Where did we go wrong?

One thing we just have to come to grips with is ... nothing is sacred.

Boundaries formed by such non-geographical concepts as respect, honour, trust, consideration and compassion have been bulldozed by the modern philosophy of "every man for himself".

Remember when churches remained open all day, every day, so if you felt the need to ask a higher source for help or guidance, or if you wanted to just sit and contemplate the cosmos in a sacred environment, you could do so. Not any more; churches' doors are locked against the ever-present threat of thievery so the pilgrim looking for spiritual sustenance has to do without the architecture.

Cemeteries were once a sacred spot. There the deceased could rest in complete peace, their graves sacrosanct, small mementoes thereon held in the protective embrace of "respect for the dead".

Those days are gone. Now you can expect to lose anything you might leave in the "safe" keeping of the graveside. Not long ago the cemetery at Aramoho was a fairyland of twinkling lights after dark. Dozens of families decorated the graves of their loved ones with tiny solar-powered lights in the shape of fairies, butterflies etc. They've all gone now, and I don't believe the wind blew them all away, do you? They were stolen, and words to describe the kind of scum who steal from graves are not words you'd want to read in a community newspaper.

Those same "people" take toys from the graves of children and lie in wait to steal from the living too.

Take the case of the gentleman who visited Masterton's Riverside cemetery last week. Alex Tairoa was at his wife's graveside while thieves were busy stealing his car. Could people possibly sink any lower? It only proves that all limits have been removed and thieves will steal from anyone, anywhere, anytime, as long as they think they'll "get away with it".

No doubt these scum have their champions in the social services; people who think their depravity is the result of something society inflicted on them when they were younger.

They are welcome to think that, but the rest of us would just like to string the mongrels up by a handy, fleshy protuberance and give their victims a sharp stick and complete freedom. Except, of course, these vermin have rights, apparently. Rights the rest of us earned but that these sickos are given in lieu of decency, imagination or brains.

When did it happen? When did standards disappear completely and even the phrase "honour among thieves" become an anachronism?

Did we, as a society, somehow go wrong? Was it something we said, or did? And can it be fixed? Is there a possibility we could reinstate those ancient values regarded as "old-fashioned" and provide some sort of hope for the future? Or are we doomed to see everything our forebears fought for eroded by greed and self-gratification?