Moral Decay of Society

The recent conference address my Elder D. Todd Christofferson struck a poignant and painful chord with me. In speaking of moral discipline, Elder Christofferson commented on how the lack of internal control by individuals breeds external control by government.¹ Citing a columnist he observed “gentlemanly behavior [for example, once] protected women from coarse behavior. Today, we expect sexual harassment laws to restrain coarse behavior. . . .

“Policemen and laws can never replace customs, traditions and moral values as a means for regulating human behavior. At best, the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of defense for a civilized society. Our increased reliance on laws to regulate behavior is a measure of how uncivilized we’ve become.”²

I have spent the last 3 years in the mortgage industry. Much has been said about the greed, corruption, and fraud that has occurred in this industry. It is true that many individuals within this industry acted in such a way as to deceive and cheat consumers and contribute to the financial downfall we have experienced.

In an attempt to regulate the behavior of these unscrupulous individuals many new laws and regulations have been put into effect over the past year.  These are harsh governmental controls that attempt to police the unsavory and protect the naïve.

Unfortunately we will find that additional laws and regulations will do nothing to stop those that have no moral compass and only create undue harm and discomfort for those it intended to protect.

One example is the HVCC laws passed that dictated the relationship between mortgage loan officers and appraisers. In an attempt to deter the undue influence of a loan officer on an appraiser, any contact at all between the two was prohibited. The result was the emergence of a third party appraisal company that acted as a liaison between the loan officer and the appraiser. The appraisal company would accept orders and assign them to random appraisers. As a result, costs to the consumer increased and fair pay to the appraiser decreased. An appraisal that used to cost $350 now cost $400, the middle man kept $100 and only paid the appraiser $300. The consumer pays more, the appraiser earns less, and the appraisal company earns $100 for shuffling papers with no vested interest in the timeliness or quality of the appraisal. There are many other problems as a result of HVCC but that is just one example.

Disclosures are another example of regulation that attempts to control the greedy but only cause hardship and heartache for the consumer and the professional. Because of tight controls on disclosures and the inevitable variability in the mortgage transaction, home purchases could be delayed to allow appropriate waiting times from the receipt of disclosures. These delays can be costly to the consumer in terms of purchase contract provisions and even personal scheduling. If you miss the anticipated closing because it hasn’t been 3 days since re-disclosure, there goes all your weekend moving help you had arranged.

As a society we have become more and more uncivilized.  We tout our increased tolerance and diversity as evidence of increased civility.  The problem is that we are losing ground even more quickly with our lack of moral discipline and reliance upon government intervention to control behavior.




1. D. Todd Christofferson, “Moral Discipline”, Ensign, Nov. 2009, p.106
2. Walter Williams, “Laws Are a Poor Substitute for Common Decency, Moral Values,” Deseret News, Apr. 29, 2009, A15.