FROM THE EDITORS February 9, 2009 Issue

A NEW WORLD OF INTEGRITY

CAN YOU PICTURE a world in which corruption doesn't exist? Where there's no cheating on tests or taxes? No lust for money or power? Could there be a world so just that the only courts needed are "the courts of the Lord"? Where, as a Bible poet wrote, we enter only to thank God for His enduring truth, for the impartial wealth of His love (see Ps. 116:19 and 100:4).

Clearly, that isn't the way many perceive the world. In a survey conducted by CNN/Opinion Research after the disclosure of what may be the worst ever investment fraud scheme, CNN reported that 74 percent of Americans believe that such "behavior is common among financial advisors and institutions" (David Goldman, "Americans think [Bernard] Madoff's behavior is common—poll," December 23, 2008).

Incidents such as France's Societe Generale trading fraud in 2008, along with financial and voting fraud in Europe's former communist states, point to the global reach of corruption. But in the US a skein of corrupt acts by elected officials, arcing from New York (a governor ousted in a prostitution scandal), to Illinois (a governor arrested for attempting to sell a senatorial appointment), to Alaska (a senator convicted on federal ethics charges), has painted a particularly unpretty picture.

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