By Barry Buzza

I was watching a talk show the other day when a high profile magazine publisher was being interviewed. She was talking about the morals of society today and summarized by saying: "Whatever feels good is right as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. Whether it's abortion, euthanasia, drugs, adultery or whatever, it's all good if it makes you happy."

At first glance we may say, "Sounds good to me-if it makes me happy, why not? It's my body after all, shouldn't I be able to do what I want with it? Let my feelings guide me."

In the survey of hundreds of North American teens taken lately, I've been listing their top ten fears.

#10 -- "I will never have a happy marriage and family."
#9 -- "Someone I know or love will die of AIDS (maybe me)."
#7 -- "I cannot find time to do everything."
#6 -- "I can't tell right from wrong."

Fifty-six percent of female teens and sixty-one percent of males think that their generation has a serious problem because they have no sense of right or wrong.

They are confused. Not only do the majority of them admit that they have difficulty discerning right from wrong; they also say that such concepts are elusive or situational.

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A good friend of mine told me of an experience he had while hunting with friends last fall. Three of them had hiked deep into the woods in search of deer.

When it was time to return to the truck, they had a competition to see who could point the way back to the truck without using a compass. "It was shocking," my friend said, "how far we all were off the right direction-I was sure I knew where our truck was, but the compass revealed that if I'd gone the way that I felt I should, I would have been really lost!"

If someone asked me, "Which way is it to the Coquitlam Centre?" And I answered, "It doesn't matter, go which ever way that makes you feel good." He'd look at me as if I were insane.

Why is it in life, which is infinitely more important than a trip to the mall, we say, "Whatever you want or feel like is right for you."?

There's a story in the Bible book of Judges which is centered around two ideas. One was the sad fact that the present generation did whatever was right in their own eyes (situational ethics) and the other was that their parents had not taught them the important truths about life. They were a generation without a moral compass, and the sad result was chaos and loss.

I fear, along with teens today, my grandchildren being led by a generation who has no moral compass. How will young adults of 2010 lead us into this new millennium if we're not sure where we are going?

It is incumbent on us, who know that there is a right and a wrong way, to place the baton firmly in the hands of our youth. They really do want some direction.

Barry Buzza, a veteran pastor, is the president elect of the The Foursquare Gospel Church of Canada. www.foursquare.ca

September 24/2009