It was a hot and muggy evening when I walked toward my car to head home from church the other night. To my surprise, I found the back window of my car looking like the molasses crinkle cookies I’ve made since I was a child. Someone had apparently taken a hammer to it when I wasn’t looking. I have no idea why I would be personally targeted – after all, I’m not that bad of a driver, nor was I in an unauthorized parking spot!

Upon hearing this story, most of us would likely sigh, shake our heads, and ask what this world is coming to when a person comes out of church to find her car window smashed. It certainly seems like a sad indictment upon the morality of our society.

Yet there’s some good news for those of us who feel like society sinks into a deeper cesspool every year. According to a recent Gallup poll, more Americans seem to be changing their minds about the moral acceptability of certain behaviors. The number of Americans labeling birth control, having children out of wedlock, gambling, teenage sex, and cloning animals as morally acceptable behaviors dropped by a number of percentage points in just the last year.

While the chart below shows that the number of Americans who still consider these behaviors to be okay is quite large, the significant drop in just one year should encourage us. Is it possible that certain segments of society are waking up to the fact that a morally neutral society just isn’t the dream world we’ve been told?

A number of factors may be driving this sea change. Perhaps it’s the political turn that has taken place in the last few years, with those in government promoting more traditional values. Or perhaps the death of Charlie Kirk had something to do with it, prompting individuals to follow his advice and pursue God, family, and a meaningful life. Or maybe people are just beginning to recognize that true freedom and enjoyment in life comes with moral boundaries.

American philosopher and author Russell Kirk spoke to the reality of this latter fact in his work “Enemies of the Permanent Things.” The permanent things – or cultural norms of morality and tradition – are the foundation upon which society exists and thrives, Kirk tells us. Remove these and life first becomes a monotonous drudge.

“Life without principle, in letters or in politics, soon becomes insufferably boring; also it cannot long endure,” Kirk writes. The reason? Life is like a game, he explains, and the “norms of morals” are the rules by which we play that game. Take away those rules, and the game is no longer fun or understandable, “and genuine humanity ceases to exist.”

In addition to boredom, life without moral boundaries brings bondage, Kirk writes.

How can that be, especially since liberation is usually thought to come by license to do whatever we want, whenever we want?

“From just authority, from respect for our cultural and moral patrimony, comes civil freedom, and much more,” Kirk explains. “Accepting authority, prescription, and tradition, a people may find true liberty—which, as Milton knew, consists well with order. Without such recognition of norms, a people are afflicted by the devastating ‘freedom’ of the Congo.”

On the other hand, those who advocate “private immorality,” Kirk says, are often the same ones who embrace violence and totalitarianism.

And perhaps that is yet another reason why we’re seeing a dip in support for questionable moral practices such as birth control, gambling, and illicit sex. Perhaps the violence in our society, combined with an ever-expanding and overreaching government, is causing many to seek the peace and security of a well-ordered personal life. After all, if culture is full of chaos, then the only way to find relief is by seeking alignment with God and His principles.

John Adams is often quoted as saying, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.” What we miss, however, is what came before that statement.

Adams pointed out that if our nation becomes hypocritical, “assum[ing] the language of justice and moderation while it is practicing iniquity and extravagance … this country will be the most miserable habitation in the world; because we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.”

Perhaps, then, it is appropriate that in our 250th year, at least some in our nation are waking up and beginning to realize that the morals many have thrown to the wind in recent years just may be worth reimplementing in our lives if we are to have the justice, peace, and freedom our founding fathers held out to us.

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This article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal. 

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