Morality

Male and female swimsuits in the United States, circa 1916. In June 1933, William Branham experienced a series of 7 prophetic visions. The fifth vision dealt with the morality of America, and the World. Just as scientific advancement was represented by a car in the fourth vision, the decline of morality was represented by women in the fifth vision. William Branham saw women cutting their hair, acting and dressing like men, and finally almost completely abandoning their garments. This vision is being fulfilled. The last part of this prophecy began to be fulfilled with the invention of the Bikini by fashion designer Jacques Heim in Paris in 1946. Instead of the U.S.A banning this garment, it was promoted by the film industry, and today is accepted by most Christian Americans as acceptable beachwear. The apron-only style garment at the end of the prophecy is much like the autonomous car of the fourth vision - mainstream production and acceptance of this product has not begun, yet, but it exists and can be seen in magazines and advertisements. The U.S.A. remains one of the few "Christian" nations not to allow topless bathing (although unoffically acceptable in certain areas). In many European nations and Australia, public topless bathing is common today. William Branham's prophecy suggests that the U.S.A.'s moral laws will go the way of prohibition. 1964 retelling of 1933 prophesy The fifth vision had to do with the moral problem of our age, centering mostly around women. God showed me that women began to be out of their place with the granting of the vote. Then they cut off their hair, which signified that they were no longer under the authority of a man but insisted on either equal rights, or in most cases, more than equal rights. She adopted men's clothing and went into a state of undress, until the last picture I saw was a woman naked except for a little fig leaf type apron. With this vision I saw the terrible perversion and moral plight of the whole world. Taken from "The Church Age Book", Chapter 9, William Branham Moral Decay of the Modern Woman The cigarette advertisement of the 1970's “You’ve come a long way, Baby” suggests that women have gained greater freedom and liberty than that posessed by their grandmothers. Being chaste and modest were seen as positive character traits at the start of the 20th century, while the young 21st century woman is typically independant and sexually active. Women have indeed come a long way - but not necessarily in the right direction. Pre-WWI America File:Harrods 1909.jpg Women outside Harrods, London, 1909 Prior to WWI, the fashion industry was influenced by Paris designers, and the wealthy European class. For ladies, the length of her skirt often indicated her age - knee length for pre-teens, ankle length for early teenagers, and floor length for 18+ women. Innocence and virginity were protected by the community and government, and many adults felt responsible to protect young ladies from premature sexual contact and conduct. Chaperoning was a common social behavior, and the virginity of the mind was just as important as the virginity of the body. The moral edge of pre-war fashion was the "Gibson Girl", with bare arms, a low neckline, corset-bound body, and floor length dress. Yet even the Gibson-style women did not cut or shorten their hair, but advertized long hair by gathering it in a pompadour. On the beaches, men and women were either segregated or swam at different times. Swimwear for women included woolen bloomers and blouse, and black stockings and shoes, and U.S. laws were enforced limiting the exposure of flesh (including the legs). 1920's: Post-war and pre-depression Women in the U.S.A. were granted the right to vote in federal elections in 1920. Shortly after, the bob haircut gained popularity among women (where the hair was cut short, but a weighted area was left to fall between the ear and chin), as did the 'flapper' style. The flapper dress sat on the hips and ended near the knee, and the bust was flattened with a binding to give the woman a boyish look. Flappers also popularized the use of cigarettes, hard liquor, and the distain for "decent" behaviour among women. Movie houses gained popularity, and Hollywood stars such as Clara Bow began to influence young people with their styles, firtatious attitude, and use of make-up. On the beaches, swimsuits now consisted of figure hugging wool knit with a sleeveless tank similar to the men’s swimwear a decade earlier. 