God would not be pleased to have any of our institutions located in a community of this character, however great its apparent advantages. Selfish wealthy men have a molding influence upon other minds, and the enemy would work through them to hedge up our way. Evil associations are always detrimental to piety and devotion, and principles that are approved by God may be undermined by such associations. God would have none of us like Lot, who chose a home in a place where he and his family were brought into constant contact with evil. Lot went into Sodom rich; he left with nothing, led by an angel’s hand, while messengers of wrath waited to pour forth the fiery blasts that were to consume the inhabitants of that highly favored city and blot out its entrancing beauty, making bleak and bare a place that God had once made very beautiful. {7T 89.1}

Gud vil ikke være tilfreds med at have nogle af vore institutioner placeret i et sådant samfund, uanset hvor store fordelene tilsyneladende er. Egenkærlige velhavende mænd har en dannende indflydelse på andre og fjenden vil arbejde gennem dem for at binde op om vor vej. Ondt selskab er altid skadelig for gudsfrygt og helligelse og de principper som Gud værdsætter kan undergraves af et sådant selskab. Gud vil ikke have nogen af os ligesom Lot, som valgte et hjem på et sted hvor han og hans familie kom i konstant kontakt med ondt. Lot kom rig til Sodoma; han forlod byen igen tomhændet, ledet af en engels hånd, medens vredens budbringere ventede på at sende ildstrømme som skulle fortære denne højt begunstigede bys indbyggere og udslette dens henrivende skønhed og gøre et sted goldt, som Gud tidligere havde gjort meget skønt.