Skip to content
quotesby

'Christians have made arguments on both sides of this question. I certainly believe that God is displeased with America for its pride and arrogance, for killing 40 million unborn babies, for the universality of profanity and for other forms of immorality. However, rather than trying to forge a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the terrorist attacks and America's abandonment of biblical principles, which I think is wrong, we need to accept the truth that this nation will suffer in many ways for departing from the principles of righteousness. 'The wages of sin is death,' as it says in Romans 6, both for individuals and for entire cultures.

James Dobson#11

ConsequencesMoralityNational characterReligionSocietyTheology

About this quote

What does it mean?
Dobson links national suffering to moral decline but warns against simplistic cause-and-effect links to specific events.
In plain terms
Societal sins bring consequences, but not necessarily direct punishment for specific attacks.
What can you take from it?
Moral decay leads to suffering, but avoid simplistic blame.

Where it applies

  • national tragedies
  • moral debates
  • theological discussions

Putting it to work

  • reflect on societal values
  • avoid hasty conclusions

Questions to consider

  • Do nations pay for collective sins?
  • How do we interpret disaster?

Another view

Attributing suffering to sin can be reductive.

More from James Dobson

  1. In a statement Dobson announced he supported 'Mel Gibson and his film, The Passion of the Christ, saying Gibson's anti-Semitic remarks had nothing to do with '…

    Permalink to quote #10
  2. 'It is deeply moving, powerful, and disturbing. A film that must be seen.'

    Permalink to quote #12
  3. The Mark Foley affair has 'turned out to be what some people are now saying was a -- sort of a joke by the boy and some of the other pages' who came forward wi…

    Permalink to quote #9

Related quotes

  1. It is startling that those in the media and academia appear most disturbed by this aberrant behavior, since they have zealously promoted moral relativism by sa…

    Rick SantorumRick Santorum quote #1
  2. Aggression unopposed becomes a contagious disease.

    Jimmy CarterJimmy Carter quote #2
  3. Nothing is more miserable than those people who never failed to attack their own salvation. When there was need to observe the Law, they trampled it under foot…

    John ChrysostomJohn Chrysostom quote #4