Going to ‘heck’ in a hand basket

The world is getting worse. It is the platitude we hear several times a month in Sacrament, Sunday School, and Priesthood/RS meetings. Conversations I have with conservative Latter-day Saints are sprinkled with a world view that pits ward members, me, and my family against “the world”. Some Mormons casually claim that they would be drug addicts and/or in jail without the church; as if that is the only path for the non-religious. The growth in unrighteousness is typically evidenced by a sensational piece by the Wall Street Journal or an inflammatory Fox News story.