'Does anyone seriously believe our decaying society is anything other than a direct consequence of this Sixties-induced promiscuity..'

I do not believe that, as a consequence of the sexual attitudes and behaviour of the 60s our society is decaying. Seriously, I do not.

However, there is evidence to suggest that our society is not as close to Nirvana as we might hope. The levels of stress, violence, abortion, substance abuse et al are all OTT. There must be a reason/s why.

Maybe it's not 60's induced; possibly 80's (aka Thatcher) induced? Societal cohesion certainly seems to have come unstuck since the Grantham Galoot was in Maggie's Den (who said "get her oot"?)

PATRICIA McKEEVER, you are at least partially right. The casual sex combined with the fact people are no longer held accountable for their actions makes for a wrecked society such as we live in today. Using birth control as a method of contraception has to be the grossest of all the symptoms of moral decay. The other culprit in our society's decline is the replacement of real culture with corporate throw away culture. The attitude is if its not new and exiting, throw it on the rubbish heap, be it the sofa or your spouse. The children of the sixties generation are the one who were really hurt. They never have know proper manners or social protocol and their children are worse yet. If only people would assume responsibility for their actions again we could get back on track.

I blame Rupert Murdoch - think about it.

The so-called moral decay in society has nothing to do with the alleged legacy of the 1960s?

Prior to the 1960s watershed, the lives of the
ordinary people of the UK were strictly controlled by dubious Victorian ethics, morals, and laws in every aspect of their lives.

Victorian hypocrisy knew no bounds when during this period in history there were 10,000 child prostitutes in London, and venereal disease was the AIDS of the upper classes.

Victorian religious repression was eventually rejected by the mass of ordinary people in many countries throughout the world.

No better example can be found than that of devout Ireland where institutionalised deception by the Catholic Church had concealed the large numbers of the clergy who had been responsible for the sexual abuse of thousands of children, slave labour conditions in Catholic childrens homes, and numerous financial scandals which had been covered up by the Church before the modern Irish State decided enough was enough!

It is more probable that Society is simply reverting to " type" after a century in which the moral , and social norms had reached a zenith.

Look at the way that the urban masses existed in the 18th and 19th century, sucked in to horrific housing from the countryside by the industrial revolution. Were all the symptoms, that are listed above as undesireable, not there too? Child poverty, abuse of drink, prostitution ,sexual diseases, promiscuity and petty crime, even slavery and forced indenture ?

After a severe moralising age, the stricture of Victorian values have become less relevent, and relaxed since the 1970's, as the last children of Victorian Britain reach the end of their lives.

I venture to suggest that we have not seen moral decline, in historic terms, at all..what we have here is a crumbling of a historically short lived moral superiority.

" current widespread sexual promiscuity, even among children, is a good Sixties legacy"

Which church is constantly involved in child sex scandals?

"Using birth control as a method of contraception has to be the grossest of all the symptoms of moral decay."

No it isn't. Using birth control as a method of contraception is precisely what it is designed for and allows couples to have sex for enjoyment and not worry about unwanted pregnancy. But then religious people have a warped view of sex, don't they?

" The other culprit in our society's decline is the replacement of real culture with corporate throw away culture. "

Yes, we should ban big business and have a communist state, that will solve everything.

James F,East Ayr

'Maybe it's not 60's induced; possibly 80's (aka Thatcher) induced? Societal cohesion certainly seems to have come unstuck since the Grantham Galoot'

Social cohesion is a mixed blessing. It can be oppressive. For instance, life in a west of Ireland village might well be socially cohesive but it will not necessarily be terribly pleasant. There might, for instance, be little tolerance of sexual promiscuity and non-conformity.

#8 "I venture to suggest that we have not seen moral decline, in historic terms, at all..what we have here is a crumbling of a historically short lived moral superiority."

Strange that far from being to blame for the decline in moral standards, the Church is also the victim. Arguably the high moral standards coincided with the Churches greatest "hold" on on morality in society. Now that singlemindedness is dissippated into ten thousand bickering factions of thought, and the hold the church teaching once had over the masses is no longer so effective.

So leave the Church out of this argument. If the churches did hold 'men' back from their baser instincts for a century or two, in a free thinking world Churches are hardly to blame when mankind "reverts to type".

Maybe it is just the evolution of the species, that mankind in the end will indeed bring about its own downfall. The logical conclusion to Darwin's theory is just that!
Who will be the last standing?

As Ms McKeever states, the Church (i.e. God's people) is not to blame for today's immorality and lawlessness. I would say the media in all its forms, and the way certain business sectors operate and market products/services/role models, as well as the actions of legislators, has a major influence on the behaviour of people. So spleen might be vented on certain aspects of the media industry, on commerce and on legislators but Godly folk are not deserving of stones on this issue; although always an easy target, they only strive to tell the Good News and how we should behave. The lack of education for many will also be an influence - many today do not read (adequately), analyse, or question etc, but rather accept the 'norms' of the day reflected in the behaviour and actions and influences of other individuals, groups and agencies. As may of the latter are disfunctional, so their influence will also be disfunctional. The Scottish Government is beginning to address some of these aspects but much work still needs to be done.

14, but 'Gods people' certainly took advantage of the situation to fulfill their own perverted desires, didn't they?

People in glass houses etc.....

14 Darien

'As Ms McKeever states, the Church (i.e. God's people)'

I suspect that Mrs McKeever means no such thing. By 'the Church', I suspect she means solely the Roman Catholic Church.

A bit rich the catholics talking about "spiralling sexually transmitted diseases" when their policy on contraception has largely contributed to much of this. Typical hypocrites.

Is 'Catholic Truth' not the ultimate oxymoron?

#6 Infidel, using abortion as contraception is lazy and immoral. Many young women can't even be bothered to get on the birth control pills or make their lovers use condoms. They actually have repeat abortions because they get pregnant over and over and do not want to raise the babies. Now that is SICK! I think Scotland and the USA have the same problems socially I am not pointing fingers. These problems are in all Western nations. No one wants to go back to the days when everything was hush hush but we can do a whole lot better than we are now.

#17 I an not Catholic and I am the one who brought up VD on here several times in the past.

3 Beth Boyle,

'Using birth control as a method of contraception has to be the grossest of all the symptoms of moral decay.'

Do you mean 'abortion' rather than birth control? The point is that while, other things being equal, a society with no abortions might be better than a society with abortions, other things are not equal. We cannot choose how many abortions will occur but we can choose whether or not abortion will be legal. It is a social and moral advance to allow abortions to take place legally. To treat women who have abortions as criminals is barbaric.