The Sky Is Falling! Or is it?

It seems if you turn on the news, you are bombarded with doom and gloom.  We are losing our freedoms, cry some!  There is poverty, abuse, decaying morals, rampant crime, children being born out of wedlock, high divorce rates, civil unrest, and rampant obesity!  I could go on and on.  It would lead some to believe that we might as well hide in our underground bunkers, waiting for the end of the world to happen any day.  And in truth, all of these things do exist and are indeed alarming.  But what does it do to us when we start to believe that our world is quickly slipping down to hell and that there is no hope?  What does it do when we set our world up to be an "us versus them" system of belief?  On the other hand, in spite of these things, there is a tremendous amount of good in the world, and even great strides in advancement in many areas.  It would seem that we must choose between the two:  Is the world an evil place that we must guard against at all times?  Or is there still much good in the world and have there been truly great occurrences that are easy to overlook because the news sensationalizes events and only tells the negative?  I ask this question, simply because embracing one or the other results in a paradigm shift, wherein one is either hopeful, seeking to find the uplifting and beautiful, or fearful, expecting to see evil everywhere one turns.  I found an article that kind of surprised me the other day.  Here are some snippets from it:

*The percentage of teenage girls who have had sexual intercourse has declined from 51 percent to 42 percent since 1988.

*Abortion rate among teens has been falling dramatically in recent years. It is down 42 percent from 1990 and is at its lowest rate today, since 1972.
*Perhaps things are getting worse in other areas besides morals. Maybe they are referring to crime. But according to FBI statistics, the violent crime rate today is half of what it was 20 years ago.

*How about marriage? There are so many more divorces today, right? It depends. Divorce rates today are higher than they were 50 years ago. But the divorce rate today is 1/3 lower than it was 20 years ago, according to the Census Bureau.
*The number of people living in poverty (less than $2.50/day) has decreased from 75% in 1981 to 57% in 2005.
*Infant mortality rates have fallen over 60% internationally over the past 50 years.
*Life expectancy across the world is over 30% higher today than it was in the 1960s.
*Cancer rates in the U.S. are on the decline and are lower than they were in 1975.
*Since 1990, the number of people with access to improved sanitation has increased by 50%.
*AIDS is in slow retreat throughout the world. According to the UN, “There were more than 700,000 fewer new HIV infections globally in 2011 than in 2001." Africa has cut AIDS-related deaths by one third in the past six years.
*Due to advances in stem cell research, nanotechnology, and gene therapy,we’re poised to manage/cure a variety of diseases, such as most forms of cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, Multiple Sclerosis, blindness, and many others.
*The fact that “bullying” has become a national issue in America speaks volumes to the degree to which we have become a more civilized people.
*Between 1973 and 2009, the number of violent crimes in the U.S. has dropped from 48 to 16 per 1,000 people.

*The number of people per million (total global population) who have died in armed conflict dropped from 235 in 1950 to 2.5 in 2007, despite an increase in the number of smaller conflicts.

*Admittedly, there are several active conflicts today in places such as Syria, Sudan and Afghanistan. However, that is a difficult argument to make when compared to the past. In contrast to the first 50 years of the 20th century and the devastation of two world wars during that period, the world has been a relatively peaceful place to live in recent years. (--taken from an article written by Richard Davis who is a professor of political science at Brigham Young University)

I am not suggesting the absence of problems or evil in the world today or that one should turn a blind eye to turmoil in the world.  In fact, I actively arm my children to be prepared for hard things and to be courageous in the face of evil.  However, to make the blanket statement that things are getting worse requires more than a declaration — it needs evidence. Yet, there is evidence that, in many respects, things are getting better, not worse.  Hopefully, besides arming my children to stand for the good, I am also arming my children to do as the 13th article of faith states, ". . . If there is anything virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."  

I always loved Gordon B. Hinckley's sense of tremendous optimism.  “Cultivate an attitude of happiness. Cultivate a spirit of optimism. Walk with faith, rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you love, in the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning things divine.”  I believe one creates their own reality according to what they choose to see, day after day.  President Hinckley had a spirit of peace because he chose to seek peace in his life. 

So although there are terrible and evil things happening throughout the world, living in fear paralyzes us from acting to remedy the situation.  It makes us feel like we must be ready for a fight at all times.  Living with hope that things can be better and that the good will always prevail, aids us in being proactive in effecting change and in being happier people.  And maybe, the sky isn't falling just yet.