead us in the right direction with all of their legislative policies that no longer place importance on what God's word says? Several years the Statler Brothers produced a song entitled, "What Ever Happened To Randolph Scott." The chorus had these words: "Whatever happened to Johnny Mack Brown, and Alan Rocky Lane? Whatever happened to Lash LaRue? I'd love to see them again. Whatever happened to Smiley Burnett, Tim Holt, and Gene Autry? Whatever happened to all of these has happened to the best of me. Whatever happened to Randolph Scott has happened to the industry." Along that same line, may I suggest that "Whatever happened to Randolph Scott" has happened to good old fashioned morality! Truly it breaks the heart.