1930's: The great depression File:278px-Moden1936.jpg The depression of the 1930's saw the return of some more modest fashions, and most skirts were again lengthened to the ankles. The uncensored and progressively immoral movies of the 1920's, some including nude scenes, were also curtailed by the implementation of the self-regulating Hays Office so that content-controlling federal laws would not be implemented. Hollywood's influence expanded during this time (in 1932 Macy's in New York sold 500,000 replicas of the dress Joan Crawford wore in the movie "Letty Lynton"), and photographs of actresses Marlene Dietrich and Katharine Hepburn in trousers helped make pants acceptable for women. New fabrics were developed during this time, and women's underwear changed from corsets and bindings, to form-fitting garments. These garments and designs would become the fasionable outwear of later generations. World War II As war raged across the world, women were encouraged to help their country by working full-time in the factories. With this change of lifestyle, many children were sent to daycares, and trousers for women (promoted by Hollywood in the 1930s) were integrated into the common-woman's wardrobe. Pin-ups became popular for the enlisted men, showing an overall acceptance by the male population of the glorification of the female body. 1950s The typical 1950s American girl wore a wide mid-calf length skirt or a poodle skirt, and a modest top. In 1957, Brigitte Bardot (who attempted suicide numerous times) wore a bikini in "And God Created Woman" and created a market for the bikini's as swimwear in the United States. The popularity of wide skirts continued, while the same women now wore bikinis on the beach. Meanwhile, Hollywood introduced the miniskirt in cinemas (Anne Francis, 1956, Forbidden Planet). 1960s & 1970s The 1950s had produced a comfortable living for many families, and some of children grew up to hate the materialistic ways of their parents. The popular response to the Vietnam War, with protests and draft-dodging, marked a widespread rebellion of the youth from the "call of duty" that their parents had. Music became the largest influence in the pop culture, with John Lennon saying that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus". All taboos and restraints of the past were erased, and another sexual revolution began that stretched the moral fibers of America much further than their flapper grandmothers of the 1920s with free sex, drugs, and Rock'n'roll. In 1965 miniskirts became popular. In 1970 abortion was legalized. In 1972, as a result of Eisenstadt v. Baird, (Supereme Court), minor girls now had the right to seek birth control and anything else that related to their bodies without their parents' consent. Germaine Greer, a prominent and provocative feminist, wrote in 1969 that The women kept on dancing while their long skirts crept up, and their girdles dissolved...and their clothes withered away to the mere wisps and ghosts of draperies to adorn and glorify... 1980s - 1990s Girls of the 80san 90s tended to know more about sex than even their mothers. "At this moment in our history, young women develop physically earlier than ever before, but they do so within a society that does not protect or nurture them in ways that were once a hallmark of American life." As capitalism and the economy were doing well, many parents had little time for their families as they pursued the elusive dream of wealth and prestige; as a result, women were allowing others to raise their children in daycare centers. Celebrity-obsessed magazines showed society's pre-occupation with the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Multiple partners were considered normal for teenage girls. Birth control was widely used and easily available. In 1992 an Appeals court in the state of New York ruled that women have the same right as men to go topless. Islamic Worldview A Muslim father comments on his daughter's tank top: Father: You look like a Protestant. Daughter: Don't you mean prostitute? Father: No, I meant a Protestant, Scene from Little Mosque on the Prairie, a 2007 Canadian sitcom by Zarqa Nawaz. 21st Century America has become desensitized to sex and exposure, and now nothing shocks them except the suggestion that their "liberty" is immoral. Hemline tattoos are popular for young women, along with low-rise jeans, vulgar slogans, body piercings and self-mutilation. Virginity is seen as a sign of weakness, and homosexuality is accepted among teenagers. In the past centuries, Christian peoples were often noted for their modesty, and heathen peoples for their immodesty. Today, the line between the professing Christian and the savage tribesman has become increasingly blurred, as more and more "Christian" people resort not only to the pagan practice of scarification, tattoos and body mutilation, but have thrown off the "restraints of modest dress in favor of the trendy and the physically revealing. In 2007 a woman was awarded a $29,000 settlement from the City of New York for being arrested (and being subject to 12 hours in custody and a psychiatric evaluation) after walking topless in New York City in 2005. The "inconvenient truth" of the 21st century is the fallout from the moral pollution of America. Footnotes     Roosevelt     Mussolini     Hitler     3 Isms     Driverless Cars     Morality     America     Ashes