Some people see the 1950s as the golden age of morality in America. "We need to get back to the morals of the fifties" or "morality has been declining since the fifties". That's looking back through rose colored glasses, though. I doubt you'll find a black person (especially in the Southeast) who longs for a return to the morality of the fifties (discrimination, segregation, and oppression). One thing I'm sure of: the adults of the 1950s didn't see that decade as a moral high point. They thought Elvis and "that loud rock & roll music" were destroying America's youth. Communism was a threat to their way of life. Mankind seemed bent on destroying itself with nuclear weapons. Golden age of morality? Not from their perspective.
But really, has there ever been a golden age of morality? Throughout the ages, has there ever been a time when the majority of people have chosen good over evil? History says no. The Mongols, the Vikings, the Roman Empire, Nazi Germany: all these flourished through the subjugation and murder of their fellow man. Those who called themselves Christians were some of the worst offenders. The church in the Middle Ages sold indulgences (i.e. forgiveness of sins - as if God could be bought) and executed everyone who disagreed with them as a heretic. Even in America today, so many people refuse to acknowledge God, and too often the actions of Christians do not reflect their beliefs. The scriptures confirm man's tendency toward evil: "The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one." (Psalm 14:2-3, ESV)
The reality is that we are inherently selfish, and selfishness unchecked leads to evil. Nazi Germany is a classic example. If millions must die for Germany to prosper, so what? That was their logic (or rather their insanity). People want the truth to be easy or to fit their selfish point of view, rather than adjusting their point of view to align with the truth. Sometimes Christians are the worst offenders. They accept the user friendly parts of Christianity but ignore the hard teachings. "Hey I like that forgiveness of sins, so I'll become a Christian. I don't like the parts that keep me from living any old way I please, and all that stuff about hell and judgment. I'll just ignore those parts."
The Bible has strong words of warning against that approach to Christianity. "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10:26-31, NIV)
